Shibari is not a Cheap Trick

This was back in the 80s, when we barely knew anything about Shibari. We were young and arrogant, the perfect yuppies. And we though that Japanese bondage was simply the fact that some Japanese are so weird as to tie their girls before sex, instead of just enjoying things. Later, I would find out that Shibari is not a cheap trick.

I had a friend, however, that had been to Japan for some degree in Mathematics, and he thought differently. For Jayden, that was his name, Shibari was an art form, and the route to create an invisible emotional bond through the visible ropes. For me, that sounded like nonsense. I mean, we were in a strip club, and he wasn’t going to convince me that this “Shibari” was nothing more than a trick with ropes that made things a little bit more fun, just like the funny outfits, the makeup, and the props some of the girls taking their clothes off in the stage used.

A week later, instead of going to the strip club with the rest of the boys, he asked me to come with him to a different place. “You won’t regret it,” was all he said. I trusted Jayden, so I made no questions.

We went somewhere he called a studio. It was like a big, black, warehouse with a bright space in the middle. A Japanese, middle-aged man came in, and he introduced himself as some kind of master. Then, a couple of beautiful girls came in. He took out some ropes and tied them in a very intricate way. He took his time, but, surprisingly, I wasn’t bored. On the contrary, I grew more interested every minute. 

In the end, I had to acknowledge that there was some strange beauty in all that. And that it wasn’t in any way like one of those cheap tricks you can see in a strip club. Definitely, Shibari is not a cheap trick.

You can say that I’m a believer now.

This is my Shibari story.