The Playroom - The Beauty of Shibari, Japanese Rope Bondage

This week we are welcoming author Kallypso Masters, author of the Rescue Me series. While researching her next book, Nobody's Hero (which I will be reading the minute I can get my hands on it), she delved into the world of Japanese Rope Bondage otherwise known as Shibari. Today she is going to share with us a little of what she's learned about this amazing art form.

Welcome!

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In researching scenes for my Rescue Me BDSM erotic romance series, I delved into Shibari (rope bondage; known as Kinbaku in Japan) for a character who is a master at this skill. Shibari originated in Japan as a form of martial arts and was used to restrain prisoners and as a method of torture back in the day. Today, it is most often associated with the BDSM community as a form of intense and artistic bondage.

 

I find Shibari to be an art form that is beautiful to watch and looks as if it would be very erotic to participate in, although I haven't done so (yet). For a lovely introduction to the art of Shibari, you might like to view this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4VCuI2k6J8. (They're advertising the book, The Art of Shibari (Kinbaku) and its History, by Master K.

Some rope masters are more skilled than others, but for the submissives, bottoms, or models who are restrained by the ropes, I am told it leaves them totally vulnerable and at the mercy of whatever the Dom/Master wants to do. *shivers* Please don't allow yourself to be tied like this unless 1) you are in a safe place where others can intervene if necessary (such as a fetish club) and 2) you trust the person tying you up without reserve. But they also say the experience of being restrained by ropes is very freeing when the submissive "embraces the rope" and surrenders completely.

Of course, there are many inherent dangers to rope bondage, including permanent nerve damage, sprains, broken bones, and even death. Even the simple tying of a submissive's wrists can lead to nerve damage, so it is imperative that those wanting to explore this type of bondage learn all they can—preferably at the hands of another master. (Not virtually online or in videos, although I will be showing you some videos here, just to give you an idea of what this form of bondage can entail.)

A guide for rope bottoms and bondage models (http://rope-topia.com/downloads/tutorials/rope_bottom_guide.pdf), by "Clover," is an excellent guide telling of the precautions to take, especially with bondage of wrists, armpits, and neck. Please read this fairly short tutorial before you proceed even with simple rope bondage.

 

For a scene in Nobody's Angel (Rescue Me #2), Master Adam, my Marine Dom who is my Shibari master in the series, performed the Teppou technique, which means "gun," seen in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gy2JyfHFfs. I used this video to inspire the scene, although I wrote more about the emotions of the act rather than a "tutorial."

In a scene in Nobody's Hero (Rescue Me #3), I am sharing an inverted suspension Shibari scene. (Inverted means the sub will be suspended upside down—this is extremely dangerous and not for amateurs to attempt). I'd love to share an excerpt, but that scene is still being reviewed by my rope master to make sure it's safe and sane before I share it with readers later this month. The video that inspired this scene is very long and breaks up a lot, which can be frustrating to watch—but the expression on the model's face in the early part of the video shows how sensuous Shibari can be. http://vimeo.com/30842482 (Warning: Some nudity in this one and wax play.)

I also found this video of a woman who suspends herself. This is the first time I've seen this done, but it seems more like a rope trick to me. I like watching the play between the master and the sub/bottom/model. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Torrg5yjBd8&feature=related.

To read two connected blogs I wrote with back-to-back excerpts of the Teppou scene from Nobody's Angel, go to http://kallypsomasters.blogspot.com/search/label/Teppou. There's also a video posted in the second blog—scroll way down—showing how to do a hair corset with rope, which Master Adam also does on Karla to get her hair out of his way. (Warning: Master Adam was in the Marines for 25 years and he does use the F word, but only to himself in this scene.)

I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of the possibilities of Shibari with the right rope master. (There also are other forms of rope bondage that are equally beautiful, but my research has been focused on the Shibari type.)

You can find me as Kallypso Masters on Facebook (personal and author pages), Twitter (@kallypsomasters), and Goodreads. Thank you, Sherri, for inviting me to share some of my Shibari research with your readers!