緊縛聚會分享及相片 Rope Gathering Afterthoughts and Pictures (2 April)

This is the first time that I invite kinksters from both Fetlife and HKBDSMC (the local Cantonese group) to join my rope social. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical because the cultures are really different and there's also the problem of language barrier but I decided to just go ahead because I hope that my rope gatherings can be open to more people - as long as they love ropes - and we can always connect and communicate with ropes.

Organising this event required quite a bit of effort - from negotiating with the venue owner, the event photographer, to sending out invitations, answering all the enquiries, processing all the applications (as I have a vouching policy to protect all attendees and the venue), sending out confirmations and finally preparing materials for the gathering. First, a big shout to @fufu for being my lovely assistant (or even co-organizer) now. Thank you for helping me out and solving all the problems with me, and of course giving me feedback. 

On 2 April, @fufu, @milllkybunny and I met the event photographer, @Steve, to discuss details of the gathering. We invited an event photographer (who also loves ropes) because from our experience, there will be a lot of action shots and we want to be able to capture the beautiful moments for all the attendees. As @Steve didn't have much experience in this area so we briefed him a bit before the event. Then together with @Nai, we shopped for some snacks and drinks and headed for the venue.

Previously, my rope gatherings were all pretty casual - people came whenever they wanted and we didn't really have much to prepare or set up but as there were more people coming this time and I wanted to make the event more structured, we did more - laying out all the ropes and other stuff (thanks to @大人for lending out his jute ropes), preparing for snacks and drinks, preparing for the suspension point etc. This time, I also did a bulk purchase for safety shears (EMT shears used to cut ropes in emergent situations - basic bondage safety). At 8pm, people start to arrive!

We had around 30 people for the rope gathering this time - I planned to have around 20-25 people originally but there were a lot of people who wanted to come and I didn't want to turn down SO MANY people, so I decided to extend the quota a bit - so 30 from both Fetlife and HKBDSMC.

@fufu and I started by doing a brief introduction on the gathering's structure and important rules to protect everyone. After some self introduction, @Nuitdetokyo was very kind to kick off the rope gathering by showing Akechi Denki's Takate Kote. 

今次的緊縛聚會是我第一次邀請Fetlife和HKBDSMC兩面的朋友參加。老實說，一開始我也有很多的顧慮，始終大家的BDSM文化不同，加上有語言上的障礙，但我最後決定繼續邀請兩面朋友，希望大家有平台練習、交流，學習－最重要的還是對緊縛的熱誠。

籌辦活動是需要很多工夫的（我只是義務做籌辦，加上我本身自己比較忙碌），由聯絡場地、攝影師到邀請朋友、解答問題、聯絡出席者、準備活動物資等。首先，我一定要多謝我的拍擋fufu的幫忙。

今次活動有大概30人參與，本身我只想邀請20至25個人，但因為反應熱烈，我決定將名額調到30個人，希望大家張就一下。

fufu和我一開始簡單介紹聚會，講解聚會規則，然後先自我介紹。一開始，我邀請了＠Nuitdetokyo做個緊縛的分享，而他最後決定分享明智伝鬼的高手小手綁。

To be honest, at first, I was a bit worried about him showing a takate kote as most people at the rope gatherings were beginners. However, after some deep thought, I thought maybe it's a good idea as the TK incorporated a lot of important rope skills and also, I believe that it would be good for people to have some basic idea of what it should be like - the important details. I see a lot of people attempting to do a TK but a lot of times, even though they succeed in tying the pattern, all the important details (tension/frictions/rope placement) are neglected and so a lot of people, even the more experienced rope tops, might get the takate kote wrong. So I think it would be a good opportunity for people to understand more about it - even if they cannot do everything or remember everything right - they still have an idea of what it should be like. I was @Nuidetokyo's demo bottom for the night - we did some step by step demonstration followed by one-to-one coaching/feedback/learning. It's really good to see that everyone's practising and people trying to help out each other!

老實說，因為許多出席者都是新手，一開始我也有點擔心一開始分享這個綁法會不會太複雜。可是，學一個高手小手綁，其實是包括了許多重要緊縛的技巧。我見到許多人都做後手縛，但其實見到許多人的綁法都是不正確／不安全的。要做一個好和安全的後手縛，有很多重要的細節，例如張力，手踠繩的鬆度，繩放置的地方，後面繩如何鎖實等等，有很多比較有經驗的人都會弄錯，所以我相信這次是一個好的機會讓大家理解和學習正確後手縛的方法，即使大家未必能夠於短時間來完全熟悉後手縛，至少可以明白基本原理，做個初步的認識。當日，我是@Nuidetokyo的被綁者（用來做講解），我們一起逐步講解後手綁，大家一起跟著綁，我們也有再周圍一對一幫助大家。很開心見到大家積極練習，互相幫助。

At the end of the sharing by, @Nuitdetokyo quickly showed everyone a basic suspension on @Komaru (just to show that the TK's safe for suspension).

最後，Nuitdetokyo很快的在小丸做了一個吊縛，講解後手縛的安全性。

Rope work: Nuidetokyo

Model: Komaru

Photography: Steve

After the sharing, it's time for open practice. I decided to practice my self suspension and transitions in the air. I seldom have the chance to do self suspension - I only do it when there are spotters and people who can give me feedback. I decided to do a full suspension with a chest harness. Self suspension's quite challenging to me. I find that it's a lot easier to tie on another person. Due to my weight (hell I am heavy) so I have to make sure that I tie something comfy and relatively load bearing so I can stay up in the air for longer. It also requires a lot of strength in the core muscles (and I only have fat unfortunately) so it's really tiring for me...but it's fun!

分享完畢後，就是大家練習的時間。我決定練習自吊和在空中轉姿勢，自吊對於我來說是十分有難度的（因為我很重嘛哈哈），所以我要做個可以受到多一點力的綁法，自吊亦需要速度，身體（特別腰）亦要用很多的力量。

Rope work and model: subay

Spotters: Nuitdetokyo and fufu

Photography: Steve

@Nai kindly asked @Nuitdetokyo if he could tie her - and this is what happened - a teppou suspension and some spinning (@Nai likes spinning A LOT) followed by gagging and blindfolding by ropes.

然後Nuitdetokyo在Nai身上做了個Teppou（像後手拿著槍的姿勢）的吊縛，在空中轉動。

Rope work: Nuidetokyo

Model: Nai

Photography: Steve

The night ended with a rope scene among Nuitdetokyo, fufu and me. Fufu and I have always wanted to be tied together. We got a lot of pictures of fufu being tied by me, but as there's no one to tie me too, we didn't have pictures of us tied together so we asked if @Nuitdetokyo could tie us together which he kindly agreed. :)

最後，Nuitdetokyo綁了我和fufu一齊（我們一直都很希望可以有相片是有我們兩個被綁在一起）。

As I was busy the entire night, I didn't really have time to walk around to see others' work (apart from helping out during the sharing session) but I could see that people had fun and I was really happy about that!

At last, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped out during the night. Thank you very much for making the night happen. I am sorry that both @fufu and I were a bit strict on the rules because we really took our responsibility VERY seriously and we wanted to make sure everyone's safe and comfortable. And sorry for not being able to allow everyone to come as we had very limited venue space and I couldn't really take care of so many people! Until next time :)

身為主辦和示範的被綁者，我整晚都比較忙碌，沒有機會去跟每一個人交流，只是在分享時幫助過幾位，招呼不到，請見諒：P

最後，多謝各位的幫助－攝影師，大人借出繩，各位朋友的幫忙。當日我們對規則亦十分認真，因為我們希望保護大家安全，希望大家明白。另外，因為名額有限，希望對不能來的幾十位朋友說聲對不起，希望下次你們有機會參與。

多謝大家支持！

- subay