Some of our most meaningful teaching experiences have come from returning to the same communities over several years, watching people grow from their first ropes into confident, deeply personal practices.
IMPROVE
KINBAKU workshops
Professional educational formats
for your community
KINBAKU WORKSHOPS
Professional educational formats
for your community
What can we bring
to your community?
Teaching as a couple brings the perspectives of both the rigger and the rope bottom into every workshop. We focus on safe and sustainable tying, learning to respond to what the bottom offers and developing the adaptability to work with different bodies, situations and intentions.
Our approach combines embodied learning with technical and aesthetic rigour, but without dogma. We teach principles and tools that students can understand, adapt and eventually make their own.
Our Curriculum
Over almost a decade of teaching Kinbaku in Berlin and internationally, we have developed a progressive curriculum that guides students from their first encounter with rope towards advanced creative expression. Our teaching develops technical skill, embodied understanding and the confidence to turn what is learned into a personal practice.
Beginning the journey
A structured introduction to the fundamental technique, safety, communication and philosophy of Japanese rope bondage. By the end of this stage, participants have the confidence to create safe and enjoyable floor based sessions together, communicate through rope, understand their own limits and build a solid foundation for the next stage of their Kinbaku journey.
From Zero to Patterns and Play
A two day intensive designed for beginner couples taking their first steps into Kinbaku. Participants learn the essential techniques, safety principles and communication skills needed to create enjoyable rope sessions together while building the foundation for all future learning.
Playful Positions on Floor and Hashira
An exploration of elegant and functional floor ties and upright positions at the hashira. Alongside upper and lower body bondage, students develop body handling, connection, communication and aesthetic sensitivity.
Introduction to Suspension
A gentle introduction to semi suspension, gradually expanding students’ understanding of gravity, movement, rope handling and risk management. The workshop builds confidence before progressing to more demanding suspension work.
Building confidence with suspension and Semenawa
We introduce more complex technique, gravity, and the aesthetic principles that define our style of semenawa, while both partners become increasingly adaptable, responsive and confident. Students deepen their understanding of body mechanics, movement and embodied rope handling while learning to create challenging yet sustainable semi and full suspensions.
A thorough introduction to stemless Gote
A comprehensive introduction to the stemless Gote that forms the technical foundation of our Semenawa approach. Students learn not only the mechanics of the tie but also how to adapt it safely to different bodies and intentions.
Introduction to Semenawa
An introduction to our interpretation of Semenawa, combining body mechanics, rope handling and aesthetics. Students explore challenging yet sustainable semi and full suspensions while developing sensitivity to the experience of the person in ropes.
Movement and control in Semenawa suspensions
Building on the previous workshops, this class focuses on movement, transitions and body control. Riggers refine their rope handling while rope bottoms develop the capacity to communicate, remain connected and respond to the changing effects of gravity.
Hashira suspensions
A workshop dedicated to upright tying at the hashira. Students learn the technical principles, movement possibilities and aesthetic qualities unique to this traditional form of Kinbaku.
Towards personal expression
Technical mastery is never the destination. It creates the freedom to develop your own authentic Kinbaku. Rather than offering an endless collection of patterns, we encourage curiosity, experimentation, improvisation, and personal inquiry. In our masterclasses for advanced students, we explore concepts such as intention, scene creation, and individual aesthetics through Japanese principles including Muga, Ma, Ma-ai and Musubi.
Bodies under Pressure
Our exploration of Semenawa as an impact through rope. Rather than increasing complexity for its own sake, this workshop investigates how pressure, movement and intention shape emotional and physical experience.
Ichi-go Ichi-E
Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ichi-go Ichi-E (“one time, one meeting”), this advanced workshop explores presence, intention and the subtle dimensions of emotional connection through rope.
Each stage can stand alone or become part of a continuing educational programme that grows with your community.
KINBAKU WORKSHOPS
Bring us
to your community
Whether you already have a workshop in mind or would like us to help develop a programme, we can start with your community, your audience and what you would like to create. From a single workshop to a full weekend or festival programme, we will shape the format together.
KINBAKU WORKSHOPS
Bring us to
your community
You don’t need any previous experience, only curiosity and a willingness to explore together. Discover Kinbaku as a pathway towards greater erotic aliveness and new possibilities for how you meet, play and relate to each other.
Why organisers invite us
Our teaching combines technical precision with embodied learning, bringing the perspectives of both the rigger and the rope bottom into the learning process. Students learn not only how a technique is constructed, but how it is experienced, communicated and adapted to different bodies and intentions.
Rather than teaching students to reproduce our Kinbaku, we give them the technical and perceptual tools to develop a practice of their own.
Curious about the philosophy behind our teaching?
Acquiring skills for riggers: The Elements System
Our educational approach
Technical precision and embodied understanding for both sides of the rope.
Which workshop is right for our community?
We work closely with organisers to shape programmes around the experience, interests and needs of their community, from introductory weekends to advanced Semenawa intensives and broader festival programmes.
Can you create a bespoke programme for our community?
Yes. We regularly adapt content, duration, level and prerequisites to your community and can also develop workshops around a particular theme or educational goal.
Can we combine workshops with performances, talks or other formats?
Yes. Workshops can be combined with Kinbaku performances, Salons, keynotes, book presentations, photography labs or community discussions to create a broader programme around your event.
Do you teach internationally?
Yes. We are based in Berlin and regularly teach throughout Europe and internationally. We teach fluently in English and German and have extensive experience working with international audiences.
What do you need from the organiser?
This depends on the workshop, group size and venue. Once we have agreed on a format, we provide a clear overview of the required space, equipment, suspension points and practical arrangements. Our calendar often fills several months ahead, particularly for weekends, so we recommend getting in touch early.
Still curious?
How many participants can join? How far in advance should we book? What prerequisites should participants have? Can you stay for several days? What does it cost to bring you to our venue?
Just ask.
Partners in life and rope since 2011, Natasha and Alexander are Berlin based, internationally recognised Kinbaku artists, educators, publishers and embodiment researchers.
„Bodies under Pressure“ - not just an ordinary workshop, but an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between rope partners in Semenawa. It focused on mindfulness, communication, and session progression. We learned a lot and had a great time together!
When I attended the workshop “Bodies under Pressure” by Alexander_MA and NawaTaNeko together with my wonderful rigger Zoe963, I thought I knew exactly what to expect: a Semenawa workshop full of rope, intensity, and physical challenge. Rope that pushes you. Pressure. Limits. Endurance. But what I received was so much more. The first exercise seemed almost simple: expanding a classic two-rope gote by adding a third rope. “Take your time between each knot and action. Pause again and again.” And right there, something began that went far deeper than technique. Space emerged… space and time. Time to observe. Time to feel. Time for the model not to simply be “tied,” but to actively become part of the moment. Being allowed to feel. Being allowed to react. Being allowed to simply exist. To be seen…
There are wonderful rope teachers, there are technically brilliant rope teachers, and then there are the very rare rope teachers who make you understand why rope matters in the first place. Natasha and Alexander are those teachers. They are knowledgeable, technically exceptional, warm, human and wonderfully approachable. They are refreshingly undogmatic while remaining deeply devoted to Naka Akira's approach to Semenawa. What makes their teaching special is their desire to dig deeper than the shapes, patterns and technique and into tissue, movement, breath and sensation. Into what happens in the body when rope truly lands.
A beautiful and special place. The workshops at Discover Kinbaku are not shallow or chaotic fast food, but well thought out concepts with a learning theory behind them. They do not only cover knots and patterns, but also interpersonal dynamics, communication and the side of the rope bottoms. All in a respectful, welcoming and open atmosphere, and the team has a lot of valuable experience to share. I would love to attend more classes in the future!
Beyond
workshops
Kinbaku can open conversations far beyond the workshop room.
Performances, talks, Salons, book presentations and other artistic formats allow us to create a broader cultural programme around your event.