MEMBER INTERVIEW: MancBondage
from
Recon News
24 April 2020
Tell us a little about yourself
I'm a 36-year-old bondage switch that now lives in Manchester. In September 2018, I relocated here from the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire borders in search of a little more excitement than I had been used to in the rural heartlands - so far, so good!
I've always been into fetish/kink for as long as I have been sexually active – mainly as a sub - but the move to Manchester has opened up a veritable 'Pandora 's Box', so to speak! Since the move, I have been fortunate enough to make some great new friends, meet and talk to some wonderful people and develop my skill set for Shibari – something I had always dreamt of doing!
Tell us about Shibari
Shibari simply means 'to tie decoratively' in Japanese. In this art form it's easy to think of the model as the canvas and the rope as the paint and brush, with the rigger being the artist. You may have also heard of the term 'Kinbaku'. This word is translated to mean, 'tight-binding'. The Kinbaku is more the BDSM element of the tying, whilst the Shibari is the pretty, decorative part.
How did you come to be a fan of Shibari and Kinbaku?
I first became an acute obsessive and enthusiast of the use of rope in bondage when I became friends with switchm8. Up until this point I had been an avid fan of tight, restrictive bondage but through restraints, mummification and sacks. The tighter, the better! I was keen to explore the use of rope, and as a sub, he tied me up and gave me one of the most intense experiences of my journey so far! Keen to know more, he invited me to a peer rope class in Sheffield, and it was here that I learned to tie my first Hishi and bought my first four jute ropes. However, I didn't REALLY start practising Shibari until I moved to Manchester.
Who are your Shibari influences and what do you enjoy most about bondage?
The journey hasn't been easy, and I've still got a lot more to learn, but I am happy with where I am right now. The role of my social media has played an incredible part in my journey, acting as a log of my rigging to date. When I get frustrated that a tie isn't as perfect as I wanted, a quick scroll through to the beginning of my Instagram reminds me how far I have come and the riggers on my newsfeed inspire me to go further.
With this in mind, I think my largest driving force and motivation is always my need for self-improvement – I'm a bit of a perfectionist! Shibari is incredibly technical and it is the skill set behind this technicality that encourages me to learn more – this is what really keeps me motivated. There are so many other great riggers on the scene, such as: abajapa, myfroghashat, lycraandropes and many others. These guys constantly inspire me to push myself to improve and refine my craft.
I thrive on learning new knots, ties and skills. One of my favourite things to do is to reverse engineer the ties of other riggers (often with the occasional photo exchange) on my very patient 'rope bunny' Northlad09. This is genuinely one of the nicest aspects of the bondage community – the willingness of other riggers to share their ideas and help one another to grow. Also, I am always open to being critiqued – it helps me to push myself and avoid making the same mistake the next time. It is true what they say, practice does make perfect!
I think the largest motivation is the art of it all – the full production and theatre! There is real strength and beauty in a sub being at their most vulnerable/helpless and when the rope is incorporated it creates something very special.
As a Dom, my favourite scenes always incorporate sensory deprivation and objectification. I love to take consented control of a sub, with my biggest interest being edging (as a sub too!). I always liken it to a grown-up version of childhood games such as 'Buckaroo' – keeping it going until it can't go on any further. Once tied, I enjoy nothing more than layering up the elements of blindfolds, hoods, white noise, nipple play, electro, machines, CBT and breath control to really overload the senses.
What have been your highlights so far?
I think that some of the photoshoots that I have done so far have to be some of my most memorable highlights! I regularly work with Joshi on projects and we have done some great work together, including: sleazybiker tied to his motorbike and, more recently, shooting several guys in rubber and rope having a very surreal tea party at the Richmond Tea Rooms, in Manchester. Aside from this, to celebrate my first year as a rigger hawtphoto shot my work on sleazybiker, Jack Dixon and Cjj82 at The Bunker, in London – that was just awesome; not only to meet them but to tie those guys too!
But on a true reflection, the whole 18 months have been amazing and allowed me to meet so many great and wonderful people. I've been to Madrid with my ropes, given demonstrations at fetish events and tied some really beautiful (inside and out) guys!
What are your plans next?
I've been learning and studying suspension bondage and have begun practising that with my bunny. Moving forwards, I want to explore this further and really develop this most beautiful aspect of Shibari, as it is the natural progression from my current floor work.
Also, as already mentioned, I collaborated on a piece of work for the MRM Arts Bandit auction for the MRM Rubber Weekend 2020. This was a great opportunity to create a really beautiful piece of fun, camp artistry working with people I hadn't worked with before. I really would like to keep on working with some more photographers, creating other conceptual pieces that incorporate my bondage – fingers crossed!
MancBondage will be providing his tips for getting into rope play in an upcoming MEMBER ADVICE article.
If you'd like to talk about your fetish tastes in a Recon interview, send your Recon username to: social@recon.com
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