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Joining Ropes…and the Joys of Bigger Bodied Models
It was a quiet Tuesday morning in COVID19 lockdown, when Basanos decided to ask Me a question about a post he had seen on Fetlife, entitled “Bigger Bodies In Rope Deserve A Spot At The Table, Don’t Let Extending Rope Keep You From Tying Different Bodies“. And how he couldn’t see the connection about people complaining about having to join ropes. He couldn’t see it because for him, like Me, every body is beautiful in rope, and really, who cares where the join is if you are having fun?
Gosh I love early Tuesday morning philosophy discussion, before I have even finished My second cup of tea! LOL.Â
His question got Me thinking (and He and I had an awesome and robust discussion about concepts around rope joins and the why’s of this person’s writing) and one thing I realised, was that it was a learning point for Myself. Love it! Yay for learning! Because I commented to him that there may be a number of riggers in her (the Fetlife post’s writer) area who subscribe to the concept of not tying bigger bodies because of the resultant rope joins. That it’s possible it started because of a teacher…ie a teacher in that area, or who has visited, dislikes the aesthetic of joining ropes where they can be seen (in the front, usually), and therefore teaches that to students, who may then start saying such things about tying bigger bodies, because they don’t have the skills of the teachers to be able to work around the problem. That these things flow down from a  teacher to their students, and sometimes they can morph along the way, not because of anyone’s outright intention, but sometimes simply because of a difference in skill levels.
And this is where it hit Me. I often talk in class about how much I personally dislike the aesthetic of ropes joining at the front, although I do try and ensure I teach people how to avoid it easily. However, maybe I need to be clearer to make sure that students understand that IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER when it relates to the body they are tying! Because, in all this new information they are stuffing into their brains, do the students remember the trick I showed them to avoid the knot at the front, or do they just remember “don’t join ropes at the front coz it doesn’t look good”?
Now, some styles (both Western and Japanese rope) avoid joining ropes altogether. One particular Japanese style is quite well known for it, and has recently become quite popular in the USA (which is where the original Fetlife post writer is from). Could that be where this is coming from? But it also comes back to the philosophy of tying the body that is in front of you. If you as the person tying have to join ropes, do it! If you as the person tying have to have a few ropes in your kit that are longer than the average, do it!
Do what needs to be done to create that beautiful bubble of energy with the body that is in front of you to be tied. Because that’s what it’s all about. And if a photo that shows a rope join in the front of the tie is more important to you than that big bubble of beautiful energy you want to create with someone…then maybe you need to reconsider your reasons for tying in general.Â