We are beginners in a long term exploration of erotic Japanese rope bondage, often referred to as kinbaku, or shibari. Right now, around 18 months into this journey, we do feel as though we're making some reasonable progress, but at every turn you discover there is still so much more to learn!
Our approach to learning has included a variety of methods. Books, website tutorials, Vimeo and YouTube, and specialist tutorial sites such as ShibariClasses - where we are currently studying their Hishi Pattern Ties Made Easy course.
We back that up with solo practice (on a foot or leg, arms of chairs, pillows, etc) and with our own process of critical review (including feedback in real-time and afterwards) and we've also found that a more leisurely review of photographs that we've taken can reveal a lot. As a bonus, we now have a growing collection of sexy rope bondage photos, but that's another story! ;-)
Examples from the main tutorial videos...
In this article we'll discuss our thoughts on this one specific course, and you can judge for yourself whether this "class" style of video teaching would help you to learn. Over the last week or so we have been focused on the upper section of this classic hishi tie, so we'll include some example photos throughout.
Lower friction faces the wrong way, missing the aesthetic beauty of the rope contact to breast in the lower diamond shape...
The course Hishi Pattern Ties Made Easy is presented as six teaching videos, plus a bonus performance video from Bound (Vinciens & Kenyade) along with some additional video links and notes. In three of the videos Nina ties her model, Kiera, in three different styles: Hishi Body Tie, Classic Hishi Gote and a Hishi Futo Momo. The three additional teaching videos feature Nina and Bruce expanding in detail on specific techniques. These are Notes on Tying Direction, Pro Rope Handling Tips, and Some Rules for Frictions.
We spotted a couple of errors after reviewing our photographs, but at least we got the lower friction correct this time...
One of the features we've found most helpful with ShibariClasses is that from every tutorial we have come away with far more than a single new technique. Every video is peppered with subtle handling tips, suggestions and alternative methods. We enjoy the conversational style and being able to repeatedly watch sections that might appear confusing at first has really helped us to learn.
In addition, each course is accompanied with a Disqus chat, accessible while you're studying the course, and we've used this facility on several occasions to ask follow up questions. There's no denying this is a very generous bonus and an opportunity to receive advice directly from Bruce and/or Nina.
The rear view is not (yet!) as aesthetically pleasing as we would like to see, but we're still practising...
The first and longest video section of the tutorial (around 30 mins) focuses on the basic principals of the hishi diamond pattern tie. This first technique does not directly incorporate the arms, but Nina includes some suggestions about that towards the end of the video. There's lots to take in, and we have watched sections repeatedly to get the most out of the course.
There are variations in the technique, influenced by direction, the particular diamond being formed, and so on. All of this is explained clearly and in excellent detail. After this section, not only will you have learned a beautiful tie in its own right, but you will also have learned the "building block" that you'll be able to apply in many other situations.
This stem was neater, and the additional half-hitch on the upper arms made it feel more reassuringly secure...
Although we haven't moved on to practice it yet, the course also features a classic hishi gote. It's a shorter video, since the first section of the course covered so many of the basics. In the video there are a couple of improvements that Nina suggests - a friction that ideally would have been positioned a little higher.
We found this very helpful too. Things will not always be perfect, and rather than edit or re-record the segment, it's simply a feature of the tie that's left in place and so we are learning suggestions for sliding the misplaced friction and essentially how to work around it.
With a little more time for us to practice, I suspect this hishi gote will ultimately become our favourite tie from the course.
We were running out of rope and finished up with a very simple arm wrap, but it's not particularly functional...
The third technique is a hishi futo momo. It's an interesting technique, and you can see that it has the potential to be very pleasing, although to be honest neither of us felt altogether enthused by it. We'll give it a few practice runs, but I'm not yet sure whether it will become a regular part of our repertoire.
In wrapping all this up, I'll add that I think some of supplementary sections of this tutorial set are exceptional. The section discussing frictions and directions is probably the single best explanation I have ever come across for why a friction should be formed in a specific direction.
Examples from the supplementary "detail" videos...
So, the big question has to be, are we now able to address the title of this blog post: can you learn shibari from a video?
With a disclaimer that you mustn't expect this to be some kind of magical shortcut, we'd say an enthusiastic - yes. It's absolutely possible for this to be a major (and perhaps the primary) part of your learning. But, expect to supplement it with some reading and background research - and lots of practice.
A personal tip from us would be take lots of photos, even if you have no intention of ever sharing them. In the heat of the moment we've often been oblivious to many of our errors, and subsequent reviews of our photos has been a key element for us in seeking to improve our techniques.
Since posting this article, we've featured some new photos of this tie in our article: 19. Dishevelment Whilst Tied in Shibari Rope.
And finally in conclusion, if you have any idea why Judy needs to change the colour of her fingernails three times a week, please leave me an explanation in the comments below... good luck! ;-)
References
Below we have linked to a few of the resources that we've found helpful over the last few months.
- Tying Techniques Part 1
- Hishi Pattern Ties Made Easy
- Our earlier book review: Shin Nawakiri's Essence of Shibari
- Rope Care and Treatment
Okinawa Jute from Esinem-Rope is currently our most frequently used rope and features in several of the photos above.
Next week we're trying to get back to the creative photography basics of our photo-a-week project, and our theme is a knot we believe may be called "the hojo hitch"...
