For this post, I’m going to be going over the basic principles of tying a chest harness, which is a pretty awesome tie. I use them a LOT, for various different purposes.
This post is for people who want to be tied up; and for rope tops who want to link the people they tie to a useful education resource.
(Such as myself! Instead of doing lots of talking, I’m just going to say “here’s something I prepared earlier” and link my aspiring rope bottom here, because I’m EFFICIENT. Not lazy at all. )
This post covers:
– pre-reading regarding safety
– responsibilities when bottoming
– negotiation
– health disclosure
– tricks and tips for being an awesome rope bottom
My life has changed quite a bit in the last few months. In lots of good ways, and in some less good ways… such as losing momentum with my own rope learning. So I’ve been thinking about ways to learn more, faster.
The beauty of shibari as a means of bondage is in the simplicity (it is actually really simple, which is why I like it).
But unless someone shows you how to do some of the awesome, foreign, amazing looking twists and turns, then it’s harder to pick up and your confidence won’t be great when it comes to “doing it right”.
There’s tying wrists, and then there’s tying wrists in such a way that it’s prettier, more inescapable, and pretty much guaranteed not to tighten down on your partner.
All of which I’m a fan of.
So today I’m going to share my favorite way of doing that.
As a general rule, I keep my jute rope pretty clean. Because I really like my rope; I put a lot of time into purchasing it, cutting it to the sizes I like, and treating it so that it becomes a joy to tie with as soon as possible.
So as you can imagine, I go to a lot of effort to take care of it.
I store it in bags, put it on high up shelves away from the floor, NEVER EVER TIE IN THE MUD, that sort of thing.
However, inevitably, it does become less than pristine. With the play I do, it’s bound to get sexual fluids and other stuff on it at some point. It’s going to need cleaning.
Below are my notes on doing that, based on research through my favorite rope forums and books.
There’s often a bit of a debate about how to finish your rope ends, whether to knot them or whip them.
They do need finishing, because otherwise your rope tends to unravel.
Honestly, I started off with knotted because it just seemed like the simplest way of doing it. It’s quick, easy, and takes no time at all. Just a quick overhand knot, and you’re done.
But after awhile, as I got more into rope, and I began enjoying the smooth flow of the movement and the interaction with people as I tied them, I began to encounter something that irritated me more and more over time.
There’s something incredibly annoying about when you’re in the middle of a smooth pull, you’re in the zone, the person you’re tying is caught up in it all, and then your rope gets goddamned stuck as you pull it beneath some wraps or behind your stem.
And you have to pause, jerk at it, untangle it. It’s freaking frustrating! Because, as the Emperor says, it throws you off your groove.
You’re no longer feeling zen and caught up in the moment; you’ve experienced a spike of irritation which has messed with your scene. The person you’re tying may not have noticed, but you sure have.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve had that happen, and had it detract from the flow of the moment during a rope scene.
One of the best things about shibari is that the lengths of the rope you use are reasonably short and manageable.
This means you don’t have to waste tremendous amounts of time pulling through enormous lengths of rope and risk getting it tangled around your feet, making you look silly.
That said, you do need to add on additional lengths from time to time, so this post shows how to do that.
I’m a kinky guy who once upon a time was challenged by his girlfriend to tie her up… and at the time, didn’t have a clue how.
That was six years ago.
A lot has changed since then… to the point where I’m now documenting, sharing information, and showing other people how to do all the things I couldn’t do back then.
I even wrote a book, designed to help everyone who comes here get past all the problems and difficult bits quickly, easily, and a lot more smoothly than I did.
Learning rope bondage in isolation is really, REALLY hard…
So I want to make it easier. For me, and for everyone else!
Try the “Start Here” page first; it makes it easier to find the good stuff!