Rope Podcast

In 2019, a beautiful new Studio opened by veterans of the rope scene, @WykD_Dave and @clover in Mansfield, UK. Mya had the opportunity to visit, and had a wonderful time. Fox questions her about her experience as a visitor, how she approached her touristing, the rope she did, her perspective on the studio itself and the people she met, as well as her tips to get the most from your visit.

Fox and Mya discuss power exchange and how it interacts with rope. As a 24/7 power exchange couple, as well as rope partners, this is a subject dear to their heart, and something they have researched, read about and explored in detail in their own lives. They share their ideas (while noting their ideas are not the only way!) and really welcome thoughts from listeners about their experiences in the comments. They talk about: * Different types of power exchange * Where topping and bottoming and power exchange interact * The challenges of the word ‘bunny’ in rope * Whether there are any truly ‘D-type’ or ’s-type’ activities (Mya and Fox have strong views!) * What their D/s means for their rope * The challenges and potential dangers of combining power exchange and rope * Balancing shared responsibility and encouraging bottoms to be empowered and educate themselves around risks * Abuse, power exchange and rope * Risk profiles and rope * What a rope scene might feel like with and without power exchange * How yo

In one of our most popular episode styles, Fox reads one of his recent pieces of erotic writing, inspired by his and Mya’s play. Contains rope, D/s, impact, whipping, exhibitionism and fear play.

Fox and Mya interview podcaster Faviola Llervu about her interest in rope, her podcast (including some of Fox and Mya’s favourite episodes such as Shibari myths), and her aim to get Japanese kinksters more represented in the global rope community. Listen to this interview to hear Faviola’s inspiring thoughts on: *The very unusual reason she started to learn Japanese *How her studies of Japanese SM and rope connect, including the reality of rope versus what she’d initially encountered in comics and stories *What she’s currently exploring in her Japanese SM studies *What her access to Japanese source materials gives her in turns of her approach to rope, and how she translates that into her podcast episodes *The perhaps surprising intersection between rope and Japanese prostitution *How and why modern rope bondage now is a sanitised, fantasised and idealised version of bondage that had been going on in other parts of life for years *The fetishes that go along with rope in Japan that don’t typically get represe

Fox and Mya discuss Hashira tecniques, which are suspensions to a vertical beam. They discuss: *How you do it, including on different types of beams *The benefits and Fox’s three scene styles he tends to use it for *The risks and the challenges *The perspective on this kind of suspension from the rope top from Fox *The perspective on these ties from the rope bottom from Mya and why she finds it a tougher suspension *Detailed descriptions of a number of scenes they have built around this kind of suspension *Fox’s surprising first Hashira suspension (hint - his bottom wasn’t breathing)

Fox and Mya (in slightly giddy form) discuss the ball tie, which is where you tie your bottom into a ball - or as close equivalent as possible! In the episode they discuss the variations and ways you can do it, the functions, safety and risks and what it feels like. They also share a number of examples of scenes where they’ve used the tie, and how it worked for them. Check it out now and try the tie!

Cats-Pajamas, who is primarily a rope bottom, runs a munch in Malaysia with her partner, KitKatKen, and came to us with a potentially controversial topic. She’s been thinking about the needs of rope tops and whether in the current climate where there is a great deal of focus on rope bottoms, the needs of rope tops are becoming invisible, and whether we’re truly treating our rope tops as humans rather than rope dispensers. Fox and Mya talk with her about * The consequences of bottoms being passive and the expectation being more focused on tops * How we can use negotiation better to cover the needs of both parties * Whether we should focus more on what the bottom can do for the top, as well as the other way round * Making sure the bottom isn’t passive, but takes responsibility engages with the rope and the top * The load on tops and how bottoms can share this * The challenge of giving feedback versus ‘topping from the bottom’ * Fox’s experience of this as a rope top and the question only one new rope botto

Mya shares a rope erotica piece inspired by her play with Fox. Contains Ichinawa, D/s, choking and rough body play. (If you’ve ever wanted to know what it was like to be choked unconscious* while doing Ichinawa, now’s your chance :) ) . *Don’t try this at home kids without training and experience!

Fox and Mya interview @Jake_Wing about his view on the changing nature of the rope bondage scene, the influences he’s seen come and go, the Austin rope scene, and his most memorable experiences with rope. Listen to this interview to hear Jake’s thoughts on: * Dark rope versus friendly rope * Chinese Rope Bondage and how Jake was influenced by Bruce Lee * Eastern versus Western Rope Bondage and how they’ve mixed over time * Where rope fits in the wider BDSM community * What’s changed the most in rope bondage over time * Accessibility, consent and what the rope community needs to figure out next * The two most important things riggers need to pay attention to And much more! Jake’s been in the scene for many years, and ran a bondage website in the early days of the internet from 2000 with his wife. He’s taught at a number of venues, including Ropecraft, and is one of the team who run the Austin Rope Slingers, Texas, USA.

Fox and Mya had a busy week hosting three rope events in a week. They had a great time, but all wasn’t plain sailing - listen to this week’s episode to hear their discussion of what it’s like to put on rope events, what happened, and their practical suggestions on how you might put on a rope event yourself. In the episode they discuss: * What kinds of rope events are there, and how does the name affect the audience? * Why might you want to run rope events? * What are the benefits/challenges you might encounter? * Practicalities like logistics, cost, risk, liabilities, handling cancellations, legalities etc. * Tips to make your life easier as an event organizer * The fun versus work ratio And discover if it was all worth it for them!

Fox and Mya discuss what makes a good rope scene from the bottom’s point of view, considering the many aspects that could make a scene ‘good’ - whilst acknowledging bottoms are different and the mix that makes up good for one person might be different for another. Mya, as the bottom/bunny in the rope partnership, shares her own experience as a bottom as a practical case study (including what makes good sex in a rope scene), and shares the top few things that make a scene great for her. In addition they discuss: * The difference between process-orientated and outcome-orientated bottoms and why it’s important * Questions for tops to ask their bottoms to help them understand what a good scene might look like for them * How to make sure the scene is good for the bottom before the scene even starts * What a top might ask or look for to make sure the scene is going well for the bottom Click the links below to listen now! Note: We’re not ignoring tops and what makes a scene successful for them, we’ll cover this

We interview @Pyth01 and GuiltySmile, the founders of Singapore Rope Studio ‘0101 Studio’. The D/s couple studied at Anatomie studio in London for four years, and when they moved to Singapore, decided to open up their own space for rope jams and practice. Listen to this interview to hear about: * The challenges and rewards of setting up a new studio * Integrating into a rope community successfully * Attracting new people to rope * Visiting riggers and rope people * Silly rope! * The differences they’ve seen between European and South-East Asian rope communities And a lot more! If you’re flying through or visiting Singapore, they’d love to see you at Studio 1010. Let us know how it goes.

Fox and Mya often get asked by listeners how to come up with ideas for rope scenes. In this episode, they discuss how to find sources of inspiration for rope scenes, and Fox generates some ideas on the fly to show how you could do it. He discusses his own creative process for rope scenes, and the building blocks that he uses. The rope team share plenty of ideas to get your own creative juices flowing, and to make sure you never run out of new ways to do rope.

Fox and Mya discuss the marks on their bodies bottoms might get when doing rope bondage. They discuss: * Factors that might create marks on different bodies * The various kinds of marks you might get in rope bondage play * Mark envy * How we might cause marks intentionally and by mistake * How the bottom and the top might feel about the marks * How to treat the marks

Fox and Mya discuss the Hip Harness, a fundamental of suspension and usually one of the earliest suspension ties rope tops learn. It’s a very versatile tie that can be used in a large variety of ways. The episode includes discussion of shape, function, variations, difficulty level, safety and risk of the hip harness, what it feels like for the bottom, as well as some ways it can be used in suspensions or even floor work. Fox and Mya also discuss scenes where they have used the tie.

What to wear during your rope scenes might feel frivolous, but it can make a big difference to the tone of your scene. In this episode, Fox and Mya discuss factors both tops and bottoms might consider in their choices for scene clothing, including: * Safety * Comfort * The activities in the scene (including sexy times) * Why and when you might want to (or not want to) be naked * Clothes to enhance how you feel * ‘Dress up’ clothes

Mya and Fox share their philosophy that rope is a journey, not a destination - and you can always keep learning in your rope practice, no matter what your role, or your level of expertise. The rope partners discuss: * Why should we keep growing in our rope practice? * A ton of different areas where you can develop your practice - including several you might not have considered. How many can you tick off so far? * How learning ‘default world’ (or vanilla) skills can also help with your rope * Where you might pick up these skills, even if you’re not based in a big rope community And remember kinkies, Competence is Sexy!

Fox and Mya have built several permanent spaces for rope both together and individually since they started doing rope, with and without hard points. They’ve also created many temporary places to do rope on their travels, and have visited the studios or spaces of many others. In this episode, they discuss the space where you do your rope, and some of the factors you might want to consider when putting your own rope space together. In this episode hear them discuss: * The purpose/s you might want the room to serve * The kind of feel you might want your space to have, and a number of ways you might achieve this * Some things to watch out for, such as hazards * A few practical things to make sure your space has, or doesn’t have * How you might create a temporary space * Some of the rope spaces they’ve visited and the features they had

Fox and Mya discuss a less-commonly explored topic, around the hows, whys and whats of emotions in rope. They share thoughts about: *Why we have emotions in rope, from a psychological and physiological perspective *What happens when these emotions come up - when we do want them, and when we don’t *Examples from their own scenes of the range of emotions rope can explore *The difficult of explaining feelings in rope *The challenge of a mismatch of feelings in rope, and Fox’s interesting and useful idea of how to channel sexual emotions in rope as a top when you’re bottom wants only non-sexual rope *The question they suggest you add to your negotiation to ensure you’re on the same page as your rope partner emotionally during the scene

Fox and Mya discuss single rope suspensions (where a single rope takes all your body weight and you fly from that one rope). They discuss: *Types of single rope suspensions *The benefits and where and when you might want to use them *The risks and the challenges *The perspective on these ties from the rope top from Fox *The perspective on these ties from the rope bottom from Mya *The single rope suspension that Fox loves and Mya is starting to like more…