Bondage – fun with ropes!
Welcome to the dungeon! No, those are not blood stains on the walls, simply some art Deco, no need to be afraid. Although, this is the place your adrenalin will run higher than when you bungee jump for the first time, your loins may quiver in anticipation and your mind shudder with fear. In the dungeon, you give over your physical and sometimes mental self in to the hands of someone else. Do you dare? Lets talk bondage!
Bondage is a small part of BDSM and generally centres around the domination and submission side of the fetish community, but this is not always the case. There are people that just enjoy being tied up, they may not necessarily be submissive and the person doing the tying, may not necessarily be dominant. Rope play can be very interesting and in some ways an art form. There are many types of knots, many styles of tying and some are purely for pleasure or artistry as opposed to an act of control. In this article, we are going to look at rope bondage only as the topic of bondage is quite diverse.
Rope bondage is basically when rope is used to prevent or limit movement in some way, decorate a person's body, wrap a body or parts of a body or suspend a person. All types of rope bondage require consent and should only be practised by someone who is skilled in the practice as there are many dangers involved in rope play if not done properly. The term used for sensual or erotic rope bondage is the Japanese word Kinbaku. There are many forms and designs achieved when practising rope bondage and these are based on Western and Eastern styles. The person tying is often referred to as a rigger and the person being tied, the bunny or rope bunny, but various terms are used by people in the kink community. The rope used can be linen, cotton, hemp or jute, although some synthetics are also used by some practitioners.
Rope bondage is considerably more complicated and interesting than tying your partner's wrists gently with a silk scarf or slipping on a pair of fuzzy handcuffs, although you can even include those in your regular bondage play. There are over a thousand knots that you can learn to tie when practising rope bondage, many which are purely decorative. As a beginner, you can still have fun with rope bondage by only learning 4 or 5 basic knots, as long as you practise all the safety protocols.
Here are a few of the basic rope bondage positions :
Ball tie : This is basically roping a person in to a foetal position, with hands tied in the front or back of the body. Thighs should not press on the abdomen as this could restrict breathing.
Breast bondage : This is generally an aesthetic rope bondage and involves tying a woman's breasts to create visually pleasing patterns of rope around and over them.
Crotch rope : This is when rope is tied around the waist and passed between the labia. This is often in an intricate design as well and can be designed for pleasure or pain. This can be altered slightly to work for a male subject as well.
Frog-tie : The ankles are bound to the thighs, creating a frog-like look. Wrists can be tied behind the back, to the ankles or even to opposite ankles for a more restrictive rope tie.
Hog-tie : This is when the wrists and ankles are tied together and then tied to each other behind the back of the person being tied. This is quite restrictive and can incorporate other bondage with it.
Reverse prayer position : Hands are bound in a prayer position behind the back,
Spread-eagle : In this position the person is bound in a figure X, usually to a bed or equipment to keep the person in the spread out position.
There are many other rope positions that can be mastered over years of training and experience including suspension bondage, but these are a few that you can learn to perfect at the beginning of your rope play.
Rope play has risks especially issues such as nerve damage from incorrect ties or leaving a person in a position for too long, overextending the nerves, compression of a nerve or prolonged irritation of a nerve. Make sure that anyone you play with is healthy and does not have previous spinal or nerve damage, or suffers from diabetes or peripheral vascular disease as this adds added risk to serious rope play. You also need to be very knowledgeable on the person who is being tied's health history such as allergies, bone or joint issues, diseases effecting nerves, muscles or joints, breathing or heart problems, mobility issues, any problems with flexibility and even emotional and mental issues. If your rope partner is triggered by specific things, you also need to be aware of this before any bondage takes place.
That being said, bondage can be extremely erotic and freeing and is enjoyed by many people in their personal relationships and sexual relationships. BDSM including the bondage side of things is all about ensuring both partners get what they need out of the experience with as little risk of serious injury as possible. Play safe!