I was fortunate enough to get a copy of the “Professional Piercing Basics Volume 1: Above The Neck” DVD put out by Ron Garza. Over the last few months since I first viewed it, I have implemented a lot of the techniques into my daily piercing procedures and am quite impressed with what I learned.

For my no holds barred: the good, the bad and the ugly type review of this dvd as well as testimonials by several others, keep on keeping on.

This DVD, contains advanced techniques for freehand piercers (or people wanting to become freehand piercers). It is not a How To Pierce video, it assumes you already know the basics. If you don’t know the basics and the “whys” and you  are trying to learn piercing techniques purely from this (or any) video you will inevitably become an ill informed hack and a danger to your customers. For this reason, a lot of piercers have been very outspoken about their views on this video being available to the general public. I, however, think that this video should be available to ANYONE wanting to view it. For one it is a valuable tool for the informed client, or the “piercing dork” who just wants to stay abreast of the latest techniques (even if they have no desire to try them out). Also, if a DIY type piercer is going to pay the 69 bucks for this video, at least that shows some commitment to the trade. To make this a “for professionals only” video would be doing a disservice to the industry as well as the piercing community at large.

For example, YouTube is full of how to pierce videos, if someone wants to buy this DVD, full of good information, why should we stop them? Ron makes it clear this video is for the experienced piercers and it doesn’t even demonstrate the basic building blocks needed for most of the procedures performed. I, for one, fully support this sharing of knowledge and think that limiting it to professionals would be of no benefit to the piercing community.

As for the content, it’s extremely educational and inspirational. I am a professional piercer of 14 years. I stay active in most of the piercing forums and try to “talk shop” whenever possible. I am extremely happy to say I learned a few great new tricks and techniques from this video. I actually got this video a few months ago and since then I have implemented a lot of the techniques I learned from this video into my daily routine. Many have become second nature and I can safely say this lead to the single biggest  change of technique  I have made since going freehand many years ago.

Some of the techniques I don’t like, but one of the beauties of this DVD is that it’s not just Ron showing off his techniques,  Ruben Lew and Chris Glunt also show variations of several of the piercings in their own personal style. As an experienced piercer, you can pick and choose which techniques you would like to implement and which just don’t fit in with your style. If you are a professional piercer and can find one technique or trick worth implementing yourself, this dvd is well worth the cost of admission.

My only complaint with the dvd is the production. The sound is bad, and in several parts of the video background “shop noises” distract from the content. The majority of the video is shot with head cameras, and for the most part it’s not too bad. However, a few instances of  obstructed view make some of the techniques a little harder to grasp. One amusing little blooper is the word “NEEEDLES”, in one of the first segments. Modblog readers know I am no stranger to typos and grammar errors, and some of you sure like pointing them out to me, so it’s fun to take my turn as the typo nazi for once!

None of these issues are deal breakers though, this is still an excellent piercing video. I would even go as far as to say this is the best piercing video since  the Pierce With a Pro videos by Jim Ward.  I only mention the negative points in it to be honest in my review and in hopes of seeing some improvements in Volume 2.  (Editors note: Ron is more than aware of these issues and I have been reassured that Volume 2 as well as the Spanish release of this one have improved on them immensely.)

In closing, production issues aside, this video series is ground breaking and has the potential to prove a huge boom to the advancement of our industry. Watching this video opened my eyes to several new ways of doing things. In many instances I had “why the hell didn’t I think of that” moments in regards to some not-so common sense ideas presented in the video. One prime example of that is a simple needle bending technique using an eyelet. Seriously, how have I had a shop full of needles and eyelets together for 14 years and not once considered using the eyelet as a tool for the needle? I can not recommend this video highly enough. I  am so sold on it, that I plan to use it as a visual aid for teaching certain piercings to my apprentice . Needless to say,  I am extremely enthusiastic to see what volume 2  has to offer and to learn from it as well.

And now to steal a quote from Reading Rainbow: “But don’t just take my word for it…”

DVD testimonials

I (Ron) gave an advanced copy to freehand piercing pioneer and tireless champion, Pat Tidwell ,  for his thoughts on the project. This is what he had to say:

It’s outstanding! I find this video to be an amazing start toward understanding this so called ‘EXTREME PIERCING’. This DVD brings it all back to true basics and showcases the full talents of what our minds and hands are truly capable of doing !! I CAN NOT wait to work with Ron and continue this outstanding project of much needed higher education for our community!

I (Ron) also gave an advanced copy to John Johnson, who is a reputable piercing instructor in his own right with over 10 years experience, currently is on the APP board, and was recently awarded the Josh Prentice Volunteer Award by the APP in recognition of his tireless help with so much in our industry. He had this to say about Vol 1 of the DVD…

Ron’s video is thorough and well done. I’ve adjusted some of my own techniques after watching Ron, Chris, and Ruben pierce and I look forward to the rest of the series. This will help any experienced piercer take their work to the next level.

Emails from actual people who bought the DVD

I just received the Piercing DVD Vol. 1 in the mail today and have already watched it twice. I am looking forward to using some of the amazing techniques, especially the tongue and lip techniques. I learned mainly from freehand piercers and I found this video to be very educational! Thanks for spreading the knowledge. 🙂 -John T.

Got my dvd today and just finished watching it…all i can say is thank
you and amazing work!

I have been freehand piercing for about 4 years now and this was very
informative on different techniques and needle bending some of which
I have never seen , used or thought of!

Cant wait for vol 2!!!
thank you again” – Jeremy

I just got done watching your video. I got to say wow. It’s impressive!! Thanks for making this video for people like me that is trying to better their knowledge of piercing. There are things that you do that I wouldn’t have thought of.
Again thanks for this video I can’t wait tell the other ones come out.
-Derek

Due to the high demand  the DVD is currently out of stock at BME shop. However, it should be back in shortly in both the English and Spanish versions!