Mastery
Often you will find that the best at anything have a certain humility, this is because in their pursuit of excellence they have realised how little they know and how much more there is to learn. They call themselves students and always see themselves as such, seeking always to learn.
Often those who are the least humble are the mediocre, they have learned a little but cannot see how little they really know. They believe what little they know is all that should be known and become arrogant in their little knowledge. They proclaim themselves masters and never seek to learn.
Because it makes my dick hard.
One thing that you see come up time after time is statements like....
Another favourite is "If you have rope in one hand and a hard on in the other you're doing shibari."
Those statements, though they are so very obviously jokes, reminders not to take everything too seriously still seem on occasion to be taken as the truth by some individuals. Why would this be? Is it literally true? Could it be? Is anyone really so spectacularly obtuse as not to recognise a bit of Reductio ad absurdum when they see it?
Well if you really do have rope in one hand and your hard on in the other you aren't going to be able to do very much of anything with someone else, you certainly will not be in a position to tie them up so, no this isn't literally true.
Sometimes people seem to interpret it to mean that the other reasons listed are not true. Can that be the case? It's hard to see how taking pleasure in skill, artistry, connection, beauty etc. etc. aren't real reasons to enjoy something; they are very real reasons for taking pleasure. Yet some think that the last statement diminishes the others. This clearly isn't true.
None of this suggests that sexual excitement isn't just as valid a reason for enjoying bondage as any others, but thinking that this reason invalidates any other reason you might have for enjoying bondage is a false supposition. The supposition that because this is 'a' reason, that it's 'the' reason, that the other reasons are some kind of spurious justification for doing the things that result in the last reason.
Given that the people who are generally credited for these utterances are people who have no shame for what they do and feel no need for spurious justifications for their kink this is just a ridiculous thing to think. In fact that's why the last line comes in like the punchline it is. It's a joke, a reminder that as well as all the other reasons there are visceral reasons for what we do.
So why did the other lines and reasons come from? Because when kinky people are talking about a specific kink and are asked specifically what they like about that specific kink they will answer with things that they find enjoyable particular to that specific kink beyond the obvious.
There are many reasons to do what we do. Usually many of these reasons are in play at the same time; many not even consciously available. Sometimes people want sound bites, not answers they have to think about. They don't really want or aren't able to think beyond a snappy 'sounds good to me' slogans.
If people want to reduce the complex reasons and interactions of human motivations to a shallow one line oversimplified slogan then I think that's quite sad.
Love, beauty, suffering and exquisite agony.
She is in... exquisite palpable heart breaking distress! So cute, so vulnerable, so desperate! My heart is wrung with her plight, my soul is nourished by her suffering, my spirit fed by her cries.
She begs! And she will do anything to have her desire. My heart is bursting and I will give her anything... except her desire.
I can do so much for her now. I can bind her tighter, twist her body, tease her flesh, make her cry with frustration. I can give her so much except her desire. In this moment that is impossible.
To see her like this is my desire and hers. My joy and hers, our shared pleasure. Touching beyond senses, hugging beyond reach, feeling beyond explanation!
She is in subspace, and has been for some time. She whimpers as I release her, slowly, a turn at a time, drawing the ropes over her helpless flesh. The touch the feel the sound of the rope over her body. Till the very last bit leaves her skin!
I lay her down, I cover her body with the loose unwound rope from the floor and drape a Yukata over her. I sit looking at her, rope-marked, exhausted and blissfully drifting in a world of her own.
A thanks.
I have lately thought about inspiration and where it comes from. When it comes to bondage there are of course a few very obvious examples of those that have inspired me. Osada Steve as a teacher and friend an obvious inspiration and influence. With others it’s harder to say. Chimou Nureki who’s work, taste and legacy in film and literature the western student of Shibari cannot help but see. Denki Akechi who’s style and ties and aesthetic choices have been such an influence not only directly but also via the work of others themselves influenced. Go Arisue who has influenced me not only with his aesthetic but also with his tying style. Haruki Yukimura who’s ideas of bondage and who’s effect upon the bound inspire differently and make me search for deeper connection and effect via rope. Recently Akira Naka came more to my attention and his different energy and style has added something new to the mix that though I can’t name it I feel. Kinoko Hajime who inspires in a another way with his enthusiasm and passion to drive kinbaku on for a new generation.
I wonder how many who’s names I never knew have influenced and inspired me via pictures, behind the scenes in movies, in words repeated, in their teaching passed on via others. And how many of those were inspired by figures such as Seiu Ito?
For all that share a passion for kinbaku we owe debts of gratitude to them all. I owe a debt of gratitude to them all. For without those that developed, pushed, publicised, taught, thought, wrote and spoke I, sitting in my home in England typing these words, may never have discovered this passion and pleasure art and satisfaction. This wonderful obsession that has become the centre of my life.
To you all of you present and past, who have and continue to inspire. I thank you.