I began to masturbate at about age 11, mainly due to curiosity about my body that a number of guys have when they start wanking. I was sitting in bed and noticed that my penis had gone stiff. I began to rub it with the "fist" method, and a little later I had this intense feeling, my first orgasm. I rushed to the bathroom, thinking I needed to pee quite badly. I thought all these feelings I had were odd, and didn't think about what I had done for a week or two. At about this time, my friends had been joking about wanking, and I had no real idea what they were talking about. I then asked my best friend what he was talking about and got a really brief explanation.
That night I began to think about what they said, and I tried to do it again. This time I couldn't recreate that same feeling, probably due to being too anxious, but the next day I tried yet again — and this time, it paid off. I had that same intense feeling again and a rush of energy through my body.
From then, I began to masturbate about once every day, and as I approached my early teens and entered high school, I began to masturbate more and more often, up to 5 times a day. Also at this time I began to fantasize about other males while masturbating. At first, I thought this was interesting, but my morals began to get the better of me, and I became uncomfortable with these thoughts. Also at this time my friends began to joke about a guy who got "caught" wanking. This made me feel even more uncomfortable with one of my more favored releases, and I became more anxious. I continued to masturbate, but at this time it became less pleasurable, and any efforts to talk about masturbation with my friends were laughed off. Most of my friends acted like it was something gross that they wouldn't do, but there was always this feeling in the back of my head that they weren't being completely honest.
Soon after this increase in anxiety I stumbled across JackinWorld, which proved to be a godsend for my sanity, and it improved my understanding of what I was going through with puberty. After reading through different sections of the site, I got a better understanding of my body and that wanking wasn't weird or wrong. I also began to understand that thinking about guys wasn't that bad, and I became more comfortable. Another godsend was the section on techniques, which also made masturbation all the more pleasurable. Techniques like the Rosy Palm made the process more fun, and I began to really enjoy my sessions again.
Another event that strengthened my interest in masturbation occurred in health class. We watched a video on sex and sexuality. Afterwards there was a question time, where you could ask any questions. Most were silly, some informative, all hilarious. The laughs coming out of our classroom must have been deafening to all around, and I suppose this showed exactly how immature my friends and I still were. Masturbation came up during these classes and was the source of much joking and sheepish looks among some of the guys. The only time this level of laughter would be rivaled was in the "Crossroads" program we had to attend later. For the first session, the two sexes were separated, and then we had a discussion similar to what happened in the health class, with another question time and lots of information. This was more informative than the time in health class, and a lot funnier; the guys were more open about masturbation, and questions flew quick and fast at the instructor. This again proved interesting and relieved some of the stress that still remained in my mind.
This time of my life also became a time of masturbation when I had a chance, usually only for a quick release. This was also the time when I almost got "caught" by my parents, but I was able to cover it up with some lame excuse that obviously didn't work but brought some comfort at the time. I then learned to make time for masturbation, and to increase my privacy by doing it in bed at night or when I was in the bathroom, which is still the norm for me even now.
Around this time I also became more curious about the process of masturbation. I began to concentrate on pleasuring the area around my penis head, and I started to vary my speed and the grip. I also became curious about the idea of using condoms and lube. For about 3 months I would walk past the chemist [drugstore] every day after school, go to enter the door, and then basically bolt away out of embarrassment. Then on the last day of school for the term, when most of the kids were away and weren't crowding around the shops after school, I got the guts to just go in and buy a pack of condoms and a tube of lube. I crept into the chemist and went to the shelf with all the different boxes of condoms. One of the assistants came up and asked if I needed any help, and I almost died from fright. Red-faced, I said that I was fine, and then grabbed a box and went over to the counter. I then rushed home and into the bathroom, where most of my sessions took place, as it was easier to clean up and there was less chance of being walked in on, one of my biggest fears from when I began to masturbate. The session that ensued was very interesting and felt extremely different from any other session I had. The orgasm was one of the most intense I had ever had, and it was a lot easier to clean up. However, I also realized that it was a lot harder to get rid of the wrapper and hide the tube of lube I had bought — this required a bit of thought.
From this time until age 16, not much changed in my masturbation habits. It still wasn't talked about among my friends and myself, even though I tried to bring up the topic many a time. Then one day, one of my mates said that he was going to have a competition to see who could stop wanking for the longest period of time. At this time, it was a revelation to me that my friends actually masturbated, and at first I was unsure about joining it. One reason was that I would have to admit that I masturbated, and the second reason was that I didn't want to stop doing something that felt so good (and I was still doing it two or three times a day). After much deliberation, I decided to join in on this challenge. At first it was a bit of fun; we all talked about how we masturbated and how often during our lunch breaks at school. But less than two weeks later, everybody was out of the competition — and happy for it.
After this revelation of it being normal to wank, and that my friends did it, I lost all the anxiety that I had been holding on to for so long. Soon after this, my best friend and I started to discuss sex, and this of course moved on to masturbation. Again, this was an interesting experience, and my friend and I shared techniques and thoughts on this topic which most guys by their teens have a fair bit of experience in. Then, after a joke in my chemistry class, two more of my friends began to discuss masturbation — again interesting, as it allowed for another meeting of minds on the topic. These discussions encompassed a number of areas, which also alleviated some other questions that had begun to work their way into my mind, such as penis size and the amount I could ejaculate. Like so many times before, I learned that I had nothing to worry about and that I should be happy with the way I am. From these discussions I became happier with my penis and the rest of my body, and began to experiment more and more in masturbation, from playing with my testicles to playing with my chest hair.
I still thoroughly enjoy masturbation. I have been freed from all the fear and anxiety that I had developed through my early teens, and I've got a new topic I can discuss with my friends. Looking back, I couldn't believe some of the things I worried about, especially what other people would think if they knew I masturbated. I like to think I have matured a lot, and I am glad that I've come to an understanding with how my body works and how to work off some excess energy and tension that builds up through some of my more stressful school days. It has also become more apparent how my habits have changed — from my sessions being quick and frenzied, to being able to relax and explore my feelings and body until climax.