Course – Rope Bondage 101/102

Rope 101  (Rope 102 is below)

1.5 – 3 hours

If you are new to rope, this page is a great place to start!  If you go through these tutorials in order, you will learn the foundations you need to become a rigger.  This will take you from the absolute ground floor, up through a few standard base knots and ties that all riggers know and use, and build you up (in 102) to one intermediate tie.  From there, you have all you need to keep building.

The very first thing to learn is:  Negotiation, Risk Management & PlanningSometimes people call this “safety”, but rope is not “safe”. Risk can never be reduced to zero.  If you do not know those risks and how to address them, you are not competent to put rope on a human, including yourself.  Get. Competent. First.

We believe that core risk and safety is best understood within the larger context of scene negotiation and planning, so we will start you with Understanding the BDSM and Rope Scene, then through negotiation and planning, which includes risk management and safety.

The course below will guide you from one topic to the next.  If you go through the sections below in order you will find that each builds from one ones before it, so make sure you understand one before you go to the next.  When you are done with the the 101 material, go on to Rope Bondage 102 below to learn some fun variations on the 101 techniques and to add a few simple harnesses to your skill sets!

Mastering the material on this page will give you firm foundation on which to explore further and grow your skills!  Enjoy the journey!

This course covers:

  • Understanding the BDSM and Rope “scene”
  • Finding and vetting a partner
  • Negotiation, Planning, Risk and Safety
  • Rope itself.  Selection, lengths, care, etc.
  • 4 Fundamental Knots
  • Core Single-Column Ties
  • Core Double-Column Ties

At the end of this course, you will be able to do lots of cool things:

  • Tying all sorts of things together:  Wrists, ankles, knees, wrists behind the back or up over the head, ankle to thigh in a Frog Tie
  • Pretty much anything where a single wrist or ankle is tied to some other thing…
  • Wrists overhead or to something else, but with some tension (not suspension yet)
  • Spread eagle on a bed
  • Tied to a chair
  • Strappado (a joint lock position)
  • Much more!
The Culture Wheel

Understanding “the Scene”

"The Scene" or "The Community" is a vibrant subculture. Like all subcultures, they have expectations that you need to understand and respect if you are to be successful.
Consent

Consent

Consent is the Cornerstone of Everything We Do. Without it, much of what we do would legally be assault.
friends-shillouette

Finding a local mentor

There are many people out there that can help give you face-to-face training and mentorship. How do you find them?
The Awakening of Kajira.Blue

A Kinky Education List

Some people are just here for the artistry, some people want to learn more. Here is a good place to start for both new and experienced players.
Rope-Ends

Rope Ends

Here are a few ways to finish off the ends of your rope

You will be using these all the time.  Master them, practice them.  Do them until your muscle memory is so strong you can tie them on auto-pilot.

Lark’s Head Knot

Lark’s Head Knot

This is one of the simplest sliding (collapsing) knots. It should not be used for bondage directly, but is often the first step in other ties
Half-Hitch

Half-Hitches

This simple wrap of rope around an object is a basic building block of many other knots
  • Hands to overhead hard points
  • Spread eagle on a bed
  • Tied to a chair
  • Pretty much anything where a single wrist or ankle is tied to some other thing…
Sommerville-Bowline

Somerville Bowline

This single-column tie requires no tail pulls and can therefore be applied when one end of the rope is already attached to something!
Burlington Bowline

Burlington Bowline

A very fast, very stable single column tie. Once you master it, it takes only 20-30 seconds to tie
Square Knot Single Column

Square Knot Single Column

When someone says just “Single Column” with no other name, this is probably what they are talking about
  • Tying all sorts of things together:  Wrists, ankles, knees, wrists behind the back or up over to back of the head,
  • Ankle to thigh in a Frog Tie
  • Wrists overhead with some tension (not suspension yet)
  • Elbow (if your partner is very flexible)
  • Strappado (a joint lock position)
Load-bearing Double Column

Load-bearing Double Column

If you plan to have any tension or load on your double column, you need to do so in such a way that the cords of the cuffs don't cinch down more tightly
17.  Done!

Frog Tie

A frog tie is just a double column tie applied in such a way so as to tie the ankle to the thigh

Go practice with the material above.  Master it.  Don’t be impatient.  There are many, many great scenes you can have using nothing but the above.  When you have a good strong handle on the 101 material, go on to Rope 102 below to learn a few useful variations on what you learned above and to add a few simple harnesses to your skill sets!

Best,
Lazarus

Rope 102

1.5 – 3 hours

This course picks up where Rope 101 left off.  If you have not yet gone through 101, go master that material (above) first.  It covers: Safety, the 4 Fundamental Knots, 3 Core Single Columns ties, 2 Core Double Column ties, and how to convert a Double Column to a load-bearing form.

This 102 course adds some cool variations to the stuff you learned in 101, and adds some harnesses!

This course covers:

  • A simple waist harness (the Unchastity Belt)
  • An extended Double Column
  • A simple rapid tie technique (the Handcuff Knot)
  • A chest harness (the Bikini Harness)
  • A full torso harness (the Hishi Karada)

At the end of this course you will have many more tools for floor and bed bondage:

  • The harnesses provide many more anchor points you can use to attach your partner to things or to attach parts of your partner to other parts…
  • Tie your partner’s elbows together (even if your partner is not very flexible)
  • Add a hobble
  • Rapid and very secure wrist tie, fun as an ice-breaker (“bet I can tie you in 30 seconds and you won’t be able to escape all evening…”) or for take-down play
  • You will also have enough of the basics to begin to effectively build your skill moving forward
Unchastity-Belt

Unchastity Belt

Commonly known by the awful name "Crotch Rope", this simple waist harness has a little teasing feature. Think of it as an un-chastity belt made from rope 🙂
Burlington Bowline – Inline as Bondage Belt

Bondage Belt

Here is one technique to integrate two cuffs into a single rope belt, making it a Bondage Belt 🙂
  • As you start doing harness, you will doubtless need a simple technique to Extend Your Rope
  • As you begin exploring further, you will need to understand your options at Junctions where one rope crosses another
Handling – Extending Rope

Extending Rope

Three way to add rope to your tie if you need a bit more...
building-blocks-junctions

Building Blocks – Junctions

What choices you have when two ropes cross each other -- Twist, Crossing Hitch, Cow Hitch -- and how they are related
Handling – Moving Rope

Handling Rope While Tying

Understanding how to move rope efficiently, add more if you need to, use up extra rope at the end and modify a tie for different body types are all important skills.
  • These are three simple yet useful and attractive harness.
  • Harnesses allow you greater control and more attachment points.  They also feel amazing and can be deeply erotic for both partners.
  • We then wrap things off with a discussion of how to combine multiple layers for a lovely effect!
Shinju

Shinju

This classic chest harness, known and practiced by riggers throughout the world, is simple, secure and, when applied properly, can be used for suspension.
Pentagram Harness

Pentagram Harness v2

This attractive harness can be lots of fun for religious- or occult-themed scenes.

So now that you have completed 101 and 102, you have seen the material that I include in my beginners intensive.  Work it, practice it.  You need to get hands on rope and rope on partner to get experience in applying these ideas before you will really get some of this.

After that, head on over to the Full Tutorial Library and see what else interests you.  You can filter the tutorials, so start with the Easy stuff and build up from there!

Enjoy!  I wish you the best on your journey and explorations!
Lazarus