Adapted from Fuoco’s Shibari Study Hojo Cuff Deep Dive
This lesson introduces Hojo cuffs. It is a freestyling exercise in which we will tie a series of hojo cuffs to different limbs.
We always talk about “holding tension” and the “tension in the ropes,” but we rarely talk about the tension in the body. Of course, the rope and the body go hand-in-hand, as it is the forces of the body that create the tension in the first place. The rope holds the tension of the body, and so then the rope also holds tension. But as rope tops, we often forget to learn about and notice the tension in the body. Freestyling encourages us to communicate with our bunnies and ask them question like: “Can I move your leg here?” “Does it feel ok when it is in this position?” or “What’s your range of motion here?” as we build each cuff.
In this exercise, it is good to ask the bunny about their body, their range of motion, and to ask them to try different positions that feel good to them.
The Hojo cuff is:
- a single column tie
- that is held together with only tension
- the tension runs in on two lines (the bight end and the running end), called “tension running in and tension running out”
The fact that the hojo cuff is held with tension means when we think about where to tie it, we must consider the tension of both the rope running in and the rope running out. In many cases, they will be parallel to one another but experiment here with the (small) angle you can make before the cuff looses its shape.
When you’re done making all the Hojo cuffs, you find the center of each lines running into each cuff and synch them together into one which finishes the web.
EXERCISE 1: SELF OR PARTNER
• Tie a single column (not the hojo cuff) around an ankle.
• Choose anywhere else on your body to go, then make a hojo cuff.
• Form a hojo cuff web
• Connect the web together by finding the center of each line, then pulling these into a single point in the middle (which can just be an X friction just a tension)
• Finish the tie.
EXERCISE 2: COUPLES TIE
A couple can be tied together in an intimate fashion using the same technique. Have the couple form the way they’d like to be tied, start on one person and form the hojo cuff on the other person, then passing the next cuff back to the first person.
EXERCISE 3: PARTIAL SUSPENSION
Partially suspend the bunny by the waist, then form the hojo cuff web across their body parts. Ask them to position their legs and arms in an awkward but sustainable position as you tie the web.