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

Day 99: Bunny Ears – Aka 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.  

Inspirations and Resources

Day 100: Reverse prayer – Aka ushirote kannon shibari 後手観音縛り (Back kannon tie, a buddhist diety) 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. 

Inspirations and Resources

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.
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.
Day 103: Wrists to Lower Body – Tie the wrists to the hips, or crossing over the butt. Explore with pulling the wrists downward..
Day 104: 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. 

Inspirations and Resources

Day 105: Bending Elbows – Tie the forearms together and explore how you can use this structure to bend the elbows by attaching to the chest.

Inspirations and Resources

Bonus: Box Tie Review– Wanna go back full circle with a study of hands in the back? Let’s go back to Week 5 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 others we should add to this list. Note that video references may display risky or unstable techniques, viewer discernment is advised. 

Gallery

Inspirations and Resources

Got more resources suggestions? Write it in the comments!

 

Let’s continue with Elbow Ties

 

Or return to Summer for more options.