So, how do we create the positions in Kinbaku? And what do they mean?

I would like to start with negation: how should positions not arise in my opinion? I don’t think they should be created in such a way that we arrange to meet for a Kata-ashi (S-shape, M-shape, …) session, and then go through the routine – just dressed up (or naked) and with music… Practicing the positions is important: in practice, for practice – not in the session.

MU

Mu is emptiness, nothingness. There is mushin no shin (無心の心), which is in Zen or Bushido the “mind without mind” or “no-mindness”. Not mindlessness – but a mind emptied from ego, thoughts, prejudices, and concepts. An empty mind – a prerequisite for true spontaneity. There is also a cousin: Muga (無我) – selflessness.

In theory, we should tie with an “empty mind”. An ideal mirror for the inspirations coming from our partners, for our emotions and intentions.

But how is that possible? We are not Zen monks! Of course, we have positions in our heads: the ones from the last workshop, from RopeFlix, from Instagram, the ones we did last week, the ones “our partners especially like, etc. pp.

And when we start to tie “intuitively”, it becomes completely chaotic, a completely different aesthetic – or even worse: dangerous. You can also “tie yourself up”, and get lost. You soon realize the session is only over when the model is safely back on the floor. Often it is only when you “get down” that you realize that the improvisation was not very resolvable…

Creativity wants to grow in this field of tension. Our style of rope has the advantage that you don’t have to worry about some things. We have a certain intention: challenge, suffering, slowness, progression – no cuddle-bondage, no playfight, no switching dancing… We (almost) always start with the Gote. Or with an Armbinder… There are certain limitations in aesthetics that dictate our decisions.

Suspense

My current approach is to put myself in “suspense” (not into suspension!). So I keep myself in the unknown. What will I do next?

In doing so, I am doing the exact opposite of the strategy mentioned at the beginning: If I know what my goal is, i.e. what position I want to tie today, then I get into an automatism. Gote here, Suspension line there, Single Column here, Harness there… pull here, push there: finished is the position X.

If I force myself not to think in the end position, but only to think of the next step, then I can (sometimes) escape this “end position thinking”. My mind is certainly not “MU” yet, but at least I am not in the routine.

Tools

You have all the tools for this strategy in your hands. Naka Ryu is a very reduced style. Single and double column tie, double wrappings, counter tension, one or two frictions… That’s it.

The beginning is always the same. Seiza. The arms crossed on the back. The handcuff, the first rope. A second, a third – the Gote must be perfect. The Gote is the base for everything!

Then comes the first decision – pull up already, or stay on the ground? And when the decision is made – what then? To make a finished harness, or just somewhere (where the three I: Intention, Intuition, Inspiration lead you) a single or double column tie? Can you already pull it? Shape the body already? Where does the next rope go?

Sure, sometimes you need a stable harness, especially if you want to go into suspension. But this moment can be pushed further and further out. Rope after rope…

In doing so, you create bondage like a jazz piece. Following some basic rules you create it spontaneously. A Pattern emerges… Figures appear…

And most of all: you are in-tune with your partner, with your self, and your intention – not driven by an external goal.

That’s were the fun begins.