February 2022

My Martial Arts Hobby and Love of Aikido

One of my personal hobbies, which I’ve been at for the longest time, is martial arts. Specifically, Aikido. I’ve gotten some questions about it on Twitter, the Vanessa Chase OnlyFans and even on AdultDVDTalk – so it’s probably time to explain in a little more detail.

I got started back in 2010 and my current rank is 1st Kyu. This is one under Shodan, which is one under Black Belt, and then there are many levels of black belt after that. I have a ways to go yet but am proud of the accomplishment so far. It isn’t easy. But it is worth it!

Why Aikido? It combines my past loves of dance (ballet), gymnastics and rolling around with the boys (no, not like that) I just mean I was a classic tomboy growing up. And, like many, I view the discipline as more of a dance than a battle.

For me it’s also about harmonizing the body and knowing how to both strengthen and move from your center – with power! For comparison, the opposite take on it would be my fellow Aikido practitioner, Steven Seagal. He likes to power through moves and hurt people (at least on film). Lots of clotheslines, too. I’m not saying he isn’t very good at it!

I also focus on Aikido weapon work. I wanted a way to deal with conflict resolution, improve balance and dexterity, work on my mind and body, and also ensure basic self preservation and defense abilities.

Focus, reflection – and lots of throwing.

And I started Iaido during the pandemic after a beloved octogenarian sensei ceremoniously passed his sword down to me. That was a compliment I had to honor. While Iaido is a graceful and feminine body art, it’s also useful for removing heads in certain situations. The timing and precision of the Japanese body art disciplines (which is a good way to describe weapons aikido and Iaido) requires decades to master, so hopefully I have lots of time.

Admittedly, I also enjoy “the throwing of people”. Not going to lie.

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New Vanessa Chase Gallery – Hobbies

Leave a Comment / Hobbies / By Vanessa Chase

Whether fiddling in the garden, cruising around California on roller skates or kicking butt in the dojo – I am a woman of many hobbies. It only made sense to devote a new gallery to them all which will be updated regularly.

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I hope that everyone enjoys these glimpses into my daily life, and I look forward to any questions or comments from fans and fellow hobbyists.

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Live, Learn, Love Thyself

2 Comments / Today / By Vanessa Chase

While the adult business has become way more mainstream than in my 1990s heyday, there is still a definite stigma surrounding everyone involved, past or present. This is something we all have to live with, whether proud or full of regret due to the indiscretions of youth. Thankfully, I am able to count myself as the former.

So, obviously, one of the biggest consequences of having been a successful porn star is being recognized in the real world on a regular basis. And, in my case, almost every time I leave the house! Maybe it’s because I live in the porn industry ground-zero that is California, or am lucky enough to still resemble the younger version of Vanessa Chase which fans remember – but I am not exaggerating. Rarely a day goes by when I don’t get “the look” from some guy at Trader Joe’s, Target, or just walking down the street. I’m still even recognized when I’m masked up. A lot!

The funniest part might be that it’s so predictable. Always starts with that same look. The guy will just stand there with a sort of lustful and knowing expression. Sometimes I pick up on a sense of shame on their part, followed quickly by a quick shift to… superiority? But these are the worst examples and I’ve long since learned to shrug them off in favor of well-meaning fans I actually enjoy interacting with.

The most brazen of the disturbing, quiet “fans” might even follow me around a store, just keeping a slight distance, without ever confirming the recognition by saying “hello”. They want the eye contact, they want to talk to me, they want to tell me their desires and how they still have a copy of one movie or another on DVD – but rarely do. And they must realize how uncomfortable that is for me – but play it out anyway. Don’t be that guy, guys!

For years after I left the business the creepy, staring eyes used to bother me. At one point I genuinely wanted to do everything I could to erase my past. Because the business isn’t all fun and games. Imagine being an eighteen-year-old woman dealing with such adversity. Your brain doesn’t even fully develop for another seven years! No one leaves this lifestyle unscathed.

After over a quarter century of running away from my surreal past, however, I’ve thankfully come to embrace it. And, most importantly, I learned to stop caring what the weird men, with their judgmental and beady-little-eyes, think of the Vanessa Chase of today. In fact, I’ve stopped caring to such a degree that I decided to come out of hiding and make something positive out of a lifestyle that has caused negativity and suffering to so many.

My return to the public eye is truly on my own terms. I’m hoping to use modern platforms to spread positivity and love. And hopefully some guidance to the young generation of adult performers. I want to learn from the naïve mistakes of my youth, and make something great from this bizarre legacy that I have created for myself. If you’ve found IAmVanessaChase.com, you’re already along for the ride.

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Taxi Dancing Memories

7 Comments / Memories / By Vanessa Chase

Just before I entered the adult movie business, my boyfriend (at the time) got me a job as a taxi-dancer at a very old dancing-girl establishment in downtown Los Angeles.

A taxi dancer is, quite simply, someone you pay, on a song-by-song basis, to dance with you. According to Wiki, “The term “taxi dancer” comes from the fact that, as with a taxi-cab driver, the dancer’s pay is proportional to the time he or she spends dancing with the customer.” Remember that Tina Turner song? It’s like that.

Men would pay the other girls and I to (slow) dance. If they liked anyone especially they’d pay more to take you upstairs to a semi-private room to talk. Some guys were very polite, other guys would try to have sex with you right there on the dance floor. You quickly learned how to avoid the handsy perverts.

My very first night as a taxi-dancer, my boyfriend fell asleep and forgot to pick me up. Off to a fabulous start, to say the least. So I had to rely on the good graces of a random dance hall patron to take me home to Pasadena in his yellow corvette. He and his awesome car were, thankfully, both very polite.

A few years later I was very interested to learn that June Miller – author Henry Miller’s muse, fanatical obsession and short-lived second wife – had herself worked as a taxi dancer in depression-era New York City. Which, considering my own time as a taxi dancer, and especially what came soon after, is a very esoteric-coincidence.

Vintage taxi dance club sign. — Taxi dancing yesteryears.

To me, that is the very essence of what being an adult entertainer was all about. A long series of very strange events. Hope you enjoyed that memory and I look forward to any comments.

Update: Since writing this post, I actually found some Polaroids taken outside of the club in question! These are from before I entered “the biz” and I hope you enjoy them!