Since long times, masturbation has been considered something shameful and derogatory to human culture. Though men and women have been masturbating through all ages – the cave painting of Khajuraho in India and ancient artworks of Japan are prime examples – the issue has never been discussed in the open. This has led to a kind of taboo building around the subject of masturbation. But, let us face the fact. Almost all the men of the world masturbate. Since they cannot do that in the open, they do so in the privacy of their own bedrooms and bathrooms. As masturbation was a very individual act until lately, almost each man has developed his own techniques in order to masturbate and achieve pleasure.

A boy begins masturbating almost as soon as he steps into his puberty. This is the time when the development of his penis and his testicles intrigues him, and he discovers the never-before kind of pleasure he receives by touching his genitals. Soon begins a voyage of discovery, when the boy starts to touch his penis in different ways and compare the feelings produced by each touch. At this age the revelation of ‘the other sex’ also dawns on him through peers or porn. He comes to realize what can arouse him and what he can do to satiate that arousal. This is where masturbation begins.

The first masturbation may take place in the bathroom where the boy has learnt to fondle and receive pleasure from his organs. When the seminal discharge takes place, initially it may be a cause of fear, but later on it becomes the greatest pleasure he might have discovered. Accept it or not, masturbation helps the boy to build a very constructive and important relationship with his penis. Thus begin the early masturbatory techniques.

As the age advances, boys learn more and more techniques of masturbation, but basically stick to just one kind of technique. However different men can use different techniques. Some of the very popular masturbation techniques that men use for masturbating their genitals are described below.

Fisting is one of the most popular ways. In this the male holds the erect penis within a single fist and rocks the fist back and forth. The extent to which pressure is applied depends from person to person, and so also does the kind of fist-hold that is used. Some men prefer to keep the palm up, but the common position is to keep the palm down and the fingers facing the sky. This is the technique that is referred in slang as jerking, jacking off or playing with five fingered Rosie.

Thumbing is a popular way of holding the penis during masturbation. In this the penis is held in the fist just as mentioned above, but the thumb is used to apply extra pressure on the very-sensitive head of the penis known as the glans. With the fisting, thumb pressure is applied on the glans, whose hardness is felt. Though this masturbation technique is more pleasurable, it does not find more favor with men as it requires more exertion of the hand.

Some people perform some preliminary movements on the penis before getting into the actual masturbatory act. One of the ways is fluting the penis. This is done by holding the penis with both hands and then tapping it alternately with the fingers as if one is playing the flute. This is an effective method to arouse all the sensitive points on the penis, thus allowing it to become erect to its maximum limit. When this erection is achieved, further masturbation is done by either fisting or thumbing.

Alternatively, the penis can be chortled. This is holding the penis with two fingers, forming a ring, and then applying pressure on different regions of the penis. In addition, there are several different holds that each man can devise for himself.

There is also a bit of an argument on whether circumcision benefits masturbation in any way. Both circumcised and uncircumcised penises have their relative advantages and disadvantages in masturbation. If the penis is circumcised, then the pressure is felt directly on the organ; while if the penis is uncircumcised, the pressure is felt due to the rocking of the foreskin. Depending on this, it can be said that fluting methods will be more effective in masturbation of circumcised men and jerking methods will be more effective in masturbation of uncircumcised men.

Even the way the person poses himself during masturbation has differences. Several men prefer masturbation while lying on a bed on the back and fisting the penis skywards. This posture has found great favor because of the comfort factor attached to it. Men who masturbate while watching porn are more prone to masturbate while sitting on a chair in front of the screen. Men masturbating in the bathroom would most probably do it standing. It is interesting to note that people who are habituated to masturbate while standing may not enjoy the same act in a sitting position.

Lastly, there are also unusual masturbating techniques found in some men. Some men like to arouse other parts of their bodies like nipples, anus, etc. while masturbating. They may alternate the hold on the penis with fondling these regions. One method is the squat technique where the person masturbates in a squatting position with fondling other regions of his body.