Rope bondage can run the gamut from simple and sensual to elaborate and intense. Variations in American, European and Asian cultures have spawned varieties in styles over the years and if you look, you can find an international rope bondage culture, teaching and tying all over the world.
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~~ whips & kisses, O
read and learn about...
- A deep and abiding love of fiber
- How-To Do Rope Bondage
- Decorative Rope Bondage
- Rope How-To and Safety
- The Bible of Knots
- Restrictive Rope Bondage
- Rope Riggers
- Endurance Bondage
- More Bondage Books and Videos
- Suggestions For A Starter Rope Kit
- Rope Bondage Gallery
- Rope Resources
- Rope Bondage Video Demo
A deep and abiding love of fiber
or, how I got started doing rope bondage
I love rope. I've always like braiding and twisting. I liked crochet. I like dyeing rope a lot. But most of all, I like to tie stuff up.I started with dolls and toys as a kid. Really. I snapped a lot of Barbie doll legs off at the hip, trying to figure out how to tie her in a spreadeagle. And then one day when I was in my early teens, I stopped.
A good decade and then some later, I had a job, selling kinky books via mail order while I was in grad school (studying fiber) and I took a class on tying decorative rope body harnesses. That was it, I knew playing with rope was for me.
I've had the pleasure of taking rope bondage classes from Lou Duff, Fetish Diva Midori, the Two Knotty Boys, Mark Yu, Kaye Buckley and Jay Wiseman.
During 2004-2005, I hosted a freeform practice 'salon' once a month that was specifically so people could practice rope bondage. That was one of the best experiences I've had with rope. I'm also a graduate of Midori's Rope Dojo Intensive.
this image: rope by Orthia on model Bridget Harrington, photography by SN Jacobson.
How-To Do Rope Bondage
The San Francisco rope scene is incredibly rich and vibrant. I've taken classes from all of the teacher/writers below and each brought a unique approach and energy to their rope.
Jay Wiseman's Erotic Bondage Handbook
I was pretty honored that Jay asked me if I'd share some of my rope experiences with him as part of his research for his book. I recall him specifically asking me about safety and logistics as a shorter woman who tends to top a lot of tall guys. I took all my First Aid and First Responder training from Jay when I lived in SF, and his stuff is great for beginners.
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Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 07/06/2009) 
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The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage
Some of the dyed rope seen in the photo shoots in this books was dyed by me back when I was studiying with Lou Duff and dyeing rope for her to sell at her classes.
This is a great book for the intermediate to experienced rope rigger. It presents various traditional Japanese rope bondage ties with written instruction and nice illustrations, as well as a large full-color image of the finished tie as done by Midori. The photography by Craig Morey is excellent and captures each tie in an evocative setting.
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Two Knotty Boys Showing You The Ropes: A Step-by-Step, Illustrated Guide for Tying Sensual and Decorative Rope Bondage
The Two Knotty Boys are better known as JD and Dan in the Bay Area. In addition to teaching hands-on workshop/demos they also do rope-oriented performances in local clubs.
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Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price: $16.95
Used Price: $9.96
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Decorative Rope Bondage
Rope bondage doesn't have to be restrictive or uncomfortable in the least. It can be tied so as to be decorative, accentive and sensual. Tying rope body harnesses is a good way to play with rope without any body restriction. The pattern variations are endless.Rope can be tied over bare skin or over clothing. With a bit of intention as you tie it, you can cover or emphasize whatever parts of the body you wish, leaving specific areas purposely open or uncovered by the lines. Rope corsets are a lovely addition over a close-fitting top and a full skirt. Use .5" to 1" rope for corsets.
Body harnesses can be done with nylon, hemp or cotton. Cotton is nice on bare skin, nylon is good for a harness that can be tied tight enough to go out dancing in. Hemp is good for over slinky clothing, as it clings to itself well.
Shown here is a rope body harness I tied on a go-go dancer at the Camp Arachnid Rope Bondage Fashion Show benefit in SF a few years ago. She wore it and danced all night.
Rope How-To and Safety
Bondage specific rope resources and organizations
Here are some web sites that cover some basics and safety for rope bondage. This is really a skill that is best learned with live instruction, demos and supervised practice. Review the material on these sites, but also check out the Rope Community links to find riggers to learn from and practice with.
- MorTis's 6 HARD RULES OF ROPE BONDAGE
- According to MorTis of Chicago Rope And Mummification (CRAM), there are six main rules of Bondage that should never be broken.
- Rope For Pleasure Safety Guide
- Rope bondage like any other form of consensual SM needs to be done safely. Each person involved needs to take personal responsibility for their participation.
- NawaShibari.com
- A documentation of explorations in Japanese style bondage, and a creative outlet for the art. Free bondage tutorials and erotic gallery
- Tammad's Bondage How-To Page
- In all my bondage lectures I make a point of mentioning that every intricate rope bondage I do can be re-created using only three knots: the overhand knot, the square knot, and the French Bowline. You don't need to know much about knots to create beautiful and inescapable bondage! *warm smile*
The Bible of Knots
Overall, you DO NOT need to know a lot of fancy knots to do rope bondage. If you can do a square knot and an overhand knot reliably, that's really all you need to get started. In rope bondage, it's really important that you can tie a knot that will hold, and then untie when you need it to, rather than being able to do dozens of fancy knots with your eyes closed. However, most riggers get curious or start looking for ways to expand their repertiore and often, learning more knots is part of that.
Ashley Book of Knots
Amazon Price: $50.40 (as of 07/06/2009)
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Over 6000 knots are explored in this book, organized in chapters based on what they were used for. Great histories are included, name variations, and illustrations to follow along for tying.
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Restrictive Rope Bondage
Shown here is an arm binder
I love tying restrictive rope bondage. It can be done as simply or as elaborately as you or your rope partner might wish. The idea behind restrictive rope is that it holds some body part in place or impedes certain (or any) movement but it doesn't necessarily imply that it does so in a way that causes discomfort.This is my friend John. He liked when things were tight so that he could pull against them without much give, and yet he liked when it was snug all over too. This is a restrictive upper body arm harness, made using some climbing webbing and nylon rope. The looped webbing provides structure and support for the arm ropes.
The color combination makes for a festive appearance, and the nylon fibers are soft and slick against bare skin. Overall, this is a fairly comfortable rigging that can be kept on for a prolonged time.
Rope Riggers
Riggers are those who do the tying in rope bondage. They all have their own styles and approaches.
- Fire Horse Productions
- Fetish Diva Midori is the teachign powerhouse behind Fire Horse Productions, and she offers a one-of-a-kind Rope Dojo intensive.
- Ki Musubi: the Knotty Energies
- Ki Musubi: the Knotty Energies. This site also offers a regular rope bondage podcast.
- ropelover.com
- Welcome to my longing to have ropes wrapped around my flesh, to twist my body and my will around my lovers, to discipline, to show the ways of longing to those I encounter.
- Erotic Art Culture Kinbaku | The Jade Gate
- Blog by Mark Yu, Kinbaku/Nawa Shibari artist/educator, Bamboo artist and Feng Shui design consultant. Devotee of Taoist Oriental Medicine and Zen. Acupuncturist and healer. Developer, educator and advocate of progressive alternative energetic and bio-mechanically based body disciplines.
- Two Knotty Boys
- Welcome to the home of Two Knotty Boys, San Francisco's popular dynamic duo of rope bondage instruction, rigging and performance.
- Shibaricon : Worlds premier annual pansexual Japanese rope bondage convention.
- Shibaricon, japanese rope bondage conference and exhibition that focuses on education and infomation exchange. Takes place in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. There are instructional tracks specifically for those wishing to learn rope bondage and you get to learn from dozens of the world's best riggers.
- Bondage Expert: Chanta Rose
- Learn to tie up your lover for the hottest, tightest bondage sex. Sex Bondage lessons and Workshops by Chanta Rose; ex-pornstar, bondage rigger, webmistress and troublemaker!
- RopeRigger.com
- private rope bondage portfolio site of JD, an expert in the art of fusion bondage and a member of the Two Knotty Boys
Endurance Bondage
Take a look at the hogtie
A lot of riggers and rope bottoms I know love hogties. There is room for a lot of variation to the overall form and it can be adapted to a lot of uses. In Japanese, the word for this position is "ebi" which means shrimp. I especially like hogties, as they involve the whole body, and they can be very intellectual for those inclined to be escape artists.Essentially, in a hogtie the arms are restrained behind the torso, most often tied forearm to forearm. Then the person is laid down on a horizontal surface and the ankles are tied together and then the legs get folded up and tied to the body.
This tie can be stressful and is considered endurance bondage as it puts stress on most of the body at once. For people who aren't flexible enough to get their arms behind their backs, or who have knee problems, it's best to modify this tie to relieve those areas, or just pick another form.
The tied person can be on their stomach, on their side or on their back, although that last one is hard to endure for many. This is a good option when there aren't other tie-down points, as the person winds up tied to themselves.
In the picture here, my willing victim has been hogtied and then an extra line was run from his head to his big toes, so any straining or wiggling set up a whole cascade of body sensation.
More Bondage Books and Videos
for further study and practice
Explore the world of rope bondage with more print and video imagery.
Suggestions For A Starter Rope Kit
Here are some suggestions for how to get started if you are just beginning to assemble your own rope kit.
To finish the ends of your rope so that it doesn't unravel, you can either melt the ends (good for nylon), tape them or whip them (sewn finish). Some riggers mark the ends so that they can tell the length of the rope at a glance.
The biggest question people starting their exploration of rope bondage ask is "how long should my rope be?" There's no one answer for this. Remember you can always cut longer ropes down but too long and you just wind up with a tangled mess to deal with. I like some 25' lengths, a few 50' lengths and I tend to keep one 100' length on hand in case I tie a rope corset or something really elaborate. Some people like to have some 12' and 6' lengths in their kit for tiny tie jobs or for making connections if you run out of rope and just need a few more feet to finish what you are tying.
Thickness for rope bondage most often runs from 1/4" rope to 5/8" but you might find that a specific tie is best done with thinner or thicker. You don't want the line cutting into your bondage model too much or it can be too uncomfortable and cut short your scene.
Always, always, always have safety shears on hand. These are a rope rigger's #1 piece of safety equipment. The blades are designed so that you can slip them right up against the skin and they will cut through clothing, rope, leather cuffs and even thin metal. Have more than one pair around so you can always find them. It's much cheaper to destroy a piece of rope than it is to have to heal a human being. I like to have one pair on my belt and one pair in my gear bag when I do rope bondage on someone.
To finish the ends of your rope so that it doesn't unravel, you can either melt the ends (good for nylon), tape them or whip them (sewn finish). Some riggers mark the ends so that they can tell the length of the rope at a glance.
The biggest question people starting their exploration of rope bondage ask is "how long should my rope be?" There's no one answer for this. Remember you can always cut longer ropes down but too long and you just wind up with a tangled mess to deal with. I like some 25' lengths, a few 50' lengths and I tend to keep one 100' length on hand in case I tie a rope corset or something really elaborate. Some people like to have some 12' and 6' lengths in their kit for tiny tie jobs or for making connections if you run out of rope and just need a few more feet to finish what you are tying.
Thickness for rope bondage most often runs from 1/4" rope to 5/8" but you might find that a specific tie is best done with thinner or thicker. You don't want the line cutting into your bondage model too much or it can be too uncomfortable and cut short your scene.
Always, always, always have safety shears on hand. These are a rope rigger's #1 piece of safety equipment. The blades are designed so that you can slip them right up against the skin and they will cut through clothing, rope, leather cuffs and even thin metal. Have more than one pair around so you can always find them. It's much cheaper to destroy a piece of rope than it is to have to heal a human being. I like to have one pair on my belt and one pair in my gear bag when I do rope bondage on someone.
Rope Bondage Gallery
rope bondage
Pefect example of Burning Man Synergy.
this is the best image of my rope work.
Rope on the playa
lovely rope work
Rope Resources
Rope suppliers
Please note that some of these rope resources are not kink-oriented and make your correspondence to them appropriate.
- Rainbow Bondage Rope
- Rainbow Rope has got the LARGEST selection of Bondage rope found anywhere
- Japan Rope
- Japanese hemp bondage rope for the discriminating connoisseur.
- Hemp Emporium
- hemp emporium is your source for hemp products online
- US Rope Cable
- Manila rope, nylon rope, and climbing rope are just a few of our wide selection of rope products, along with shock cord, aircraft cable and chain.
Rope Bondage Video Demo
Here are some bondage videos where you can see rope work being done, or even follow along to learn a few ties.
