20/01/2025
Andyn omin sanoin:
"I first got in contact with Japanese rope bo***ge culture about twenty years ago when accepting a two-year contract for a big Tokyo telco company. It was a taboo journey from the busy office lifestyle into the Kabuchicho red-light entertainment district, where po*******hy met prostitution and organized crime.
Trauma awareness and consent weren't common subjects in between the whiskey and ci******es in the tiny tucked-way "happening" bars. Much has changed since then, but still, there was profound knowledge about the rituals of the human eros and the forbidden fantasies that fuel them.
In the lack of verbal consent, in a culture where saying No is a bigger taboo than being tied up, and where losing face could be considered worse than dying, I think a culture of deep listening and respect was born. Just perhaps these roots can be traced back to other ritualized practices, like Aikido or Ikebana (even if I could never tell my tea and flower teacher what I do in Kabuchicho at night).
Later, when returning to Stockholm, to ta**ra, to medical massage therapy, to safe-sane-and-consensual sexuality, I went through a long process of integration that maybe (but probably not) will end in this workshop. This more academic approach to trying to know—trying to create a verbal language for an esoteric practice—has much to offer as defined patterns, guiding maps or safety wheels. Still, sometimes I fear that the magical wonders of a forest get lost in describing the trees.
Some rope bo***ge people™️ argue that fixed patterns and forms act as a safe embodied knowing—so other things can come into focus. While the concept rings true, the question is, what is the safety that you need to feel brave enough to dive into eros?
In this workshop, we will practice bo***ge as a listening practice—as eros unfolding itself. And we will also break down a traditional pattern or two—and maybe we can understand why they became patterns in the first place.
To participate in this workshop, you must know how to tie a safe single-column tie, and you'll get more out of it if you already know a pattern or two, like a gote or tengu."
