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Mr Nice

By |2012-09-19T23:16:01+00:00September 19th, 2012|Categories: Random, Teaching|Tags: , , |

I am not Mr Nice. When it comes to teaching I am not. I do do my best to be Mr Patient, Mr Understanding & Mr Informative. But let's be honest, you, I hope, didn't hire me to be your friend, you hired me to improve your bondage. Bondage is serious and can be seriously dangerous so I take teaching bondage seriously. I also take very seriously the responsibility of teaching. If you have a good time in a lesson that's just great, I hope you do. But that is not my goal. My goal is that you go away doing better bondage than you were before the lesson. If you're making mistakes I'll do my best to be Mr Tactful about it. However I will not be Mr Flattery, I will not deceive you into thinking that you're doing better than you are. Nor will I fill you with a false sense of confidence or accomplishment because I'm not Mr Disingenuous. I will not teach you beyond your ability, because I am not Mr Irresponsible. If you are not serious about wanting to learn, do not come to me. There are plenty of teachers who will make you feel good about yourself regardless of your ability. Go to them by all means if that is what you're after. Personally in lessons I'm not trying to be Mr Likeable. I will not praise that which is not praiseworthy. I will do my best to improve your rope as much as I am able. I am I hope Mr Conciencious. I am and can be many people. But! I am not Mr Nice.

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Sinsations

By |2016-10-28T16:39:57+00:00September 16th, 2012|Categories: Events, Performance, Teaching|Tags: , , , , , |

It was great to be a part of the first Sinsations, a new event in Derbyshire. I can't remember a better first night of any event. Firstly the venue was excellent. It was as clean and well done as any I've been to. Normally a swingers club they naturally enough did not have a lot of BDSM furniture but everyone knew that before the event so nobody had a reason disappointed by that, also there were large benches in every room that were put to good use by many kinksters during the evening. There was a really good crowd came to the event, it was busy and convivial and I have to congratulate the organisers for the way they put this together, publicised it and ran it. We were there to do a rope bondage demonstration and a BDSM 101 class. The rope bondage show was newaza or floor work. Some of the people had seen us doing suspension based shows before so it was nice to be able to show them something closer to the kind of bondage that we enjoy in private. We would like to thank everyone that gave us such kind comments after the show and those that have posted and blogged about it since. We are really blown away by all your kindness and generosity. The BDSM 101 class is something that we present together and changes every time we do it. We try to cover the basics for a BDSM newcomer in a reasonable time. Again we have to thank everyone that gave such positive feedback and told us that they found it informative. All in all it was a tremendous first night for a new event. We thoroughly [...]

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Shoot with Hay (as she was then)

By |2016-10-28T16:39:58+00:00September 10th, 2012|Categories: Shoots|Tags: , , , |

A long time ago... Well a few years now (has it really been that long?) we had one of the first rope bondage photo-shoots in our Studio at Number 6 (yeh I know). We had suspension points, we had bamboo, and importantly we had a someone who wanted to be tied up in Japanese style bondage. A young lady at the time using the name 'Hay'. Well anyway we had a thoroughly enjoyable day and I think got some great shots. Clover's gotten a lot better over time and I know what she would do things differently now but I really do believe she did a great job of photographing this rope bondage.

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Behind the scenes of a shibari shoot with Suffering4art

By |2017-02-01T00:37:14+00:00September 9th, 2012|Categories: Shoots|Tags: , , , |

Some time ago I had the pleasure of shooting a model called squeak. On this occasion the photographer was Suffering4art a photographer who lives close by and whom we've collaborated with many times. The images below are a few raw unedited snaps shots taken during the and around the shoot, they are not the images that came from the shoot and not Suffering4art's excellent artistic images. That being said I thought that maybe people might enjoy seeing a few 'behind the scenes' shots from a shibari rope bondage shoot.

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Shoot with Rodm and Gestalta

By |2016-10-28T16:39:58+00:00September 8th, 2012|Categories: Shoots|Tags: , , , , , |

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far... OK a couple of years ago in Cambridge (The one in England not the one in Masachusetts.) I had the opportunity to do a  shoot of Japanese style rope bondage with English photographer Rodm and a model who's name I cannot now happily remember... happily for her because she flaked on the shoot with zero notice. Luckily Rod was able to get a replacement who very kindly came to the shoot at very short notice. This model was Gestalta and she was a real pleasure to work with. I think we got some really great stuff in the end. I was particularly happy with the Hojo hishi nawa. I think generally the shibari in this shoot works well and Rod captured the bondage and the mood. So these are some bondage pictures I'm very happy to have been involved in making. All credit though to our great model Gestalta (who has since modelled for, amongst others,  Kazami Ranki notably in performance at the Festival of the Art of Japanese bondage).  

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London festival performance 2011

By |2024-08-18T18:17:06+00:00September 2nd, 2012|Categories: Events, Performance|Tags: , , |

I have to say that I'm not normally nervous performing. I really look forward to it and the rush of doing bondage with clover on stage. London was the first time I've really felt anything other than excited. Nervous is probably not the right word though. Certainly feeling an edge that I hadn't before though. I pretty much put this down to the people I knew would be watching. Osada Steve (長田スティーブ), Hajime Kinoko (一鬼のこ), Kazami Ranki (風見蘭喜), Yoi Yoshida (吉田よい), Bingo Shigonawa (紫護縄びんご), Ero Ouji (エロ王子) etc. Also Japanese erotic photography legend Norio Sugiura (杉浦則夫) was in attendance. We had no concrete plan for the performance, just an idea about how to start and a rough idea of the finish. Everything in between being done on the fly. I think wracking is a good word for it. It wasn't flawless but we got through. Once it was finished I can't describe the feelings. Everyone was very kind in their comments. Kinoko describing it as "Good show. Very sadistic!" with a big grin and "Hot" was so great. Learning via interpreter that Kazami Ranki liked the performance was another thrill. Finally Osada Steve liking the show and very generously giving me a few tips to improve on the final day was a great bonus for us. He also praised Clover very much as a model and commented on her strength. She makes me very proud. The weekend was full of stuff that just blew us away. Teaching with Kinoko was an experience. Also my Ichinawa class went over very well and I have to say how touched I've been by those that said how much they liked it at the time and since. It was [...]

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By the water-lilies on the lake (rope bondage feeling)

By |2017-01-27T00:32:41+00:00September 1st, 2012|Categories: Shoots|Tags: , , , |

Yesterday we went to a lake where we knew their to be a small landing at the waters edge. There are water lilies on the lake and it's surrounded by trees. It's a beautiful location and for a while we've been wanting to create a certain image there. Shibari bondage by the water lilies on the lake So off we set with a Yukata and obi in a bag, a friend who models for us, a few bits of rope and a camera and tripod. Luckily we had a beautiful day and the shot we eventually got was I think very beautiful. All the elements of light, setting, bondage and model seemed just right. Even the water was glassy calm. I really think that clover got an amazing image. I often say that rope is not about rope. This image is not about rope either. I'm sure that looking at it you can form your own opinions of what it is about. It's a great feeling when you get something you've been wanting to get for a while. I hope you enjoy this images as much as we do.

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Yukimura Haruki in Copenhagen

By |2024-08-18T18:49:07+00:00August 31st, 2012|Categories: Events, Learning|Tags: , , , |

Part 1 This week we shall (thanks to clover) be going to study newaza with grand master Yukimura Haruki. I am SO excited to be doing this. It's a wonderful opportunity to learn from one of the very best! It's always exciting for me to have an opportunity to learn so as the date approaches I'm really starting to feel the excitement. Clover surprised me with this trip for my birthday treat, how cool is that? I'll be blogging about the experience afterwards but for now... how cool is that? Part 2 What a really good learning experience does is open your mind to new possibilites, possibilities you hadn't suspected before. Further it gives you a way into those new experiences. One thing that I think is worth emphasising is the tremendous contribution that the interpreters made to this class. In a large part due to the fact that not only were they there because they spoke excellent Japanese but also they were students of Yukimura Sensei and therefore understood what they were translating and could also spot the mistakes that we made during the day. They were very much part of making the day what it was. Through watching videos of the grand master tying I had some idea of what Yukimura Sensei was about but learning from him showed how easy it is to fail to understand what someone is really doing from just watching. I had thought that a large part of what he was doing was not so to speak 'in the visible range' and that proved to be the case. I shall certainly be re-viewing his videos with new eyes now. This might be disappointing to some readers but one thing I'm [...]

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Teaching in Queens

By |2024-08-18T18:53:18+00:00August 28th, 2012|Categories: Teaching|Tags: , , , |

While we were staying in Queens we had a teaching session with a local New York rope enthusiast Joey Red. There's not a lot I can say about this class except that Joey worked really hard and really took in a lot. It was a very good session and it was a pleasure to see him make progress. And also kind of fun to melt his brain a little.

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Kinbaku Shoot with Nina Russ

By |2016-10-28T16:39:58+00:00August 27th, 2012|Categories: Shoots|Tags: , , , |

I've already blogged about a couple of our visits to London. We've really enjoyed both occasions. On the second visit we stayed over in London and did a bit of an exchange rope shoot in the morning. I tied Nina Russ and  Clover photographed the sessions. We all had a great time and you can see the results of this below. Thanks to Clover for taking these fabulous pictures.

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