I’ve been playing with different ways of doing the hojo cuff. It’s an incredibly useful little rope move, but as with any tie, working out how to do it smoothly as a part of play can be in interesting challenge.
Here’s what I’ve got so far. It’s all about the finger work… and the dominance.
The hojo cuff is incredibly useful as a versatile method to add more bondage and restriction into a tie, or to use up your excess rope.
It’s incredibly visually appealing as well. I’ve seen some fantastic photos using hojo cuffs all the way along the arms…. and I look forward to experimenting with that at some stage.
At the moment, I most frequently use that cuff when I tie a variation on the Tengu. Because goddamn that position is useful!
Typically, when I’m tying the Tengu, I start with one wrist, and make that a single column tie. And then, after moving that wrist into the position I want it to be in, I stretch the rope across the back… and then it’s time to tie that hojo cuff.
This is where it gets into what my friend Dexter calls the “soft skills” of rope. It’s less about the technical aspects, and more about inspiring the right feelings in the person I’m tying.
I like to seize the other wrist in one hand. A firm grip, an assertive grip. One that lets the person I’m tying know that I’m taking possession of her wrist. It’s mine now.
I’ll leave one thumb sticking upwards, with her wrist caught in my fingers, and begin tying OVER that thumb. The thumb becomes a spacer, keeping that space between the rope and her wrist – because I’m going to make use of that later.
I’ll do a couple of wraps over the thumb. I’m maintaining my grip the whole time. Not crushingly tight – just firm. Captured. I don’t want to bruise her, I just want to let her know she’s mine.
Tying The Hojo Cuff Smoothly
For the next part, once I have my wraps in place, I like to bring the rope down, and then slide an index finger down beside my thumb, making use of that space I’ve left myself to begin that crochet hook process, hooking my working end and bringing it under my wraps.
That’s really difficult to show with pictures, so I took a short video showing the technique.
As you can see, as I start the finger hooking, I have to let go of the wrist. But at this point, I have a couple of bands of my rope around it anyway, so some of that assertive pressure remains – when it’s not interrupted with me fiddling with sleeves.
And then I can move on to continuing the tie.
So tying the hojo cuff this way FEELS really smooth, most of the time, and adding in that dominant grip is something I find my rope models really enjoy. It adds that extra bit of personal touch, and I’ve been told they really like it when I do that.
As always, you want to make sure you have an even tension on the rope leading away from the cuff, and that the tension and that rope gets locked off somewhere, so that the cuff doesn’t collapse. You might want to create a hitch snugging up against the cuff, as shown in the Christian Red Tengu.
Try it out, and let me know what you think. It’ll take a bit of practice, but I think it’s worth it. If you come across a useful addition to the technique, I’d love for you to share it in the comments.
