Bondage for Immobilization

1. Welcome to Bondage for Immobilization

Thank you for coming today

2. Introductions

MC introduces themselves, with pronouns
Instructors introduce themselves, with pronouns

3. What is Bondage for Immobilization?

Bondage that removes ability to move / wiggle
We’ll look at bondage that is more secure (but not totally secure)

• Totally secure is usually inconsistent with safety

Immobilizing is different from tight

• Tight is valid for its own sake
• Use science, not tightness to achieve immobilization
• Science also helps smaller people tie bigger people

4. Demo: frapping is better (An example of science)

Demo unfrapped double column tie
Demo frapped version: more secure and more comfortable

5. How does the class work?

This class is equally for bottoms and tops

Bottoms are full partners and have as much to learn as tops

The class is divided into 3 modules

Each module has a technical skill and application of that skill

Each module begins with lecture and demo

One technical skill and one core kink skill
During lecture, focus on learning “why”

Each module ends with pod time

We’ll break into small groups to practice
This is the time to ask questions, get help with accommodations
During this phase, focus on learning “how”

There are no formal breaks: do self care during pods
Pods are also a great time for adaptations for bodies & play styles

6. Before we jump in, some logistics

Point out bathrooms, water, exits
Wear what you like, but keep bottom bits covered

7. Consent!

It’s the first thing in your handouts because it’s the most important thing
We’ll talk about it a lot, starting now:

• Ask before touching
• We’ll ask before touching, it’s OK to say no (we can still help)
• No photos, no phones: step outside if you have to use yours
• We’ll model some negotiation, but prior negotiation has also occurred
• We’re professionals: we won’t hit on you, please don’t hit on us

1. About lashings

Now we’re gonna look at lashings
Lashings bind two things tightly together
Excellent combination of comfortable and immobilizing
Not as well known as they should be

2. Demo the parallel lashing

Make this a fun, playful demo
Let’s look at some options for tying someone to a chair

Demo 1: column tie on ankle, tie off ankle to pole

• Versatile, but lots of wiggle

Demo 2: tie ankle directly to pole with two column tie (no frapping)

• Keeps it in place, but has some pivot

Time for lashings!

• Parallel lashing is for parallel columns
• Square lashing is for columns at 90 degrees

Demo 3: parallel lashing against a pole (with frapping)

• Has more wraps than a column tie
• Removes much of the pivot

Think of these as three points on a continuum

What do we do with lashings?

Lashings are ideal for binding people to furniture
But also great for binding people to themselves
Can use anywhere you’d use a two column tie

3. Now the square lashing

Now the square lashing, for columns that cross at 90 degrees

Keep the square lashing above the wrist, not on it
Use cuff, not frapping when connecting to lashings

Demo: square lash wrists together

• Tie in front, palms facing up
• Not really immobilizing, but significantly restricts movement

Demo: bind square lashing to chest

• Best if inside arms
• Under left armpit, through lashing, under right armpit, tie off
• Immobilizing and sustainable

Demo: hands behind head

• Challenging and exposing
• Options: through legs, under butt, etc.

4. Let’s talk about the square knot

Notice that we finish both lashings with a square knot
Never mind the technical details, but it has some useful applications
What is a square knot? Demo the basic technique.

You can finish a tie with a square knot instead of a half hitch

• Reason 1: uses less rope
• Reason 2: better tension

1. Parallel lashing

Procedure

1. Lark’s head around both limbs
2. Wrap in a spiral around both limbs
3. Pass between limbs
4. Make one or two frapping turns
5. Split ends and go opposite directions around limb
6. Finish with a square knot (go briefly through the details)

Notes

Demo cinching when pulling on square knot
Demo attachment options that don’t engage the square knot

2. Square lashing

Procedure

1. Lark’s head around furniture or limb
2. Start lashing: over the 2nd column, under the first
3. Continue lashing for 2 complete passes (if you have enough rope)
4. Add some frapping passes
5. Split ends and go in opposite directions
6. Finish with a square knot

Position suggestion to practice on self

Cross leg with ankle/lower leg across thigh

1. Let’s talk about tying off!

Tying off means tying a person to furniture
Making really good tie offs takes some skill

Security versus tightness - tightness can lead to injury
Again: science, not tightness!

What’s good about furniture?

• Attaches them to something that isn’t going anywhere
• Forces them into a shape

Safety: choose your furniture wisely

Make sure it won’t topple onto you, collapse under you, or get damaged

What can you tie to?

Spread eagle on bed
Bent over a coffee table
Sitting in a chair
Sitting against a stair railing

2. What’s our game plan?

Beds are the best furniture for bondage, so we’ll start with rigging your bed
Then we’ll look at tying off in spread eagle position
And we’ll explore some ways to upgrade your tie offs:

• Midshipman’s hitch for adjustability
• Using geometry for extra immobilization
• Preventing jams so you can untie when you’re finished

3. Bottoms

As we go, keep these things in mind:

• Tying off makes everything more intense
• Higher risk of nerve damage, skin abrasion, positional fatigue

Work on managing and communicating these issues as they come up

1. Beds need anchor points

For obvious reasons, tying someone to the bed is great
But most beds don’t have good anchor points
So we’re gonna fix that

If you’re lucky, you have sturdy bedposts
Most bed frames are terrible:

• They’re hard to get to
• They have rough edges that are hard to work with

2. Rappel rings plus utility cord are the answer

We’re gonna make our own anchors using a rappel ring plus utility cord

• Cheap
• Can go almost anywhere
• Discreet, easy to hide
• Easy to work with, gentle on your rope

Lark’s head on a ring

Demo attaching cord to a rappel ring with a standard lark’s head
Demo the lark’s head on a ring

Now we need to attach the ring

Round turn & two half hitches

3. Adding a series of hardpoints

For example, along the side of a bed

Demo the hardpoint rail

Tie off an undoubled line with round turn & 2 half hitches
Run it along the bed rail

For each point:

• Make an overhand loop (optionally add a rappel ring)
• Reinforce by passing around base of loop

Tie off the end with round turn & 2 half hitches

1. Let’s start with spread eagle

We’re gonna start with spread eagle
Classic position
Lousy for genital-genital sex
Great for immobilization, menacing, tickling...

So you can see what’s going on, we’re actually gonna do Samson position
Be careful with Samson because of fainting issues

Begin with column ties on the wrists

Start with column ties on the wrists, with plenty of leftover rope
Make the cuffs a little loose for comfort / safety

2. Demo the Samson

Let’s tie them off and see what happens
That’s pretty fun, but there’s too much wriggle room

We need to get rid of slack

You should develop some intuition about how rope behaves

• You know how water goes downhill: rope has similar rules

Rule 1: rope goes in the direction it’s pulled
Rule 2: rope goes from thick places to thin places
Rule 3: bottoms will create slack any way they can

3. The midshipman’s hitch

The more you motivate someone, the more wriggle room they find
No matter how snug things are initially, you’ll end up with slack
So we’re gonna use an adjustable knot for removing slack as it happens

Demo the midshipman’s hitch

4. Reminder: no solo bondage

Remember: never leave a tied up person alone
The more immobilizing bondage is, the more dangerous it is to be alone in it

5. Using geometry

Removing slack is great
If you want to go further, the next step is to use geometry to your advantage

Geometry 1: Tie off one cuff to multiple places

There’s still side to side wiggle room
That isn’t a solvable problem: nothing is resisting the sideways motion
Let’s not dislocated their shoulder—use science instead!

Split the ends and tie off in different directions
Now the sideways motion is pulling against a hardpoint

Geometry 2: Tie off multiple cuffs

Next: tie off multiple parts of the same limb

• Reduces ability to pivot around a single cuff
• On the leg, tie at the ankle and above the calf
• Tie to a single hardpoint or two different ones

Geometry 3: Ladder

Final option is to use a ladder
Demo

• Begin with a column tie around the waist
• Ladder down the leg
• Tie off at the ankle
• Add rope using lark's head to use for tie offs (briefly cover attachment)

Tie off with a spiral

Undoubled line, two half hitches onto waist line
Spiral: around bed rail, through ladder rung
Finish with two half hitches.

Go through the ladder rung junction, not around the connector!

6. Bottoms

These techniques can lead to limbs being pulled in odd directions.
Watch out for muscle pulls and join strain.

7. Jamming is a problem

Struggling puts knots under lots of tension
This can cause jamming
Inconvenient and also a significant safety issue

8. Cutting rope

Cutting rope is your get out of jail free card
Don’t ever hesitate to cut rope: your partner is your top priority
Remember: you always need a cutting tool on your person
Practice cutting rope, both loose and under tension

9. Strategy 1: round turn

Your first line of defense is the round turn
Sometimes that’s enough

10. Strategy 2: slipped knots

The next step is to use slipped knots
Slipped knots are like quick-release knots
They rely on slipped half hitches
With two half hitches, slip the first one

11. Strategy 3: Munter hitch

Most effective strategy is the Munter hitch
Very reliable: we use it for suspension
Demo

• Finish with a slipped half hitch if you want to be fancy

12. Bonus tip: dealing with naughty people

Some naughty people like to untie themselves
Ideally the anchor is out of reach, but sometimes it isn’t
Solution: go through the anchor, then tie off somewhere else

1. Rigging your bed

Hand out supplies

Pass out rings and cord to your group
Make sure everyone has a good spot

Adding hardpoints to a bed

Lark’s head on a ring
Simple round turn & two half hitches attachment
Running along a rail

2. Midshipman’s hitch

1. Tie off to 1 leg, around 2nd leg, halfway back the line
2. Make 1 inside wrap
3. Make a second inside wrap, over the first
4. Make 1 outside wrap

Key points

Show how to adjust

3. Slipped knots

Slipped half hitch
Slipped two half hitches

4. Munter

Run through tie off process

1. Know yourself

Key bottoming skill is knowing yourself
We sometimes think we all have to be the same “ideal” bottom
All great bottoms are unique
Great bottoming comes from knowing who you are and how you want to play

2. Know your body

Every body is unique, with unique strengths and weaknesses

• Bondage can play to your strengths
• And accommodate your weaknesses—or manipulate them

Key skill: knowing how your body works and how to talk about it

Many of us carry a lot of shame about our bodies
Common perception that only certain bodies can be tied up (young, fit, flexible)

Paisley’s example:

• I have motion sickness, which is triggered by bridge pose or inversions
• Used to struggle with fear of disappointing tops

But actually, there is something in bondage for every body
You come with your body and whatever you can do is great.

Especially with immobilization, important to know what works and what doesn’t

• (And what you want: we’ll cover that shortly)

Can take some trial and error to figure out what works for you
Go gently and work up to different intensities

Example: someone with tight shoulders

• Being immobilized with shoulders extended might do real damage

Example: can go deep in backbends

• Want to play with ties that can go tighter and tighter
• If your head is pulled back too far, will that aggravate an old injury?

Talk to your top about injuries, strengths, and limitations
Let them know how far you want to go, what you'd like to experiment with

3. Know your preferences

Immobilization allows for variety of different play styles
Knowing what mood you want will make a much better scene

Example: bratting

Do you want to be verbally sassy but mostly physically acquiesce?
Do you want to resist and be “physically” bratty by struggling in the rope?
This might change what kind of ties your top uses

Example: submissive

Do you want to endure a position for as long as possible to please your dominant?

Example: challenging

Do you want to endure the pain and stress and be pushed to your edge?

Example: escape artist

Actively monkeying around in the ropes with the specific goal of getting out of the ropes?

What are your goals?

How do you want to feel at the end of the scene? Successful? Spent?
Is it okay to fail and be laughed at?
Do you want the immobilization to be painful or just strenuous?

Type 1 vs. Type 2 fun

• Type 1: fun while it’s happening
• Type 2: fun after it’s happened

1. Why a chest harness?

Convenient handles: rough handling, fucking
Tie off/anchor for arms
In this case, it’s a great starting point for a hogtie

2. Tying the chest harness

Basic version: single band (just a basic column tie) on upper pectorals
For lying on back, put knot in front to avoid lying on it

Bottoms

Don't raise your arms while chest harness being tied.
Lowering arms will cause harness to tighten
Keep arms around shoulder level

People with and without breasts

Bottom preference varies
If no breasts, single band is often most comfortable
If breasts, single band above breasts or separate the bands (above/below)

• May need to use a ladder rung for spacing

Building connection

Great time to build connection via cuddling and touch
Can be sensual/sexual, or loving/comforting

3. Shoulder lines

Why?

• Keep wraps from falling down/shifting
• Helps keep arm attachments from sliding around
• Feels more secure

Consider weaving: decorative and more stable

Demo using the same line
Demo using a new line

4. Bottoms

Small changes have a big impact
Evaluate and give feedback on:

• Knot placement
• Location and evenness of shoulder lines
• How things change over time

5. The figure 8 harness

We generally prefer the standard chest harness
But if you want maximum back bend, you might consider the figure 8 harness
We’re gonna demo and discuss briefly, happy to cover in detail in pods

Demo, with reinforcement

Pros:

• Fast and elegant
• Sits very high on chest for maximum leverage

Cons:

• Uncomfortable for many people
• Can cause choking

Details matter

• Make sure everything is well dressed
• Make sure your tensions are right

1. About the hogtie

What is a hogtie? Demo the classic

• Face down
• Hands behind back
• Ankles together
• Ankles tied to chest

Why do we like it?

Very immobilizing
Can be very challenging
“Slow cooker” stress position
Pain with predicament element

Strain/stress points for bottom

Core muscles (back and abs)
Legs/hip joints
Chest harness pressure
Breathing

2. Demo again, with detailed discussion

1: Attach to the upper body

Best option is generally a chest harness or figure 8

2: Tie the ankles

Watch out for grinding the ankle bones (offset the ankles or add padding)
If you use frapping, don’t constrict it

3: Tie the wrists

Hands antiparallel behind back

4: Pull into a hogtie shape

Connect ankles to chest, doubling back to make a simple pulley
Define stem as you tie it (vertical line down the back)
Be careful about face hitting the floor

Bottoms: lift into the bend rather than being pulled
Talk in advance about how much back bend you want and be sure to warm up

5: Tie it off

Think about jamming: slipped knot or Munter hitch?
Think about adjustability: midshipman’s hitch?

3. Options: legs

Separate the legs

• Futomomo or column tie
• Tie off with individual lines to chest harness
• Can tie the arms to the leg lines

4. Options: arms

Put wrists behind head

Put the arms behind the back:

• Antiparallel, as usual
• Crossed with a square lashing
• Strappado

Tie the arms to the legs:

• Attach wrists directly to ankles
• Tie off wrists to ankles
• Attach arms to the leg lines

Put the arms in front

• Maybe crossed with a square lashing
• Easier on the shoulders and back
• Less traditional, but totally valid

5. Options: hair tie

The hair tie is a great addition
Helps increase back bend, but be careful of neck
This one was developed by Topologist

1. Lark’s head on the right hand
2. Gather the hair: direction and evenness matter
3. Slip lark’s head onto the hair
4. Split and capsize the lark’s head
5. Add a half hitch

6. Options: dialing up the intensity

Going for endurance?

• Just let them cook for a bit
• Maybe increase back bend over time using midshipman’s hitch

Short but intense?

• Carefully lift up on the stem (good lifting technique!)

1. Chest harness

Walk through basic harness

• Split bands versus single band
• Front knots vs back knots
• Shoulder lines

2. Figure 8 harness

Demonstrate / teach on request

3. Hogtie

Bottoms

Warm up before strenuous ties like hogtie
Chest harness is often biggest source of discomfort.

• Experiment with different harnesses, knot placement, attachments, etc.

Talk about breath restriction before starting

Procedure

1. Chest harness or figure 8 harness
2. Tie the ankles
3. Tie the arms
4. Tie the stem

Ankles grinding together?

Offset the ankles
Add padding (frapping or a washcloth)
Separate legs

Other options

Legs separated (futos and/or separate lines to chest)

Arms:

• Bar tie behind back
• Arms in front
• Attach directly to ankles
• Strappado (much more intense)

Hair tie

1. Some ideas to get you started

Practice tying off

• Samson position (standing, arms to sides)
• Work on maximum immobilization

Practice triangulation

• Try same body part to two tie offs
• Try different body parts (ankle and calf) to same and different tie offs

Practice lashing body parts together

• Arms & legs parallel
• Crab position (compare to basic column tie)
• Lash arms to face (over eyes, as a gag)
• Hands behind the head with parallel lashing, to crotch or waist rope
• Ebi/crossed ankles

Lashing to furniture

• Chair bondage
• Parallel and square lashing to furniture

Test different tie offs under load, wiggling, jerking:

• Round turn & 2 half hitches
• Midshipman’s hitch
• Slipped knots
• Munter hitch

2. Hogtie and variants

Try different arm and leg options

1. Today’s consent topic is accountability

We teach consent in every class because

• it’s fundamental to kink
• we’re in the middle of a major paradigm shift

Today we’re talking about accountability
Accountability is like meta consent

• Whatever you believe consent is, are you living up to that standard?

The kink world is undergoing an accountability paradigm shift
The vanilla world has an accountability crisis

• Think globally, act locally

We’re gonna talk about 2 things:

• Personal accountability
• Instructor / leader accountability

2. What is accountability?

Accountability is about identifying and fixing discrepancies

• Between what you believe / say and what you do

It's a powerful tool for personal growth
It's a powerful tool for functional societies

3. Personal accountability

What we do is risky

• Injury
• Consent risk

Therefore important that we work to minimize the harm we cause

• Recognize when we’ve caused harm
• Do what we can to remedy it
• Do what we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again

4. Accountability for leaders / educators

We’re currently digging out from a serious problem
At least 25% of big name rope instructors were serial consent violators
Incredibly harmful:

• They had access to a huge number of victims
• They taught bad habits to our entire community

That last is super important

• Someone who is bad at consent will teach bad consent practices

Be thoughtful about who you choose as instructors / leaders

• Are they KECC compliant?
• Do they have an accountability system in place?
• Have they dealt with their past problems appropriately?

1. Thank you for coming

We had a great time—we hope you did also.
What next?

2. About Full Circle Kink

We’re a professional, values-driven kink organization
We think kink should be super fun, and also super ethical
That goes double for kink instruction

We have tons of great stuff on our website

• Upcoming classes
• Free handouts
• Detailed tutorials for this class and lots more

3. Our next class

What / when / where?
What’s it about?
What makes it cool?

4. Wrapping up

Individual instructors pimp their events & classes

Thank our hosts
Invite hosts to talk about themselves / their events

Go out in the world and have fun!