Rope Fun
Spring was awakening me from my Winter slumber. I needed to get out and about. Looking through the Resident Advisor website an event popped out off the screen. London Festival of the Art of Japanese Bondage, it was the 2nd edition, a whole weekend of rope fun, from workshops and performances. Friday night was the opening with a few showcases at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, East London, close to where I lived. Entry £5 quid, a bargain for a cheap guy hungry for cheap entertainment. Outside my flat I put on my anthropology hat and headed out to watch what kind of freaks go to these things. At least, that was my excuse.
Under the dark red brick railway arch led the road to the ropes. The room was full, around 100. A third were visually freaks, with neon braids, body mods and pin-point contact lens. While the others were normal, in the closet freaks. The room was brightly lit with all white walls so we could all see each other and be witnesses. After two forgettable shibari techno induced shows, the excitement was palpable as the small crowd tighten.
The young superstar to enter the stage was Kinoko Hajime the hottest rope master making his UK debut. For his Friday performance he went traditional walking to the stage dressed in a kimono like his female partner. She kneeled facing the crowd. Kinoko sat behind her. Slowly he undressed the top, revealing her large breasts, placing the ropes around them and tightening behind her. After making the knots behind her back he would show her around, so we the crowd could appreciate his art. The young master was like an old fisherman. The ropes went around her legs, placing her into an awkward position. He stood up and pushed the ropes lifting her up like a chandelier. He smiled at the crowd proud of his work, as she gyrated next to him. The first act was over.
In the crowd a girl looked over her boyfriend's shoulder to see his face, as she wondered if he would like to try some of that on her. The red candles came out. One by one Kinoko lit and placed the candles between the knots of the ropes, the wax dripping over her body. The drops would make her move, and the more she moved the tighter the ropes would get, making her moan in this cycle. Again she gyrated, Our Lady in Flames. To fire comes the water and he slapped her butt cheeks with a wet kitchen cloth. This was pure shibari, erotic pain. An art influenced by torture methods. A not so subtle yin and yang proposition. A not so in tune master can kill a subject by the wrong placement of the ropes and also time management. And the time was running out.
The third act lasted split seconds. Kinoko in light and fast fashion pulled ropes like Edward Scissorhands trimming bushes. The knots fading over every stroke. On her face you could see the power of a thousand orgasms as the trapped blood flooded her body into ecstasy. Kinoko lifted her up as the crowd shouted. She fainted as the blood still crept through her body, being taken in arms to the side stage. In the crowd everyone had a huge smile. What a performance! Less than a minute the claps rose again as Kinoko brought his still shaken female partner to the stage for a standing ovation. In her eyes you could see she hadn't reached the ground yet. The crowd cheered in ecstasy. Cheers for a body orgasm. Not a cheap one, but an extreme one.
(April 2010, London, England)