The Art Of Shibari by Be Knot Afrayed
Greetings, I’m Rhys of Be Knot Afrayed, and the kind people here at You Only Wetter have asked me to do a couple of guest blogs and tutorials around the art of rope bondage, or “Shibari” as it’s sometimes known. Here we’ll be looking into the art of rope and some things you can try at home to excite your partner. But first, a small history lesson (because if you want to know the good stuff, you got to look at the theory, otherwise the teacher will get pissed!)
The art of Shibari was developed in Japan around 1400 as a means of incarceration to prisoners. Due to a lack of metal resources, as well as no real jails to speak of, the local police force and Samurai used there overabundance of jute and hemp to create rope, which in turn was used to hold prisoners they had captured. The obvious advantage to using rope was the fact it was multi-purpose, as due to it’s versatility, not only was it used to hold criminals, but also used to hang up armour, securing a saddle, and tethering up a horse…
And also, kinky sex…because, you know…kinky sex…
This quickly developed into a martial art known as Hojo-justu, or the art of restraining captives. It is even used today by japanese police who still carry bundles of helm rope in their cars just incase it was required. (And yes, I’ve no doubt it get as much home use as their handcuffs to.)
This became so ingrained to the Samurai way, that it very quickly became a part of their culture, even taking place in their religious ceremonies to symbolize the connection of people and the divine. Which is lucky, as if you wake up the housemates with the noise your lover is making, you could say you were performing an exorcism with a straight face.
They continued to use this as a tradition, putting an emphasis on their honour with rope, following these 4 guidelines when tying another samurai.
- Do not allow your prisoner to slip their bonds.
- Do not cause any physical or mental injury.
- Do not allow others to see the techniques.
- Make the result beautiful to look at.
It was given such importance, that once a samurai had been caught and bound, he would typically be honour bound not to attempt escape. There was even the development of one form of this martial art, where the use of knots was prohibited, forcing the captive to act as if they had been tied. This form however, was reserved for only the highest of nobles, and Subs that really, REALLY wanted to please their Doms…
However, as time passed, so did the intentions, and during the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s there developed a new form of Shibari, known as “Kinbaku”, or The Art of Erotic Bondage. Which, no doubt is why you’re here. So let’s get started…
…But where’s your rope?
Well, YouOnlyWetter has all your rope needs, offering a fine selection of rope to suit your needs. So click on the link, and go get yourself some practise rope.
I’m Rhys from Be Knot Afrayed, and don’t worry…
…I’ll wait…