Okay, here we go again with a DIFFERENT version of the tengu, because while the last one wasn’t a bad introduction to the tie, per se; it could have been better. So here we go.
First off – I have realized that I am severely out of practice taking photo notes. Also, these pics were taken after dark using a ring light, and… yeah, there is no substitute for natural light. I was also working with a new model… and all in all, I feel like I was off my game.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I really am. I will replace these pictures one day with better ones.
That said, this particular version of a Tengu tie actually works really well, even for people with shoulder issues. So… while the pictures are NOT great, the tie itself is actually pretty sweet. I’ve tested it on a couple of different models who had different shoulder problems, and it went great.
Very importantly; I did not come up with the base of this Tengu tie. I’ve absolutely made these notes from a video that Christian Red did, over on Youtube. The reason why I’ve made additional notes is because I have no idea how long his stuff is going to be up on Youtube, and I wanted my own notes in case it ever goes down.
I’ve also gone slightly beyond and added my own addition to his presumably original design, because I realized there was something that could be added for additional restriction.
Okay: here we go.
Tengu Tie The Second:
You’ll remember that the Tengu tie is basically supposed to reinforce and keep someone in roughly this position.
Well with this model, that particular position actually screws with her shoulder and upper arm somewhat, possibly due to an old injury.
So for this wonderful person, we’re modifying the position slightly, but otherwise keeping the basic pattern of the tie. I’m keeping her wrist in front of her shoulder, so she’s not in pain.
It’s a useful variation in position that keeps a lot of the benefits of the Tengu for those who may not have the same mobility as others.
I’m starting with a single column tie on the wrist, and then drawing the rope across her back to the other wrist.
Once we get to the other wrist, we create a hojo cuff, similarly to how I showed you in the last tutorial.
It’s very helpful to make the wrist portions of this tie reasonably loose, as we’ll want that space later on to add something else in. You can use your finger as a spacer, using it to measure the distance away from the wrist where the cuff will be (I have not captured that very well with these notes).
I did not make enough space in the next picture, but ignore that. The important thing is that there’s a hojo cuff, maybe with an additional hitch for friction, if you feel like it.
Once you’ve completed your cuff, you take the rope across the back and down, slanting towards the lower chest.
It’s good to wrap the rope around just below breast level; not low on the floating ribs, but slightly higher, so there’s a sturdy base beneath the rope. Once it’s around, we bring the rope back up the back, crossing over the strands already there.
When you get crossing strands of rope like this, it’s often fun to lock them together. This lets you add to the stability of the tie, and also looks neat!
In the next picture, I’ve literally just twisted the rope around each band, and kept going in the direction of the arrows. I’m about to bring it over the shoulder, and down to create a cute harness on the front.
Bringing the rope over the shoulder, we’re now coming down the back and doing exactly what we did earlier, crossing the rope over the strands we find, reasonably symmetrically to what we did before. Now it’s starting to look pretty.
This is where the tie starts to get more interesting, and where I really start to appreciate Christian’s design for the Tengu. Once we’ve got the rope down here, he actually addresses the issue of restraining the elbows somewhat.
In this design, we take the working end of our rope around the elbow in the direction the rope was travelling in. So bring it in under the armpit, and then up towards the wrist cuff.
And THEN. Just to make it even smarter – in order to keep this line where you want it to be, you can attach it to the cuff with a hitch. IF you’ve left enough space in the cuff to get the rope through when you were first tying it.
Once your hitch is complete, you bring the rope down to where it began to go around the elbow, just below the armpit. And then you hitch it again to lock it in place, effective restraining the arm into another column tie. It’s a neat little design.
Once you’ve done that, you repeat the process by taking the rope across the back, and then doing the other arm, in exactly the same way.
You end up with this gorgeous, symmetrical little design across the back, and a pretty reasonable Tengu tie. it’s nice and flat, and you can finish it however you want. A good little tie for play of all kinds, and restraint. Great work Christian! Love your stuff.
I’ve taken it a step further to add yet more restriction, just in case you want to lock those elbows down even further and add more restraint.
Once you finish adding those elbow bands in back, you can bring your working end around the front.
The idea here is we want to add some tension to the elbows in front as well, so there’s restraining tension both in back of the tie, and in front. This locks down your person pretty securely.
We accomplish this by creating yet more hojo cuffs, this time encompassing the entire lower elbow.
You may not need to do this if you’re using the traditional tengu position with the hands out to the side of the shoulders, and you have sufficient restraining tension in the back; but it’s a really nice option to have if you have a squirmy person you’re playing with or if you’ve had to alter the position, as I have.
It’s a little bit messy once you’ve got both your cuffs done, (and added more rope, as I have) but you can tidy that a bit by adding yet another hitch. Which seems to be a theme for this tie.
What’s really useful to note with regards to these hojo cuffs, is that the tighter they are, the more that’s going to affect the wrists. The tension on the hojo cuffs on the elbows pulls inward; the tension on the wrists pulls outward. You want to achieve a balance in these opposing forces so that the wrists are still comfortable, and the rope is not too tight. A comfortable restraint that does not cause damage.
Next, I’ve just taken the rope around the back again in the direction it was travelling in, and then sneakily slid it up toward the middle to do some kind of lock and finish it off. It’s a tiny bit asymmetric, but that’s fine. Gotta finish it somehow.
I’ve played with this version of the tie a couple of times, and it’s been quite fun, and quite secure. There’s more variation to test and fiddle with, but I really like this design a hell of a lot more than the last one.
One thing I’m going to experiment with in future is locking those front hojo cuffs in place on the elbows, so they don’t slide off. Probably by creating a cinch to the initial elbow restraint, between the arms and the torso. Not a tight cinch; just something to hold everything in place.
And that’s it! This is a tengu tie that I’d use in play, and really enjoy using. I’m going to call it the Christian Red Tengu – and the Christian Red Tengu (Mark 2) when I’m using the front hojo cuffs.
Rope bottom feedback is that this feels quite restraining, and also quite a lot like a “hug”. I’m guessing that’s the tension on the front and back squeezing them in. I like that it sits quite flat and definitely achieves the job of restraint in this position.
And, as usual, the process of creating this post has really helped me memorize the pattern. Love learning new stuff!
