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#the school of tantric ropes

Why make a school? Because defining an idea is a way to make it exist, and it allows others to know what I’m talking about. Talking about rope bondage is important to me, even more, when mixing it with the Japanese legacy of Shibari & Kinbaku and then add Tantra on top of that. It quickly gets messy. The school attempts to, together with others, define the beliefs that make something Tantric Ropes and then gather around the concept. Like a tribe honouring something greater than ourselves.

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Our Beliefs

We take the responsibility of communicating our beliefs by linking this page and highlighting what we think is appropriate.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE PAST

  1. Tantric rope bondage shares much of the technique and mindset of Japanese rope bondage of Shibari and Kinbaku. The attention to ritual, presence, and the relationship established between people tying – this can best be expressed as Kokoro meaning ‘heart’ in Japanese.
  2. We also acknowledge that the history of our bondage is not a sacred art-form of the samurai neither an old tantric ritual. It was developed as a Japanese underground movement in the 1940ths with a strong connection to the pornographic magazine Kitan Club and the red light district of Kabukichō.
  3. The neo-tantric approach to rope bondage was first established in Scandinavia by Andy Buru in 2010.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE PERSONAL JOURNEY

  1. Our practice is best learnt by doing. We avoid a black-or-white mentality or dogmatic truth about rope bondage. Presence is our best guide.
  2. Dedication over time is the key to success. Practicing once a week is only enough to maintain, two or more times is needed to grow. 
  3. We don’t have any mythological explanation, our skills are not “a transmission” or god-given – nor is it scientifically proven in the universities. Therefore our practice is best described as personal journey.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE SHADOW SIDES

  1. We understand that our bondage might be a taboo in normative society, and we aspire to change that.
  2. We consciously allow our bondage to include all emotions and their expression. It may be loving and caretaking, or painful and shameful, or sexual and hedonistic. 
  3. What may be traumatizing and pathological for one person may be healing and transformative for another. 
  4. We empower people to express their boundaries and support them in avoiding disassociation, spiritual by-pass and peer pressure from society.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE POWER GAME

  1. We use the polarity between the person tying and the person being tied to make our bondage powerful and transformative. We understand the paradox between dominating and holding space, and between submitting and surrendering.
  2. Establishing a precise frame is mandatory for stepping in and out of the power game. This is done by both the person tying and the one being tied. 
  3. We acknowledge that even if the power game is only a game, and the intention is clearly defined, the results still echoes into the rest of our lives.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP

  1. Acknowledge that a therapeutic setting is different than a personal play.
  2. Any domination must be an act of service, and therefore the person tying is ultimately only hold space, rather than focusing on their own gain.
  3. We avoid turning a therapeutic relationship into a private one, by, for example, dating clients.