04 - Bondage Notes - Anatomy and Bondage
Story index at the bottom
By Tienteaser
Thursday, March 10th 2005 - 01:36:12 PM
Bondage Notes - Anatomy and Bondage, part 1
I'll get back to some of my childhood stories in a bit, but I wanted to take a break from that to talk a little about the anatomy of real-life bondage.
I have two concerns in doing this: First and foremost is safety. I have a feeling that some bondage fans get a lot of what they know (or think they know) about bondage from the stories here and on similar sites. Some of what's written here is not workable in the real world, and could be very dangerous if someone tried it. And that ties in (so to speak) with my second, more selfish motive - my own enjoyment when reading these stories. As someone who does bondage professionally, and several times a week in my private life, it's jarring to read a story that describes things that I know just aren't practical or even possible in some cases. The stories here are at least SUPPOSED to be true, so when things come out that obviously aren't true it spoils the story a bit, at least for me.
So what I'm going to try to do here is offer a few real-life pointers about how bondage affects a person's body. Hopefully this will enable people to do bondage more safely, and write about it more effectively. I'll divide it up by the type of tie, and talk about a few of the issues associated with each.
Hands Behind the Back
This is probably the most common, most classic bondage of all. It's harder than it looks though. It puts stress on the shoulders. Anyone who has ever been tied this way has felt that stress eventually: the shoulders begin to ache after a while, and it gets worse the longer the tie is maintained. The classic rear wrist tie is the most common source of these problems, but any position that puts the hands to the rear of the hips will eventually cause pain.
Things that make it easier to hold this position include good shoulder flexibility and a small frame with narrow shoulders. People blessed with these characteristics are slower to feel that soreness and can hold the position longer without too much pain. The position can make a difference too - the more widely spaced the hands are the less the shoulders are pulled. For many people the "japanese" arm position is the easiest: put your arms behind you and then bend your elbows so your forearms lie one atop the other across the middle of your back. If you've seen much classic Japanese bondage then you know what I mean.
Things that make it harder to hold this position include broad shoulders and poor flexibility. That means that men and broadly built women will have more trouble than small women. As for positioning, the basic rule is that the closer the hands come to one another the harder it is on the shoulders. The same is true of the elbows (in fact it's even more true there - be very careful about bringing the elbows together in back). Laying back on the arms when tied like this also makes it harder.
Some other ties build on the hands-in-back position. They have all the issues noted above, plus a few others. I'll address them next.
Tienteaser
tienteaser@yahoo.com
---------------------------------------------------
Thursday, March 10th 2005 - 01:39:55 PM
Bondage and Anatomy, part 2
Hogtie
If there's a second-most-common position in these stories, it's almost certainly the hogtie. That's understandable - it's a very pretty, very restrictive, very vulnerable position. I like it a lot in my own play. But folks, be careful with this. The hogtie has all the difficulties of any hands-behind position, and one very important extra: Hogties can be fatal.
I want to emphasize that: A hogtie can KILL the person tied this way.
The problem is called "positional asphyxia." Google it and you'll find out all about it. In a nutshell, when the hands are pulled to the rear of the shoulders it makes it harder for the chest to expand when a person breathes. This is why crucifixion was a form of execution in ancient times. The person tied to the cross would be dragged down and forward by his own bodyweight. This pulled his arms up and back, and eventually (usually within a day) he suffocated. Nasty way to die. The problem is the same in the hogtie, but the more extreme arm position and the person's weight on their chest as they lie face down both make it worse. Positional asphyxia can set in after a few hours in a hogtie, or even in a matter of minutes if there are other problems: gags, alcohol, congestion, and weight all shorten the safe period in a hogtie. Many police departments now ban this tie or regulate it closely, since they've had suspects end up dead before they could be taken to jail.
Don't get me wrong: the hogtie can be used safely, but it must be used carefully. When you have someone hogtied keep an eye on their breathing. If they seem to be having difficulty then turn them on their sides, and be prepared to undo the tie completely. Never leave a hogtied person alone, and don't maintain the tie for too long. Stories about people being hogtied for hours or (God forbid) being left to sleep in that position are just not realistic.
Tienteaser
tienteaser@yahoo.com
--------------------------------------------------
Thursday, March 10th 2005 - 01:42:30 PM
Bondage and Anatomy, part 3
Strapaddo
Have you ever seen a picture of a girl with her arms tied in back, then her wrists lifted up so she has to bend over? That's called a strappado position. It's very pretty and very helpless, and great for spanking and for certain other things that can't be discussed here. The strappado was derived from a position used in medieval tortures though, and you should bear that in mind when using it. In the medieval version the person would be lifted completely off the ground by their arms in that position. Sometimes weights would be hung from their feet or they would be dropped and then jerked up short before landing. The result was generally a pair of dislocated shoulders.
The version used in modern bondage is much less extreme than this, but the strain on the shoulders is still considerable. In professional bondage the strappado is approached with great care. I know one model whose career was ended by a careless strappado tie. Things that make it harder or easier include all the factors that I described for hands-behind in general. Also, anything that makes it harder for the bound person to balance (such as tying the feet together) is more dangerous, since falling can be ugly in this position. The further and higher the wrists are lifted, the greater the strain on the shoulders. And no one can hold a strappado as long as they can hold a regular hands-behind position.
OK, I've probably lectured and scared you all enough for now. I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled stories.
Tienteaser
tienteaser@yahoo.com
__________________________________________________________________________
Tienteaser's stories
- 01 - Bondage Tutorials - Wrap & Cinch (tutorial)
- 02 - First Tie-up: Sandy and me (F/F, Fm/F)
- 03 - Sandy and Susan Again (FF/m)
- 04 - Bondage Notes - Anatomy and Bondage (tutorial)
- 05 - Another Time with Sandy and Susan (FF/m)
Index of all stories in the "Archive for Everyone" section
)