What Is Bondage

Actually we only need one line: bondage is restraining your partner by means of rope, straps, cuffs, belts, tape, scarfs or anything similar. But then .... that would be too simple, wouldn't it?

First this. Those into bondage may be very picky about it. Much like "spanking", bondage has its purists. They would argue only rope bondage qualifies as bondage. Some Japanese bondage adepts will claim only bondage, done in traditional style using hemp rope, qualifies as Japanese bondage.

Such "trueism", although maybe relevant for the individual involved, are not very helpful. The only valid "trueism" is: bondage is about what you want. And maybe even more important: bondage is about having FUN!

So, we won't enter into this discussion, but the emphasys on Bondage Teaching indeed is on rope, although we will take some detours and we don't mind fusion of techniques and materials. It is only about what you want, like and what turns you on. Nothing more, nothing less.

Many roads lead to Rome

There is a variety of different techniques and positions and there is a variety of goals and effects to achieve.

Bondage can be done just for the fun of it, because it is erotic and exciting. But it can also be incomfortable, painful, humiliating and stresfull. It can be about exposure, about endurance, about fear.

And it can be done because it is artistic. It can even be about finding higher, different, levels of erotic experience and awareness and about spirituality. Again, it is all about what turns you on.

As opposed to Japanese bondage, western style bondage doesn't have that many specific techniques, rules and objectives. And it is certainly less complicated, not as multilayered as oriental bondage is and in fact much more straight forward. "Tie her down and get it over with" might very well be an accurate description for many of the situations, where bondage is being used in the west. The objective usually being to restrain in order to facilitate other playforms. But that again is certainly not true for everyone.

Fusion

Nothing is ever carved in stone and this as much true for bondage as it is for cooking. While there are differences between the western and oriental approach, as more information becomes available, more and more people find ways to intertwine both styles into their personal preference. And that is great.

This is also true for the definition of what bondage (or "ligotage" as the French fondly call it) exactly is. While the more classic approach is: restraining with ropes only, the more modern approach is restaining with whatever works well for you. I.e. people happily cross borders and mix leather restraints, chains and rope into an often beautiful mix that works for them. And since BDSM is all about what you want, that is exactly what you should do. Which is why, in this section, we will take that approach as well. While there is a lot of emphasys on rope (of course), you'll also find many different combinations, of styles as well as materials used.

Chained slave Plus, there is a safety aspect. If erotic power exchange is new to you, there are a few things you may want to consider when it comes to restraining your partner.

As appealing as ropes may be - and yes, they usually are - as a novice your best bet is to buy a set of soft leather cuffs first and use these, at least for the time being. This will help your partner dramatically learning to cope with being restrained in a safe and easy to use way.

Ropes - especially when it comes to tieing hands and feet - can be difficult to use and may soon become a pain in the ass if you are less epxerienced. They come off, cut into the flesh and may block arteries. All these things can severly interfere with the fun of the scene and that is not what you want.

Bondage - like most other BDSM-techniques - requires training for both dominant and submissive and it simply takes a bit of time to master some of the basic technqiues. Until that time, it is simply easier and safer to resort to leather restraints instead. Simply because what you are looking for is fun, not the stress of a situation that looked very appealing when you started it, but turns into a disaster, simply because of lack of experience.

Again, if this is new to you, it may also be a good idea to start out with non-nude bondages, but use clothing (or "sweatlets", the type of wristbands tennisplayers use) as a protective layer between the ropes and the skin to prevent ropeburn and accidental bruises.

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