Articles tagged: Safety

Risk prevention comes from knowing the body and from communication between the person tying and the person being tied; knowing how to react in time when something is not right is as much a part of the technique as tying.

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes.

Joint hypermobility increases range of motion; knowing what happens in a hypermobile person’s body allows us to stabilize their joints and monitor ranges and compensations during practice.

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes.

Besides the risks specific to each technique, there are others common to all ties: inadequate tension, pressure on blood vessels or nerves, and a series of minor discomforts that are also best avoided. Knowing them allows you to prevent them and recognize the body’s warning signs in time.

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes.

Just as we protect our physical integrity, developing strategies to protect our emotional “health” is necessary in order to enjoy satisfying experiences.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes.

Knowing the anatomical risks that restriction involves allows us to prevent injuries and enjoy safe, pleasurable practice.

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes.

There is no canonical rule, but bringing the arms behind the back is one of the most efficient and common restrictions in shibari.

Estimated reading time: 23 minutes.

Bringing the arms behind the back is one of the most efficient forms of anatomical restriction.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes.

Restriction with the arms raised overhead is very common and rarely well executed. We study the sequence of movements and the scapulohumeral rhythm needed to perform it and hold it safely, bearing in mind that not every body has enough mobility.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes.

A study of the anatomical risks inherent in gote-type forms, whose poor execution causes a good number of injuries.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes.

A study of compensations in the body of the person being tied, one of the biggest problems with gote-type forms.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes.

A study of nerve injury, the most common risk and injury in gote-type forms.

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes.

A study of how to prevent the risks of gote-type forms, starting with adapting the form to the person being tied.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes.

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In May 2023, the medical journal Cureus published a paper on nerve injuries in shibari practice.

A tying technique that, with the tied person sitting on the floor in the position known as agura, immobilizes their legs through counter-tension.

Gote (後手) is the generic name of one of the most popular and recognizable forms in shibari.

Hypermobility is a condition in which the collagen fibers of those who have it differ from everyone else’s, which, among other things, gives them a much greater range of movement.

Short, honest answer: no.

Suspension in shibari carries inherent risks. The body is subjected to intense, unusual forces and loads while the ropes take part in managing that body. The combination involves risks of injury and accident.

Moving the arm backward, as is typically done in gote-style forms, can cause several shoulder problems if it isn’t done properly.

Shibari is not a torture technique, but a management tool. Used outside mutual consent, it becomes manipulation.

In our classes we have noticed that some students experience sensations such as tingling in the hands or mobility problems during practice, with no apparent cause.

In this article we explore possible causes and explain how to prevent them.

For anyone who comes to this discipline out of curiosity, safety is among the first things they ask about.