[QUOTE=Mongo Ponton]
So sadism is primarily a physical thing? I’m a little disappointed by that although I have no idea why.
It would seem that your desire for having emotional and physical power would be more highly rewarded by mental stuff due to the transitory nature of the physical. Forgive me, I tend to think of all this in terms of Utility Curve Analysis.
So there’s often music involved during a flogging? What kind of music? I’m thinking its not bluegrass.
What’s a play party and how many are typically involved?
What’s impact play?
Would you or Sadists in general enjoy watching others inflict and receive pain or no?
[/QUOTE]
Actually, no, sadism is just as easily emotional and mental as physical. I left aside the emotional and mental parts of it, because they can get very sticky to explain. I get just as much fun from making Robin hold his arms up for tickling as I do from actually tickling him - one is evoking emotional vulnerability and an intense mental reaction, and one is evoking physical vulnerability and an intense physical reaction. Both are sadism, in my book, although the “making him do something” definitely has dominance in it, as well.
I’m going to go a little out of order, for clarity.
S/m players often refer to “scenes” - and “scene space” and “scene partners” - and “playing.” Playing is generally considered to mean engaging in s/m activities with one or more partners. Scenes are the context in which one plays - when one plays, one is “in a scene.” If you’d like a rundown on the basic etymology of those within the kink world, please ask, but I know that I ramble on about this stuff, so I’m trying to keep it more concise than usual. 
Play parties, by extension, are social occasions where people gather for the express purpose of playing. That may be a small or large gathering, in a public or private space - “public” generally meaning a club of some kind, “private” generally meaning a home not used for commercial purposes.
Play is divided into varying types - “impact play” is a general term that covers a wide range of methods and implements used to hit people. (hence “impact”) That covers things like flogging, caning, body punching, whipping, and a number of others. Most types of play are named after either the implement used - needle play, knife play - or the type of technique involved - piercing play, cutting play.
Most public spaces that encourage play have background music playing - what it is varies by regional taste, but generally you can assume you’ll hear something with a clear beat, vocals that are not distracting, and that will blend well with other tracks of the same type. Although, I can totally see using bluegrass play to make someone scream! 
I do enjoy watching the scenes of others, both in a visceral sense and in an educational sense. I very rarely get a sexual charge from it unless I know the players involved. That falls much more under voyeurism, though, which is not interdependent with sadism.
[QUOTE=faithfool]
Thank you for starting this thread, as well as to you freekalette for hers. All I’d like to ask is are you also into domination? I’ve never been involved in any of the sorts of dynamics that have been discussed around here of late, but I’ve noticed a tendency in my latter years to be interested in it. So, if you don’t mind and it doesn’t hijack your original intent, could you tell me just the tiniest bit about it? Gracias.
[/QUOTE]
I am also definitely into domination - that’s something that I can thank Robin for, mostly. Before I got involved with him I was very clear that I didn’t want to be “in charge” of anybody, because I didn’t want the responsibility. I went so far as correcting people who called me a dominant, insisting that all I would do was top. It is still accurate to say that I am not regularly dominant to anyone but Robin, but I will exert dominance comfortably over casual play partners now that I am more comfortable with the concept as a whole. Together, he and I have discovered that I enjoy having the authority he gives me, and that it makes both our lives better to set it up that way.
The concept of dominance (to me) is generally that one person willingly and enthusiastically cedes authority or power to another person, in order for mutual emotional fulfillment. It can be expressed in any number of ways - from things as obvious as “Bring me my beer, bitch” to things as subtle as Robin opening doors for me whenever it’s practicable. Both are part of a dominance / service dynamic, and both are equally valid.
If you have specific questions, faithfool (or others) about dominance, please feel free to ask. The floor is open to general freakitude, not just sadism specifically.
(And, because I know that this is a touchy subject even for an anonymous message board, people uncomfortable with posting are invited to make use of my PM box if they would prefer.)
I’m definitely not offended - I am not a person to take titles and protocol very seriously, except in limited contexts - just keeping you out of hot water if you run into somebody who does take it seriously!
I thought those two terms were interchangeable. Educate me please.