My first experience of shibari (Japanese rope bondage)
- N O
- Aug 23
- 2 min read
When I was 19 a friend brought me along to a Japanese rope bondage class to be her "rope bunny". We were five minutes late and received a couple of disapproving looks because we were interrupting the slideshow on wabi sabi philosophy. I remember thinking that the lights were too bright, the room wasn't warm enough and feeling generally self conscious (in the way that a 19 year old does).
But the moment my friend's ropes touched my skin and wrapped around my body, pulling in tight, I was completely transported into a blissful haze. Everything else was dimmed but the sensation of the ropes, the warmth of her body so close, but not touching, the sounds of the rope ends hitting the floor and the sensation of her hair falling across my shoulder, her hands instructing me. I felt completely captivated and in a trance.
Being tied up feels like being slowly seduced. I've always been fascinated by this space before things progress to the act itself, where the glimpse of lingerie beneath clothing causes a rush of nervous excitement, where I make excuses to touch you, where a question still hangs on our lips or dances in our eyes.
Shibari, when done well, becomes an extension of how we touch each other, how we suggest, how we tease. It’s an extension of flirtation, intentional sexuality disguised as accidental eroticism. It is the erotic language, the flirtatious dance, condensed into an art form that can be studied and mastered.
Anna Bones, a rope top in Holland, says "rope is a language" with 3 elements; tension, speed and tempo.
"If the only thing you can do is tie really fast and really tight, that's not interesting. But if you tie really fast and really tight because you want to, that's really interesting.”
You can see the full video here
I really love the videos from Shibari study online.
They do a great job of demonstrating the full spectrum of what Shibari is and is not.
Here’s another you may enjoy.
Love,
Nina x
Comments