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Rope Suspension and Driving – response to an analogy

I really enjoyed reading the OP and the comments. The analogy of driving and rope suspension rings true to me. They are both very mental and physical acts, requiring study, instruction, and practiced muscle memory.

Both driving and rope suspension and shibari can go badly wrong with the slightest accident or error in judgement. For instance, assuming the other side of the blind corner has a stop sign, and just plowing through, can lead to a fatal accident.

Or, a green light ahead at an intersection DOES NOT mean that all the cars are stopped and patiently waiting, especially in Houston. Assuming they are can get you killed.

Fear that making an error in driving judgment should not keep you from driving, however, but it should make you always conscious of your own potential to err, and the probability of others’ erring.

Similarly, there has to be a constant internal monitor in rope suspension considering everything that can go wrong, and then realizing everything CAN ABSOLUTELY go wrong despite your most careful attention.

I’ll bet other rope tops have come to the very pleasant realization that tying a TK and staying on the ground is so much more fun, sensual, connecting than constantly worrying about potential disaster that can happen in suspension.

After a Nerve and Joint clinic with @MissDoctor we were visiting about how dangerous the TK was. This could happen, that could happen, permanent injury could occur. One of the newer people in the group mentioned that they would NEVER tie a TK because it would cause injury.

Someone else said, “You know, we’re just talking about suspension, right?”.

Oh, yeah. A TK is very safe ON THE GROUND. All the rope incident reports have one thing in common: suspension.

Just because you CAN suspend, doesn’t mean you SHOULD.

Rope suspension is a very dangerous athletic activity. Other analogies are pole-vaulting, football, skiing, race-car driving, diving, parachuting, parkour, skate-boarding, acrobatics, etc.

The rope bottom has to be just as skilled as the rope top.

I have veered off my basic premise, which was appreciating the analogy promulgated by the OP, so I’ll just close it here. Thanks for the great post.

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Shibari at “Neon Boots” Southmore House “Naked Tuesdays”

Sometimes it’s fun to play in an “uncontrolled” environment – no dungeon monitors, unvetted guests, vanillas, alcohol, drugs, shaky and uncertain equipment, hosts without knowledge of the scene, gawkers completely unschooled in kink, insufficient space for backswings, loud music so you can’t hear your sub (well that’s usual anyway), horrible lighting (well that’s usual anyway).

It makes the play edgier, give the top WAY more to handle. Dealing with a boorish aggressive drunk is probably the most difficult of challenges. I have tied in semi-vanilla settings, but I had a great tripod, which formed kind of a natural perimeter. My difficulty not a drunken male, but a drunken femme friend of my “pick-up” sub, who was perfectly sober, had her own shibari hemp and wanted a suspension experience. Another actor in the scene was her boyfriend, also sober who had participated in our pre-scene negotiations.

The scene started off very well, the tying went well, and her rope was from the same rope company (DeGiotto) that I use, so I knew it’s length and properties very well. We were kneeling, and I had just finished her TK (she was going into sub-space) and was tying on her uplines when her girlfriend came up, smoking (yuk), and started talking to her and gave her a smoke. Naturally, I was stunned and horrified.

(Oh, this was a predominantly gay country-western bar on the outskirts of Houston and there were at least 60 people in close proximity to the tripod).

My sub handled this – coming out of subspace, she politely told her friend to step back – I was very grateful. She (and I) regained our composure and got her into the air in an easy face-down TK “donkey-kick”. My sub was deep in bottom-space, swinging easily and securely without stress. I did a hair-tie back to her ankles for a sort of suspended hogtie. She was up an easy 10 minutes, with frequent checks of grip, wrist strength, etc.

This was one of the few times where I felt like my check-ins interfered with my bottom’s sub-space. She had a body that was made for suspension and all the TK ropes fell in good places. It was just a great tie where everything worked out the first time.

I decided it was time to bring her down and back to reality.

I got her down and seated, still very much in space, and sure enough, here comes her friend, smoking of course! Chatter, chatter, chatter. “oh my god, that was so great, can I try it, can I try it”. I told her yes, but we needed to finish. She wouldn’t step back, so I blindfolded my sub with a Japanese tengu (which I didn’t make it back home with) and that helped right away.

Many unschooled vanillas think that as soon as you come down, or stop impact, the scene is over.

My sub didn’t want to be taken out of her TK (she was tied in her ropes, after all). We had a very minimum of aftercare (like 5 minutes). I sent her off with her boyfriend and untied her about 10 minutes later.

My mistakes:

1. not insisting she be fully untied before I relinquished “custody” of her. If she had tripped or somehow hurt herself, it would definitely have been my fault. She was fine, sober, but in retrospect, this was my biggest blunder. A friend pointed this out to me afterward, for which I am grateful.

2. not appointing her boyfriend as a dungeon monitor. He was sober and sitting close by in a chair watching the whole scene. He just had not been given instructions by me to guard the play space.

3. tying there in the first place. Well, it was a rope event, and it was fun, the sub enjoyed it, her boyfriend enjoyed it, and I’ll bet her smoking and inebriated friend enjoyed it, too. Pick-up play is high-risk. Oh, I enjoyed it.

4. not establishing a “perimeter” with rope, bystanders, etc. I could have easily done this.

5. I’m used to tying in protected environments – defined play spaces, dungeon monitors, knowledgeable bystanders, sturdy equipment, people who know CPR and first aid, etc.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! It was one of my best scenes ever. I wish I knew the bottom’s name – I’m not even sure she’s on Fetlife. She was wonderful, her boyfriend was polite and respectful, and they were both grateful for the scene, and so was I.

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Mechanical lifting advantage: Jute or Hemp?

(posted in the “shibari” group on Fetlife 8/10/2018)

When lifting either partial or full body weight, using a ring, and an Austrailian bight, I have never had difficulty achieving reasonable lift without using carabiners or pulleys. I had been using jute, which has been well treated and used over the past year or so, but not at all worn out.

Recently, I have had experiences where I was pulling up a hip harness, after a TK was locked off, and haven’t been able to achieve lift. Things just seemed stuck. I carefully examined the ropes I was pulling up on, and the rope that went down to the Y-attachment to the hip harness, making sure it was not jammed in any way, and everything seemed good, but I wasn’t getting the “mechanical advantage” of lift.

The weight/size of my bottoms has been not a factor in this difficulty. I am a fairly strong and fit person.

Then, it occurred to me that I had switched from jute to hemp for my uplines, reasoning that hemp is higher rated for strength. That switch was where this problem first began.

Is this a thing? Hemp is more “floppy” and “frictiony”. Maybe the jute, which is stiffer, lends itself to achieving this mechanical advantage.

(Note that I never, ever, ever rely on a single line to lift a tying partner!)

I am really loth to use mechanical devices, like carabiners or pulleys near the body, and stick to strictly natural Japanese technique. The downside of using these devices is obvious from a safety standpoint – they release suddenly and catastrophically. (Of course, I know it’s always up to me to keep the “brakes” on).

I frequently tie on a single right, using 3 – 4 uplines. I want to be able to easily raise/lower and then raise again any part of the body, or the entire body, confidently and smoothly, so the experience of my partner is serene and fulfilling.

Should I go back to jute for uplines?

Has anyone else had difficulty with hemp achieving mechanical lifting advantage or should I look somewhere else for the problem?

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Rope Drop – dealing with it

Call it rope drop, bottom drop, top drop (this one rhymes!) whatever you call it, it’s a real bummer!

Have you ever had this happen?

(switching to 2nd person writing, which I almost never do)

You go to a weeknight tying event.  You meet a great friend a do a scene onstage.  You’re in a great mood, she’s in a great mood. The rope co-operates, the scene is hot, the patterns work well, and the imagination is firing on all cylinders.  Suspensions work, ground-play works, you have a great connection and intimacy, both sexy and fun! So much laughing, enjoyment, and pure bliss!

It’s a great night!  Great pictures, compliments from onlookers, you’re on cloud 9, and so is your partner!

Sure, you’re out a little late, but there was no alcohol involved and you feel great the next morning – you practically wake up glowing.  That next day you exchange texts with your rope partner about the great time and talk about which ties you liked best and how wonderful the whole night was.  All the next day, you are practically floating! Continue reading “Rope Drop – dealing with it”

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Strappado Armbinder

I recently was asked to assist in a photo shoot in Houston Texas.

Model (Instagram - sweet_amber_xoxo) bound in strappado armbinder.
Model (Instagram – sweet_amber_xoxo) bound in strappado armbinder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another image:

Amber in Strappado Armbinder, image by Mark Richard Hudson
Amber in Strappado Armbinder, image by Mark Richard Hudson, bondage by felixdartmouth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion:

I had been interested to try a shibari strappado armbinder that I had seen described in the following YouTube video:

I found this video interesting because of the “fast” nature of the tie and the difference between this method of executing a shibari strappado and other methods that I have been taught.  Notice that Moco Jute describes this as a tie for persons with “limited flexibility”.

A common element in this tie described in the Moco Jute video and the tie I did for the shibari shooting is the single column tie to start the tie at the wrists, behind the back, but it quickly departs in method from that point.  4 – 5 wraps are made around the arms and then secured over the shoulders and behind the neck.  From that point, the line is simply used to gather the line between the arms, pulling them together.  Having practiced this only once before the image above, I ran into problems with having a band near the bottom’s “funny bone” and my partner and I had to consequently quit the tie.

In the case of the model Amber, her arms and elbows were very surprisingly flexible.  Her elbows and forearms could easily touch behind her back so after the horizontal bands were made around her arms, the loops between the arms, gathering the bands pulled her arms completely together and hardly left room for inserting additional loops.  As you can see, the tie is extremely strict and restrictive.

There are many women for whom a classic takate kote is not accessible for various physical reasons, but there is no reason why they should be deprived of the tight and fulfilling bondage experience that they and their partners desire.

Please feel free to comment below your own experiences.