Koi fish tattoos Koi fish tattoo Koi fish tattoos Koi are considered a manly symbol, especially after it was appropriated by the Boys’ Day Festival in Japan. According to legend, the koi climb the waterfall bravely, and if they are caught, they face their death on the cutting board bravely, like samuri. Other Japanese meanings include perseverance and strength. In China, it is believed that if the koi succeeded in climbing to “Dragon Gate” on the Yellow River, the koi will be transformed into dragons. Because of the Chinese legend, koi are considered a symbol of advancement and aspiration. When used in tattoos, especially with running water, the koi is meant to symbolize courage and the ability to attain goals and to overcome life’s difficulties. When the koi in the tattoo is shown swimming upstream, it can be used to mean that the tattooee is still struggling with their problem, whereas a koi swimming downstream implies that the tattooee has already overcome their difficulty. In other cases, the koi swimming downstream can represent the season of fall, and the koi swimming upstream can represent the spring. Koi fish tattoos

Tattoo parties have been around for a long time. The idea is a simple one. A group of people get together at someone’s house, a tattoo artist shows up and everyone gets a tattoo. Problem is that the tattoo artist is not necessarily qualified, the environment is not sterile, alcohol makes you bleed more profusely and crowds are distracting. Doesn’t sound like much fun to me somehow. I am sure there are examples of good tattoo artists attending sterile tattoo parties where the clients were all of legal age, no alcohol or drugs were on site and the tats were of a superior quality. I just haven’t yet heard of one. The usual reasons for holding a tattoo party include celebrating an event (usually involves some form of inebriation), the lower cost per tattoo, the clients are minors or (worse) the tattooist is unqualified, unlicensed or just bad and has to work underground. The absence of safety protocols and the sheer volume of work being carried out usually results in a large number of badly inked tats of poor design which leave the clients with nasty tats, infections and scarring.  Just think of the blood borne diseases we normally are wary of. According to one authority on the subject: “Even if they use single-use needles, which is the typical line of defense for many of these tattooers, that doesn’t mean you’re safe. When a person is tattooed, microscopic blood and body fluids spray and fly everywhere; everything around the client and the tattooer is contaminated. The only way to kill the germs, bacteria and blood-borne pathogens that go along with every tattoo is to make sure every inch of the artist’s work station is cleaned and sterilized thoroughly between clients. All surfaces must be non-porous like tile floors and vinyl seats; anything porous should be protected by being covered with plastic, and then that plastic must be discarded after every client.” The advertising in this case is a lie. To put it brutally: if you can’t pay full price for a tattoo, then don’t get one. If you’re too young then wait until you’re old enough. And if you are throwing unauthorised tattoo parties, please realise you are jeopardising the industry and its reputation with your selfishness. I sincerely hope you don’t kill someone for the sake of your own greed.

The Blade series of films features body art that has become nigh on legendary in its popularity. In the films, Wesley Snipes is Blade, the vampire killer, and carries the nickname Daywalker. His character is part vampire himself and is at once feared and revered by the vampires he hunts down. Blade has a martial arts style and weapons arsenal that is the envy of many a young man, and some who are not so young… but his real cachet is the fact that he carries probably the best tribal tattoos ever shown in a film. The first film in the series lays out the scene, with Blade’s underground war against the vampire world. It turns out his mother was bitten just before he was born and died in childbirth. This angst of his coming into existence provides the underlying tension throughout the films. The tattoo designs Blade wears are original to the movie and are derived from Polynesian influences. The blackwork covers most of his upper chest, arms and shoulders as well as around the back of the head and extending down the neck. They are best viewed in the slower scenes, usually with a female character (ahem…) but it is in the fight scenes that the excitement and animalistic sexuality set the tattoos off best, in my opinion. The vampires also wear tattoos, however. These are identifiers, much like gang markings, where each clan or vampire family has its own set of designs, to show the identity of the individual. These markings extend to their pets, humans who serve a particular vampire clan. These are much like servants who will perform the daylight tasks  impossible for a vampire to carry out. In some cases, these humans are kept like animals in pens, providing a ready source of nourishment to the vampires. Once caught, many of these humans aspire to being bitten and becoming vampires themselves. They are then sent out into the world to best serve the clan. In one of the films, Blade finds a tattoo marking on a police officer and therefore knows that the vampires have a presence in the human world.