Congratulations on getting through the first 7 lessons on the beginner page. You must have your single columns and double columns down— if you don’t, stay in the beginner section until you do.
Hopefully, the leg ladders (Lesson #6) introduced you to the concept of tension, and you should return to that lesson as you pay attention to tensions throughout your journey as a rope top.
Right now, you are ready to go to any of the Intermediate Level events in Windy City Knots: Classes, Ropelabs, Shibari Study afternoons. You may go to the suspension sessions as an observer.
Shibari Styles Glossary
Before continuing, be sure to see the Shibari Styles Glossary for a broad glossary of of Shibari styles and concepts you will be exposed to next: Kinbaku, Yukimora, Hojo Jutsu, Newaza, dominance bondage/sex bondage, freestyling, suspension, aesthetic shibari, and predicament bondage.
Four Foundational Concepts
Next, want you to focus on four important big-picture topics within the next few months of your learning as an intermediate rope top. You can do this on your own, but it’s best to go to an intermediate class and ask for someone to give lessons on these things. We will rotate teaching all of these key topics throughout all intermediate material.
- The Safety Lesson: You must pay attention to nerve damage, cutting off circulation, and not tying around the joints. Review the safety page and also Shibari Study safety lesson (Free).
- Rope Handling: What is a stem?, Holding the rope & keeping tensions strong, Wrapping, Dressing, Catching with a finger and pulling instead of pushing, Minimizing rope burn and avoiding hitting your bunny in the face with the running end (managing the running end), Avoiding rainbows by folding, and Burning rope
- Hitches & Frictions: You must learn reverse tension, the half-hitch, the munter/nodome, the X-friction, the L-friction, the Clove Hitch, and the Half-moon hitch. You don’t need to learn them all at once, but make a list of which ones you’ve learned and check them off as you go.
- Unlearning: Unlearning is a vital cross-discipline concept: Early understanding is often incomplete or simplistic. Known as the sophomore effect, individuals in the early stages often feel overconfident about their abilities and knowledge. Shibari emphasizes communication and intimacy, and this is where we lean in to those skills as rope artists. We see unlearning as a form of growth requiring emotional intelligence, collaboration, and a lifelong learning mindset, and so we model those practices in our classwork. See Follow My Lead, Bottom-led bondage, and One Rope Rodeo
Rope Handling
What is a stem?
Holding the rope & keeping tensions strong
Wrapping
Dressing
Catching with a finger and pulling instead of pushing
Minimizing rope burn and avoiding hitting your bunny in the face
Avoiding rainbows by folding (Shibari Study)
Burning rope at the end of your tie (don’t confuse with rope burn bunnies experience)
Hitches & Frictions
A friction allows for easy adjustment, while a hitch attaches a rope to an object. (Both are correctly classified as “knots.”)
Reverse Tension, Half-Hitch, Munter/Nodome
| Reverse Tension |  |
| The half-hitch |  |
| Munter/nodome |  |
The Half-hitch is not fully attached to the rope, and requires tension in the direction of the running end to hold. The munter/nodome is a proper hitch that is used to attach one line to another line.
Munter/Nodome
• You will form a Munter hitch, also known as a nodome (pronounced phonetically “no – dough – may“), by having a running line that will cross over and be hitched into an intersected line. The intersected line has already been placed on the body, for example, in a previous step of the tie you are tying.
• Notice which direction the running line is traveling in. That is the direction that the running line will also end up traveling in when the hitch is done.
• Assuming the intersected line is horizontal,
• the running line goes over and under the intersected line, now running directly down
• Next run through the triangle formed by the intersected line and the running line (it will be a pizza-slice triangle). If you’re going up & to the right, the triangle will be on your left. If you’re going up & to the right, the triangle will be on your right.
• Run under and through to the opposite quadrant, in the same direction that the running end was going when you began.
X friction
brings three ropes together
In this twice-around example we’re pulling the wraps together. First step is to pull up to form the stem going upwards and left
Next we will pull the top wraps together and finding tension on the stem
We go in the opposite direction ( right ) to form the X.
And finally we come back down to complete the hitch.
L-Friction
Two half-hitches(Clove hitch)
Cow hitch
Half-moon hitch
More Knots To Learn
| Coin Knot | |
| Double coin knot | |
| Fisherman’s knot | |
| Midshipman’s hitch | |
| Girth hitch |
Patterns & Concepts
Lattice pattern
Weaving, over-under / under-over
Symmetry
Nawaza – Starter Floor Ties
| Tie | Is good for learning | Videos |
| Gote (Chest Harness) A common and fundamental tie in Shibari, the Gote, involves tying the arms behind the back and securing the chest. It serves as the foundation for many other ties and is often used in both floor work and suspension. | • tension, reverse tension, anatomy | |
| Takate Kote (Box Tie) A specific and popular form of the Gote, the Takate Kote involves tying the arms in a box shape behind the back. It is highly secure and commonly used in suspension. | • tension, reverse tension, anatomy | Nawado (YouTube) |
| Classic hog-tie | Double columns | |
| Leg Ladders | Double columns |
Nawaza – Intricate Floor Ties
| Tie | Is good for learning | Videos |
| Hishi Diamond Harness An asthetic and pleasing repeating pattern tied down the body, the Hishi Diamond can either be done over the arms on someone else (it makes for a cozy, encompassing experience), or as a self-tie under the arms. This is the starter tie we learn in the intermediate section because it introduces munters & half-hitches. | munters & half hitches | Rory’s Brainworks (YouTube) |
| Antler tie | ||
| Hishi Karada (“diamond rope dress”) An beautiful full body tie that becomes striking when you use different colors of rope. Highly aesthetic and makes for good photos. | ||
| Takate Kote (Gote) harness | ||
| Gorgone’s 3rd rope TK | ||
| Futomoto (leg tie) | Haven Kink (YouTube) | |
| Spiral futomoto | Innovative Fiber Arts (YouTube) | |
| Singju | • upper body anatomy, reverse tension | |
| Fisherman’s harness A reasonably safe upper body tie that makes the bunny feel encompassed and enveloped. It can be a little challenging to get the tension right, so it is recommended that you work on your tensions first with other ties before attempting this intermediate tie. | Munters (6×4=24) | |
| Basket weave | ||
| Agura | Bondage Tuition (YouTube) | |
| Thigh Gunslinger | Chelle Lisbeth (YouTube) | |
| Dog tie | Watts The Safeword (Youtube) | |
| Shinju | ||
| Tobutsuru (hip harness) | birdofprey69 (Youtube) | |
| Bulldog harness | Watts The Safeword (YouTube) |
Suspendible Harnesses
Note: Although the suspension is not covered here, we have begun to build suspendable harnesses using intermediate-level material. It’s important make sure your harnesses are tight and securely built before moving onto suspension.
| Tripple-weave Hip Harness A very common hip harness that involves weaving 3 times on each hip. | RopeExtasy (Youtube) | |
| Half-moon hip harness A quick & easy one-sided tie that involves ropes going very close to your groin, which may or may not work for you. | ||
| Butterfly harness A common upper-body tie used for suspension. | Shibari Study | |
| KissMeDeadlyDoll’s chest harness A very secure and comfortable arms-free chest harness suitable for suspension. | Shibari Study |