“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Definition
In Japanese the word Shibari ( シバリ) simply means “to tie” but among the contemporary BDSM community the word has come to take on additional meaning. Shibari style rigging is used to generate geometric rope patterns and shapes that contrast beautifully with the natural curves of the human in formally preset positions of bondage. In Shibari, the submissive is thought of as the artistic canvas, the rope is conceptualized to be the paint and brush, while the rigger is part Dom and part artist.
History
Shibari dates back to the origins of Hojo-jutsu, a martial art specifically created to explore the best methods of restraining captives in feudal Japan from 1400 to 1700. Samurai used Hojo-jutsu as a form of imprisonment, but the honor of these ancient Samurai warriors and the code of Bushido required Samurai to treat their prisoners well. In this way, the artistic elements of Shibari are intended to honor the person being tied and to care for their dignity while simultaneously restricting their movement or using painful positions to draw out information from them. In the late 1800′s and early 1900′s Kinbaku (a new form of erotic Hojo-jutsu) evolved, and spawned much of what practitioners now experiment with when engaging in modern artistic rope bondage.
The Right Rope
The most common mistake made by novice Doms is the selection of the wrong rope. Just as a chef’s dishes deserve only the best ingredients, any serious Dom is aware that the tools and materials they choose are vital to the success of their rigging. Wax coated clothes line is a favorite of many qualified Doms for its smooth ability to glide against itself. Rope thickness is also an essential element of Shibari bondage as a rope that is too thin can cause skin damage while a rope that is too thick becomes far too cumbersome for complicated rigging.