Proposed Black Rose 2003 Seminars

Receiv­ing the Cane; Or, Can­ing from the Bot­tom Up

Sum­mary:

Bend over, and hope they know what they’re doing. That is not how to take respon­si­bil­ity for your own safety! This sem­i­nar teaches you what to watch for, and how to eval­u­ate, whether some­one can safely con­duct a can­ing scene with you. By the end of the day you’ll know more about the cane than many so-​​called experts! And, our common-​​sense tech­niques will help you more safely “bot­tom” in any BDSM scene.

Tom is accom­pa­nied by Sarah, who can answer ques­tions from the recipient’s per­spec­tive. She is his col­lared sub­mis­sive, and has par­tic­i­pated in, or observed, all of Tom’s can­ing scenes. (more…)

Ropecraft as an Art Form

I have been asked to teach some bondage ropecraft. Before again touch­ing a rope, I decided to stop and think — and think. This essay is the result, and stands as my prepa­ra­tion for touch­ing rope once again.

The Phi­los­o­phy Behind the Technique

This essay is not a how-​​to. This is more a phi­los­o­phy of rope bondage. It’s these con­cepts that I hope will stim­u­late your think­ing, and encour­age you to take your own craft to a higher level.

I’m writ­ing this from the artist’s point of view. If you’re the model, will you be bored? On the con­trary, I hope this will be at least as use­ful! At a cer­tain level, bondage ropecraft is a coöper­a­tive effort. If you the model have no under­stand­ing of your role, you are pos­si­bly keep­ing the artist from his high­est and best work. Even more impor­tant, though, is your safety fac­tor. With­out under­stand­ing the craft, how can you know he is as good as he claims he is? How can you trust, and know you will be safe? (more…)