Week 15: More Hands in the Back

In Week 5 we dove into the box tie, a tie with the hands in the back. But there are many ways to bind the arms behind.

Bringing the hands in the back adds an element of vulnerability and helplessness. These positions challenge the body in new ways as they are not often used in daily life. Warm-up each joint, especially the shoulder to allow for maximum range of motion and prevent injuries. Every person has a different flexibility level and these poses will look different from person to person.

The goal of this week is to play with different positions that bind the hands in the back and learn to adapt to different levels of flexibility.

Activities

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Day 99: Bunny Ears

Alt pillow tie, Waki Zarashi 脇晒し (exposed armpit) or Usagi ウサギ (rabbit). Tying the wrist behind the head will bend the elbow in the way that it creates two bunny ears above the head. There are several variations, wrists crossing, prayer hands, tying the forearms together or tying them seperately and joining the two bunny ears.

Day 100: Reverse prayer

Alt ushirote kannon shibari 後手観音縛り (Back kannon tie, a Buddhist deity) in Japanese. The reverse prayer is a beautiful but difficult position. Few will be able to bring their hands very high up the back; most can manage to get their palms together, and many won’t be able to bring their hands together in the back. The angle of the elbow will vary a lot from person to person, depending on their flexibility.

A person is tied with their hands in the back with the palms facing out

Day 101: Inverted Reverse Prayer

An unusual but interesting position is created by tying the hands together in the back with the palms facing out. This create different shapes from the usual revers prayer, including a position with the fingers pointing outward. A tutorial of this tie was documented in the book SM耽美文学別巻 SMプレイ (SM Play – You can play SM) by 浦戸宏 Urado Hiroshi.

  • Coming soon

Day 102: Downward Reverse Prayer

Place the palms against each other in the back with the fingers pointing down. This is an interesting variation to the classic reverse prayer that is more accessible.

  • Coming soon

Day 103: Wrists to Lower Body

Tie the wrists to the hips, or crossing over the butt. Explore with pulling the wrists downward..

  • Coming soon

Day 104: Side-Arms

Bring the arms parallel in the back, but keep the arms separated. This is a good tie to explore before attempting the Strappado, which creates more pressure on the

Day 105: Strappado

Aka armbinder. Tie the arms straight behind the back. Depending on flexibility, the arms can be apart from each other or elbows can be touching. This position can be difficult to maintain for a lot of people, and the Latissimus dorsi muscles are likely to press into nerves. Monitor the hands and make sure you can untie quickly, don’t hesitate to cut the rope with control in case of emergency.

Review

Wanna go back full circle with a study of hands in the back? Let’s go back to Box Tie and get a fresh look at it. Can you design your own? :

Video References

We compiled a YouTube playlist with various videos on this topic; let us know if you find any others we should add to it. Note that video references may display risky or unstable techniques; viewer discretion is advised. 

View the playlist on YouTube

Inspirations and Resources

  • Got more resource suggestions? Write it in the comments!
Let’s continue with Elbow Ties

Or return to Summer for more options.