Rope 101/102 Instructor Resources
This page provides a teaching outline / instructor notes and other resources for an in-person Rope 101/102 class
This page contains the material that I use for the in-person Rope 101 and Rope 102 classes I teach. These are hands-on skills-development classes.
- Rope 101 covers: 4 fundamental knots, two Double Columns, two Single Columns and the Bikini Harness.
- Rope 102 extends things by adding the Crotch Rope, the Hishi Karada, the Extended Lark’s Head Double Column, a Leash and various rope handling techniques.
- Safety and negotiation information is distributed throughout the course so that it is taught in the context in which it is important and so that the lecture elements of the class are spread between the practical skills portions, making it easier for students to stay engaged.
All the techniques in these two courses are available for free on TheDuchy, so your students will have something to refer to after the class. You are free to use this material just as it is or modify it to fit your needs. Below you will find:
- A class description for the class catalogue or as part of an advertisement.
- A set of instructors notes that lay out what to talk about and in what order.
- A handout to give students at the end of class that includes links to tutorials on TheDuchy that they can refer to as they practice what they learned in class.
A note about rope: I do not sell rope–there are plenty of other people in that space and I prefer to play nicely with others, so I have not yet jumped into that sandbox–I do however have a referral relationship with Twisted Monk. If your students go through my site to buy from them, I get a small percentage of their purchase as a referral fee. Here is that link if anyone wants to go there directly: https://www.twistedmonk.com/?rfsn=253188.015a.15187
If you use this material, I’d love to hear in the comments below how things go!
– Lazarus
These courses can be taught separately or together. Separately, they can each be comfortably taught in 2 hours, or can be done in 90 minutes if you push and don’t have too many people that require more time than usual. When I teach them together, I can usually do a good job in 3 hours or so…
Rope 101
This is a beginning class that discusses all the stuff you need to know when just starting out. Not only will we cover knots, but safety, style (looking cool), negotiation, how to evaluate the skill of a top or bottom, and more.
This is also a hands-on class where you will learn the basic knots. We will go over several non-collapsing (safe) ties to get you started:
- The 4 fundamental knots: Half-Hitch, Lark’s Head, Square Knot, & Overhand Knot
- The Wrap & Cinch Double Column
- The Lark’s Head Double Column (good for tying two things together: wrists together, ankles together, ankle to thigh, person to person, any part of a person to any other thing…)
- The Lark’s Head Single Column (good for tying around one thing: wrist, ankle, waist, thigh, bed post, etc.)
- The Somerville Bowline, a forward-tension single-column knot (good for tying wrists into a harness)
- The Bikini Harness, a simple chest harness
- and, if we have time, a handcuff knot
Rope 102
Rope 102 takes up where 101 leaves off. This is still a beginning class, but whereas 101 focuses mostly on single-column and double-column ties (mostly for wrist, ankles, etc.), 102 focus on more detailed negotiation and on various beginning-level harnesses.
This is a hands-on class and you will leave with practical knowledge and skills. We will cover:
- More on Safety and Negotiation
- The “crotch rope“, a waist harness with a name I detest, but by which this tie is known…
- A rope Leash
- The Extended Lark’s Head Double Column, useful for simple elbow ties and hobbles
- The Hishi Karada, sometimes call the “Rope Dress”
- We will cover how to extend rope when you run out, and various elements of style (dom-points) 😉
- We will also do a demonstration of a Gote Shibari form commonly called the Takate Kote – a *much* more secure box tie/chest harness that bridges the gap between beginner and intermediate and which forms the base for a lot of other ties.
Target audience (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
Beginner.
Format (lecture, discussion, demonstration, hands-on)
This is a practical, hands-on session that rotates between demonstrations of the creation and application of the knots, step-by-step walk through of the creation of the knots and practice sessions with high involvement by the instructor.
What should attendees bring (how much rope, etc.)
- You can learn these various techniques with two 10 foot and two 15 foot pieces of rope.
Class Outline / Instructor Notes
After-Class Handout