With a reasonable degree of background knowledge, following a recipe becomes relatively easy. Kinbaku has few ingredients, but blending them together into a coherent and pleasurable whole is a skill to which we aspire; although admittedly we have some way to go.
But in some respects, attempting this style of improvisation has felt almost like a barometer on our learning progress. Whilst this example is far from perfect, if we compare to similar attempts (even around six months ago) this was smoother in execution, and more precise.
In Shin Nawakiri's book, Essence of Shibari (link is to our earlier review) he explores improvisation first in chapter 3, Delightful Kinbaku, and again in chapter 4. If rope is a partnership, you cannot simply impose a template, and being ready to modify and adapt in a free flowing manner is an essential skill in being able to create a natural and erotic experience for your partner.
This upper body tie uses three lengths of rope and begins with a single-column tie to each wrist, with the rope then wrapped and cinched without any predetermined plan, drawing on various building blocks we've learned from courses such as Upper Body Ties Made Easy and Tying Techniques Part 1. The latest course we've been studying, Hishi Pattern Ties Made Easy, contains some of the best explanations we've come across relating to building good frictions.
References
It should never be all work and no play! In our more structured practise, we're still working on becoming more fluid with the techniques in the ShibariClasses Hishi pattern ties course, but for this weeks photo we chose a rather unstructured and improvised tie.
However, since studying the Hishi course, we've become far more mindful of frictions and direction - something that is at the heart of ShibariClasses and their "building-blocks" style of teaching.
Take a look at Esinem-Rope for a great selection of shibari supplies. The rope in this photo is 6mm Okinawa jute.
Next week we're getting up close and personal with the upper friction in our gote shibari stem...
