The structural elements of the box tie and the chest harness can be combined to create the position while reducing stress on the arms. Reducing horizontal restriction on the arms make it more escapable but is more sustainable for longer sessions, and safer, especially when playing with lots of movement.

Hybrid Box Tie with Chest Wraps

You can follow the same pattern as a regular box tie without including the arms. This can be just the lower wrap or both wraps. Depending on the morphology of the person, the wraps on the chest might have more trouble staying in place. Keep some good tension and expand the chest harness with some shoulder straps to help the rope stay in place..

A similar approach would be to tie a chest harness first and then tie the wrists in. This is great if the person in rope gets tired in the position or if you simply want to play with multiple arm positions in a single session.

Coming soon, pictures of chest harness with wrist tied into it.

Pulling Wraps

Mixing wraps around the arms and around the chest allows to create different sensation and restriction. In particular, pulling the wraps up or down changes placement, tension, creates interesting new shapes and presses on the body in different ways. This is inspired by the work of Yukimura Haruki who was frequently using this kind of pattern.

Basic Kimono Tie

The kimono tie is inspired by the Japanese tasuki, which is a technique to tie the kimono sleeves that creates a X in the back. There exists many variations of this tie. Some have a X in front while others keep the lines vertical, the pattern can be completely on the chest, or wrap on the forearms to add support.

The base of the kimono tie creates a stem that can be used to create more complex ties. It starts just like a regular box tie with a single column tie around the wrists, then goes over the shoulder instead.

If we make sure not to trap the fingers against the forearms, the base of the tie is low risk but remains quite escapable without expanding it with wraps on the chest or on the arms.

Kimono Box Tie

Once you have the base of the kimono tie in place, you can use the structure as the stem and create a box tie pattern over it. In this example, we are using the same technique as Day 29 and 30 to create both wraps.

See the safety tips of Box Tie’s first and second rope as they continue to apply to this design.

Practice Time!

Mix and match element of the box tie with elements of the chest harness.

Exploration ideas:

  • Follow the box tie pattern but tying around the chest instead of around the arms
  • Replace only one of the wraps with a chest wrap
  • Tie a chest harness first, then include the wrists in afterward
  • Can you adapt different types of chest structure to tie the arms in?
  • Try the kimono tie and explore the placement of the X in front at different heights, middle of the chest, closer to the neck, or toward the belly
  • Combine the different ideas of box ties and chest harnesses to create your own!

Inspirations and Resources

 

Let’s continue with Cuffs

 
Or return to Box Tie for more options.

 

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