So you want to learn rope bondage?
To get started, you’ll first need some rope. See How to Choose Rope to get started.
General Beginner Topics
All rope students should start in the beginner section. You should practice every day until you are proficient in the Lessons 1-10. Lessons 11 & 12 cover how to treat and maintain rope, which you should know about but typically don’t have to do except when first buying rope, so they are included in this beginner material for completeness.
What do “rope top” and “bunny” mean
Rope bondage is done for erotic and non-erotic reasons. It is a sensual experience between two people: A rope top, who is the person doing the tying, and a rope bottom (or sometimes called a rope bunny), who is being tied up.
| 1. | An Overhand Knot (single strand) |
| 2. | Square Knot vs Granny Knot (single strand) |
| 3. | Running End and Bight End (double strand tying) |
Single Columns
A single column means we tie one piece of the body, a limb— like an arm or a leg. Make sure not to tie around the ankles, knees, or wrists. It’s called a single column because we are tying around one column.
While you only need to learn one single column, not all single columns are equally effective. Some collapse (which means they will lose their shape and not stay secure), some loosen (which means they can become undone), and some collapse & loosen. You will start here and learn Basic overhand + square, overhand with slip knot (quick release).
The single column that you will learn that does not collapse or loosen is the Sommerville bowline, for most purposes, the basic single column will work fine.
More single columns are not listed here (see extra credit for a few ideas). Most rope tops have a go-to single column they get comfortable with and stick with for general purposes.
While getting started with the first single column, we’ll cover these topics:
• “Two finger” test for binding someone’s limb
• Keep tension while holding rope
• Running down the body or running up the body
| 4. | Single column (most basic) The cleanest and most simple of single columns, this single column is suitable for most needs. Loop twice, holding tension, pass bight over the cuff and then under it, hold tension up, twist the running end towards the cuff, hold, reach through and pull in the bight end. |
| 5. | Using a slip knot for quick-release Same as above but pull only half of the bight end in, leaving a slip knot for quickly releasing the knot in case you bunny wants to get out fast. Only for floor play (do not use for suspension), this option is important to remember when tying people for their first time. |
| 6. | The Sommerville Bowline (pronounced “bowlin“) Shibari Study video, Youtube 1, Youtube 2 The go-to single column for many rope tops, the sommerville bowline does not collapse or loosen. |
Double Columns
A Double column means we tie two pieces of the body— for example, two arms or two legs (or a leg and an arm). In the double-column tie, we tie one limb to another limb. Note that the leg ladder exercise (Lesson #8) is the only body tie we will do in the Beginner section. (The rest of the lessons here are all knots or concepts.) It is reasonably safe and can be done on yourself or a partner.
| 7. | Double column |
| 8. | Leg ladders — don’t tie around the ankles or knees! |
When doing longer ties on a bunny, you will eventually run out of rope.
To fix that, you’ll need to extend your rope. Some ropes ship with tied ends and others have whipped ends. (“Whipped ends” means that a small thread holds the end together to keep it from fraying.)
If you have whipped ends, you must use a technique to extend your rope: In Lesson #9, we’ll cover the Lark’s head extension, but you can also use the Sheet bend method (not covered). If you have knotted ends, you can form a lark’s head around knot and pull it tight to extend your rope. If you have knotted ends but prefer whipped ends, see Lesson #12 below.
Be sure to finish here with Lesson #10 to learn how to tie your rope up for storage.
| 9. | Extending rope using a Lark’s head |
| 10. | Tying up your rope for storage when done |
If you’ve completed all 10 lessons and are are proficient in all of the ties above, you may start attending any of the Intermediate classes or workshops.
If you want to stay in the Beginner material a bit longer, learn how to do drilling: that’s when you do the tie again and again and again to create the muscle memory of the tie in your hands.
The next two lessons cover how to condition and whip your ropes, which you should know how to do but get get away with referring to only if you have recently purchased rope you want to condition. Note that many riggers prefer knotted ends, so lesson #12 is only for you if you know how to sew and prefer whipped ends.
| 11. | Conditioning Your Rope |
| 12. | Whipping the Ends of Your Rope |
Also, try some of the extra credit material. These make good short detours on your way to the Intermediate-level material.
Extra credit:
Although these aren’t required for moving into the Intermediate, we recommend you spend some time with some of these more specialized knots.
| 13. | Surgeon’s Knot |
| 14. | Single column lark’s head (try this around your whole body at your midriff) |
| 15. | Spreader bar with a double column |
| 16. | Sheet bend rope extension |
| 17. | Fast Sommerville Bowline |
| 18. | Bola Bola Single column |