I went straight from long thick hair to a pretty long mohawk, maybe 10in high once I finally figured out how to get it to stand.

At the time, I was 29 and had a good secure job where I felt it wouldn't impact my career... plus I was going to use my birthday as an excuse... and if it was a real disaster I'd just go bald for a bit until it grew out.

Obviously, it wasn't a disaster... well kind of until I figured out how to get it stand. Back then, there wasn't a lot of resources and really why I ended up starting this site.

I figure it's kind of like getting into a cold pool. You can jump off the diving board straight in or ease yourself in through the stairs into the pool. There's no "one" right way. I'm more of jump off the diving board type and see what happens. At a different age, or a different job, maybe I'd have done it differently.

If you are more wanting to ease into "the look".. you can certainly just try getting the sides short and leaving the top long. Sort of fauxhawkish. Depending upon the length of the top you can try spiking it up with gel or spray when you want and leaving it down when you don't want to. I'm thinking down it won't be too radical especially if you don't bic the sides. In fact, that guy in the middle of the last pic might be an "ease your way" in look.

Of course, if you are ready, confident and just want to jump into the deep end and get the shock value new look like your last example. Bic the sides, spike it up and see what people think. I doubt it'll be as bad as you fear and probably a lot more fun than you think. In the long run, we aren't talking tattoos or even piercings here. It's just hair. It grows back but can be a fun way to change your look easily and let people see who you are inside. 

THIS IS A REALLY GREAT . . . A REALLY FASCINATING DISCUSSION . . . THAT ADDS A POWERFUL NEW ELEMENT THAT I THINK HAS BEEN LARGELY MISSING FROM "MOHAWKS ROCK" UNTIL NOW.

Namely a full discussion of the emotionally powerful . . . and wildly exciting . . . experience when each Mohawk fan makes that momentous, risky decision of whether to submit to the clippers for the first time . . . a momentous decision that cannot be reversed once the clippers have stripped away half the hair on your head . . . leaving 3/4ths of your head  egg-bald, with only a narrow, bristly strip of hair remaining.  (Although hair does grow back.)

"Tomtogetmohawked" and "Giant Mohawk Man" have performed a huge service for the rest of us Mohawk fans by launching that open, public discussion of the pure excitement of that first Mohawking  for the first time ever.  Long overdue!!!

Tom deserves huge credit for being probably the first Mohawk fan to ever openly discuss the sheer excitement  of going under the clippers for the very first time . . . a thrill that every Mohawked guy remembers for the rest of his life . . . thrilling because it's so risky and so incredibly daring . . and so damned much fun!!!  

Like the so-called "performance artists" of the 1970s and 1980s, Tom . . . by spending many weeks carefully planning every step, every nuance in his first head-shaving, lingering lovingly over every single detail of his initial scalping . . . is turning his first Mohawking into what those earlier performance artists used to call "a happening" . . . hopefully complete with a live audience to watch him being shaved, if he can arrange it.

In short, Tom is turning his first shearing into what, in actuality, it probably has always been for many of us Mohawk fans, even if we never admitted it publicly.  He is actually turning it into an artistic event . . . his masterpiece of "performance art" . . .  that he will remember for the rest of his life . . . and so will his audience, if he can arrange to have people there.   If possible, he wants a live audience to have the pure fun of watching him get stripped of his hair during his unusual piece of "performance art."  Good for him!!!   It is indeed loads of fun to watch . . . and even more fun to go through as either the "victim" or the person wielding the clippers.  

I'll bet we could talk Tom into posting a video of his initial shaving right here on "Mohawks Rock" so all of us Mohawk fans can share his excitement.  I can hardly wait.

Tom also deserves huge credit for openly discussing what all of us Mohawk fans are fully aware of . . . but which we rarely, if ever, discuss publicly.  The fact that . . . (shhh!  Don't tell anybody) . . . Mohawks are incredibly sexy haircuts (gasp) . . . and the fact that the initial act of submitting voluntarily to the clippers for the very first time is an incredibly sexy experience to go through (double-gasp).  If it wasn't sexy, it wouldn't be any fun, right?  If it wasn't a sexy experience, then most of us guys probably would never go through that risky, daring experience.  

As Tom himself put it in one of his postings elsewhere on this discussion page, "I think wearing a Mohawk is fucking hot and makes a real macho man out of a guy. It's the most cool, sexy and masculine haircut I know."  Beautifully stated, Tom!!!  That's exactly what it is!!!  But until you came along, very few people have ever said it publicly.  Well, it's about time it was said.

Tom is correct that a Mohawk haircut . . . with just a few quick swipes of the clippers . . . has the almost magical effect, of instantly transforming drab, boring-looking nerds into fiercely masculine studs who literally exude maleness, with a haircut copied from helmets of the ancient Spartan warriors and from Native-American warriors of 200 years ago.  . 

Is that "toxic masculinity?"  Absolutely not.  If a guy can't have loads of fun treating his own masculinity with an innocent playfulness, then what good is it being a man?  What causes "toxic masculinity" is when some guys are so darn insecure in their masculinity that they can't have fun playing with it.  Beware the guy who takes his masculinity so seriously that he can't have fun with it.  Those guys can be dangerous.  Getting Mohawked is -- among other things -- a way of having innocent fun with your own maleness.  Emotionally, it's incredibly healthy -- the exact opposite of "toxic masculinity."    

So let's all follow along with Tom as he has a truckload of fun planning every delicious aspect of his memorable Mohawk "happening" . . . his "performance art" . . . just for the fun of it.  Go, Dude!!!  This discussion is waaaaay overdue.

I can't wait to see you scalped, Tom!!!  So post a video when you decide to submit to the clippers.  Share the wealth.

By sharing all the fun with others, you will be offering wonderful encouragement to all those millions of other dudes out there who secretly would love to go under the clippers . . . but just aren't sure they have the balls to go through with that risky haircut.   By sharing what it's like to go through it, step-by-step, you are re-assuring them that it's probably the most fun thing they will ever do in their entire lives . . . that, as the old saying goes:  "Every man secretly wants to be Mohawked at least once in his life."  So quick . . . grab the chance when you have it . . . even if you never do it again.

Tom, we all owe you a big debt of gratitude.

---Scalped 442