Rope Podcast

Assistant is a large language model trained by OpenAI, and fox and Mya were interested to see how they could help provide information and insights on rope bondage, and how accurate it might be. The results surprised them both… In this episode hear Assistant’s thoughts on: • What rope bondage is, and if shibari and rope bondage are the same thing • How AI can be useful to those interested in rope bondage • The risks of rope bondage, and what people like about it • How we can improve our rope bondage skills • Advice for newcomers in rope bondage • How to find a partner to do rope bondage with • Some creative writing from Assistant - a William-Gibson-style cyberpunk novel with a central theme of rope bondage and a poem about rope bondage in the style of Byron! Finally, we checked with Assistant that they were ok with publishing their answers and this is what they said: You are welcome to use some of my answers as quotes in your podcast episode. However, please be aware that I am a large language mod

There are a SURPRISING number of labels people use in rope, some of which have leaked over from other aspects of BDSM, and some of which are unique to rope bondage. In this episode, fox and Mya explore - and sometimes disagree on! - what these can mean, sharing some of the different meanings that can be associated with these labels. This discussion provides a starting point for you to have with the people you do rope with about their labels, and is definitely NOT the definitive guide - we know communities, cultures, individuals all bring different perspectives, and we encourage you to talk to others about their labels, why they chose them (if they did!) and making sure you’re both using the label that suits them, and you understand what they mean by chasing it. It’s a helpful way to discover more about each other! Also learn in the episode: • 12+ labels that the podcast hosts can think of that people use in rope • fox and Mya’s preferred labels • Whether you can have more than one label • A littl

Listen for breaking news! Rope Podcast organizing a rope photo contest!

fox and Mya don’t tie TKs, and rarely tie a box tie because of their risk profile - but they understand a lot of listeners do. So when they saw educator fuoco had put out a book about box ties, they were excited to get her perspective. fuoco also shares more about her Zine ‘Cut the Leash’, the audience for that and the notion of kinky community - as well as their issue on ‘Witchiness and rope’. Might you be a contributor? Get in touch with fuoco on her website below. In the meantime, listen to this engaging discussion to hear about: • The origin of the fuoco’s new book, Put Me In A Box • Pros and cons of box tie • What she loves about box tie • How she manages the risks of a box tie as a rope bottom • Ways bottoms and tops can work together to adjust the box tie to different bodies • The concepts of a sustainability and stability and optimising both • What can rope bottoms do to have longevity in rope • Switching up patterns to avoid cumulative nerve damage • Optimising rope fun! • And plenty mo

fuoco began her rope journey as a bottom in Phoenix ten years ago and shortly thereafter moved to London, where much of her early rope learning happened. Upon moving back to the US, she began presenting at cons and intensives around the country sharing her love of rope. As an educator, she's decidedly non-dogmatic in her approach to teaching. Her classes aim to help bottoms to better understand their bodies in movement, and to offer riggers the knowledge to adapt their tying to the unique needs of their partners. When she’s not doing rope, fuoco is a professional acrobat. Her dedicated study of the mechanics of the body make her especially interested in developing more comprehensive education for bottoms informed by these practices. She's also a leftist who believes that kink is inherently political. She strives to bring her politics, her values, and an accountability for those values into her teaching spaces. Listen to this engaging discussion to hear about: • How she discovered rope bondage • Her early

In this episode fox shares some of his experience and knowledge around how rope tops and bottoms might optimize their physical strength for rope. The podcast hosts remind you they’re not medical doctors or trainers and you should get some professional input before starting. Aimed at novices (though those who are more experienced are welcome to listen and share their advice in the comments on Fetlife and Instagram) list now to hear them discuss these areas: • The kinds of movement you might want to improve your strength on as a rigger • Injuries in rope strength training might be able to prevent • What are dead lifts, lateral raises, upward rows, and what muscles do they work? • Where pain and discomfort figures in weight lifting • Different types of physical strength that bottoms might need • The possible cons of strength training for rope bondage • How you might strengthen your back and your core • Compound versus isolation movements • Reps and sets and how best to use them • Expl

‘Auntie’ Midori has a lot of scenes behind her (and in front of her!) and her depth of experience in play means she has huge resources to draw on for ideas. Her interest in rope developed alongside her experience in other kinks, and in this episode, fox and Mya explore some of her more unusual ideas on ‘how to play’. This is a great episode to help enhance your scenes, beginner or advanced, whatever your level. Listen to the discussion to hear about: • Intent in rope bondage, what it means, and making sure both (all) parties’ intents match • Food as a metaphor for scening • Why she doesn’t start negotiations by discussing the type of tie she wants • How intent can help you if you get stuck progressing your scene • The need to be flexible even when you’ve planned our your intent in advance • Rituals, what they are, from the simplest to the most complicated • Her personal rope rituals • Insights into her rope playlists • How you can draw on mindfulness to create deeper, more intense rope scenes •

Midori literally ‘wrote the book’ on rope bondage, with the first English instruction manual on Shibari: ‘Seductive Art of Japanese Rope Bondage’. With her first hand perspectives on both American and Japanese rope culture, fox and Mya were able to discuss with her a depth of understanding of Japanese Rope culture that may be at odds with some of the myths out there. Listen to the discussion to hear about: • Midori’s slow burn entry into rope, and where she learned both the skills of making rope (3rd grade!) and tying (a lot later…) • How not to be a culture vampire in Japanese rope bondage • The sex ways of ordinary people and ensuring we don’t erase these • The extent to which rope bondage is actually practised in Japan • A new perspective on the Tengu tie • The themes in her erotic short story in ‘Silk Threads’ • The connection - or not - between Japanese rope and Japanese rope martial arts Trailblazing educator, sexologist, artist, and irritant to banality, Midori founded Rope Dojo and ForteF

In this episode the rope pair Mya and fox speculate on what rope might look like in the future, given some of the technological advances and futurist predications around. They throw ideas around and have a lot of fun with it! Listen now to hear them discuss what these topics might mean for the future of rope bondage: • Extended reality • Medicine • Datification • The Quantified Human • Software • Privacy • Work • Communication • Sustainability • Sex • Material science There’s no way to predict what the future will bring in terms of technological and social advances, but the podcast hosts explored a great variety in terms of the potential of rope to evolve.

The second part of the well-loved favourite episode of ‘rope memories’ from the podcast interviewees this year. Mya and fox love this episode and are excited to share these funny, poignant, explicit and delightful stories with you. Enjoy! The episode includes stories from: HuaHua Graydancer Ropunawa Lief+Icky

Time for one of our favourite episodes of the year - and one you love. Settle down and listen to four of our wonderful guests telling us about their most memorable rope scenes - what inspiration or ideas does it spark for you in your rope practice? The episode includes memories from: Addie Tifereth Marceline VQ Renee Robyn

In this episode, listener Your_Dapper_Dom asks fox and Mya a question about envy and imposter syndrome - something which the rope duo have interestingly differing views about, but both offer an intimate and vulnerable perspective on the topics. Listen now to hear them talk about: • Discussion of envy versus jealousy and how the same emotion word might be interpreted differently by different people • How fox and Mya do and don’t feel envious • The ways each of them try and manage feelings of envy when they arise • More practical techniques everyone can try • What imposter syndrome is • How it relates to rope • Perfectionsm, self-criticism and imposter syndrome links • Some ways to manage or handle feelings of imposter syndrome

Part 2 of our fabulous interview with Graydancer covers all things Ropecast, his incredibly long-running and early podcast all about rope bondage (can you believe it was one of the first 200 podcasts IN EXISTENCE! For perspective the Rope Podcast is now one of 2.4million out there!). Gray is a vivid and detailed storyteller and it’s fascinating to hear about such a core part of rope history. This episode explores: • The origin story of the Ropecast • Building connections in the rope world • Reflected knowledge and fame • Unexpected kindnesses and benefits his podcast was able to bring to rope people • Creating an oral history of the rope scene • ‘Have you seen these episodes?’ a plea from Gray • Dealing with backlash when you’re visible in the community • Some fascinating reflections on how the rope scene and our understanding of rope have changed over time • What he’s creating these days Graydancer got into rope bondage back at the turn of the millenium, when rope was 10 cents a foot. He started

fox and Mya were thrilled and honoured when Graydancer, whose Rope Podcast (Ropecast) has so far episodes spanning 14 years, accepted their invitation to guest on their younger Rope Podcast. Sadly Mya was sick (so sick!) with Covid on the date of the interview, but fox carried off their questions on his own. Graydancer got into rope bondage back at the turn of the millenium, when rope was 10 cents a foot. He started a podcast about bondage in 2005, and taught, performed, and organized events around rope until 2019, traveling throughout North America and Europe. In 2007 he organized the first of over 100 rope open-spaces (aka “GRUE”), and in 2016 with the help of friends put on the first “ROPECRAFT” event. He also worked to improve consent practices throughout the community. He is firmly bi-kinky as he loves polished leather just as much as tight rope. Currently he has retired from teaching and organizing kink, enjoying drawing pinups, lettering dirty words, and cigars, boots, and chocolate. • Where to fin

In this second episode with the wonderful HuaHua the podcast hosts go deeper into exploring what the Chinese rope scene is like. Hear all about: ◦ The rope scene in China versus HuaHua’s experiences in other parts of the world ◦ The political, cultural and social context and how it influences Chinese Shibari ◦ How she uses Shibari in performance art ◦ Handling the police interrupting her scenes ◦ Tying with Kinoko ◦ The challenges of taking photos of rope in China ◦ Private life versus public life in rope ◦ Censorship and its impact on events and education ◦ Leaving China to go back to Europe ◦ And more! HuaHua (she/her) is an artist, Shibari practitioner and teacher from the UK, currently based in Shanghai, She is the founder of Borderline Shibari, a platform dedicated to creating a mindful and conscious Shibari community. She believes that rope bondage is a process of exploring authenticity. To her, bondage creates a connection between interior and exterior, between the elevated and the underground.

HuaHua (she/her) is an artist, Shibari practitioner and teacher from the UK, currently based in Shanghai, She is the founder of Borderline Shibari, a platform dedicated to creating a mindful and conscious Shibari community. She believes that rope bondage is a process of exploring authenticity. To her, bondage creates a connection between interior and exterior, between the elevated and the underground. In addition to her Shibari work, her art work also includes, nude photography, physical theatre, installations and private sessions. Her work often derives from her BDSM practice, just as her Shibari teaching involves techniques transferred from other practices. HuaHua's Shibari teaching style is more centered around intention, expression and the emotional process of rope. The podcast hosts love hearing about rope in Asia (as they’re based in Thailand themselves), and were excited to hear more about the large, and growing, Chinese scene, including: ◦ Common Chinese fantasies about rope bondage ◦ Her journe

Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the ability of your body to regulate the level of sugar in your blood is compromised. In this episode, listener absinthe-minded asks for any advice or safety precautions to mitigate risks from one partner in rope bondage having diabetes. Fox and Mya explore some of the potential issues that might come up and make suggestions about how you might work with this condition to have a great rope life. They discuss: • Why this episode might be relevant to you even if you don’t have diabetes, or tie with someone with diabetes • How to talk to medical professionals about rope (even if you don’t want to talk about rope) • Tips on including it in your negotiation • Some of the impact of diabetes on the body, and how to mitigate those issues • Handling some of the emotions that can come up around rope when you have a chronic health condition • Places to find more kinky research, as well as kinky researchers. NB: fox and Mya aren’t medical professionals, and always recom

RopuNawa first encountered Shibari and Kinbaku in 2008 at a performance in Australia with Arisue Go. This experience stayed with him, and he began his own journey with rope back in his home of Switzerland, first learning Osada Steve’s style with local teachers. Rather than stay with one style, however, he has been inspired by many, as he feels that there is not one way to tie - rather, the heart of his style lies in the needs of his model. Through the diversity within his approach, he can best respond to his partner’s needs and wants, focusing and appreciating the non-verbal connection that he creates with each tying partner. He currently teaches fulltime in his Studio in Basel (Switzerland), while travelling and teaching internationally with his muse @FreyaHellesdim. Fox has had an interest in Ropeunawa’s online classes for a while, and the podcast team were pleased to be able to talk to him about: ◦ His early inspirations from rope-related Manga and Hentai ◦ How he balances his desire to please his bo

‘Intent’ in rope is mentioned a lot in rope circles, but can feel a bit ethereal and hard to pin down. The podcast hosts think it’s pretty important to be on the same page about your intent in rope when you go into a scene - but what, then, IS intent in rope? And why, exactly, is it important? In this episode, Fox and Mya try to make the topic more practical and explore: * A definition of intent in rope and its possible consequences * Practical implications of not being on the same page about intent * The 12 types of possible intent that we could think of (so far!) * Questions to ask to try and understand each others’ intent better * When/whether you ‘should’ always share your intent with your scene partner * Can you have more than one intent during a scene? * The importance of agreeing not to play if your intents are incompatible (and why) * Ways to get over different intents (assuming you have overlap in your ‘venn diagram of intent’) * When and how intent can vary even between the same two partners

In episode 127, the podcast hosts explored with queer and trans rope educators and performance artists Lief Bound and Icarus how they fell for rope, and each other. In this second part of the interview, they open up about: ◦ How the pair keep their inspiration alive in rope ◦ A great rope dinner party question ◦ Transitioning rope from a passion to a profession ◦ The ups and downs of making a living with rope ◦ Whether being paid for doing rope is s3x work or not ◦ Exploding myths about ‘the perfect rope bottom’ ◦ How Lief sets boundaries with rope clients ◦ Handling mental health challenges in rope ◦ Allowing their rope practice to shift and change Lief Bound and Icarus currently reside in Los Angeles, California. Lief Bound is a rope switch who found their love of rope nine years ago and believes that rope can be the most honest way that we can connect with each other. Icarus is a switchy pain enthusiast who started their rope bottoming exploration nine years ago and is most passionate about exploring i