Bondage positions and methods

Bondage in BDSM is the activity of tying or restraining people using equipment such as chains, cuffs, or collars for mutual erotic pleasure.

[citation needed] Sometimes the submissive wears high-heeled shoes and has ropes wrapped round the heels and fixed to the wrists.

[2] A variation of the hogtie involves tying bound wrists to frogtied legs, providing the dominant easier access to the submissive's crotch for sexual play.

The hogtie position places pressure on the abdomen of the tied person, which may create difficulty in breathing known as postural asphyxia.

[2] A shrimp tie (海老責め, ebi-zeme) (also known as an ebi (海老) or a kuri (繰り)) is a type of Kinbaku bondage.

[2] For abrasion play if the rope is not tied to the waist it can be moved forward and backward between the labia or the subject can be made to walk across it.

This allows the rope bound person some ability to vary pressure on the genitals (often causing sexual stimulation) at the cost of reduced freedom of movement.

If such a cord is pulled extremely tight the wrists and arms will have very little freedom of movement particularly when combined with elbow bondage and the hands will be firmly forced in contact with the buttocks.

This tie places the person in a position where they are vulnerable but not completely immobilized and can still move about, albeit in an awkward crawling motion.

The bound person's wrist tie can also be tethered to some sort of immovable ring by an arbitrary length of cord, allowing some limited freedom of movement while preventing escape.

[25] TK wraps are used in suspension bondage, and if the ropes are misplaced the body weight can crush the radial nerve leading to the serious and possibly irreversible condition known as wrist drop.

There is no absolutely safe position for the top wrap; the mid-point gap between the triceps and the deltoid muscles is the most problematic.

[30] Breast bondage often focuses on the decorative, aesthetic and erotic aspects of the result, and not on immobilization of the female subject.

[30] The term Shinju (from the Japanese 真珠 meaning pearl) is a euphemism to refer to the binding of female breasts.

When the arms are crossed over the chest like a mummy: this is Egyptian, if they touch the opposite shoulders: this is a double-V.[2] When both wrists are secured together behind the waist: this is a strappado.

[15] A captive tie or over-arm tie (Kotobu Ryo-tekubi), is a bondage position in which a person's wrists are fastened behind the person's head using some form of physical restraints, such as rope or cuffs to which is attached a length of rope, chain or strap the other end of which is attached to a belt at the waist or other anchoring point.

[38] This simple over-arm tie is sometimes used in sexual foreplay and in tickling games where it prevents the submissive from protecting their ticklish spots.

Many head harnesses are designed with straps that pass in front of the wearer's eyes, restricting their vision, and further increasing the sense of objectification and erotic subjugation.

[43] A standing or hanging spread eagle position can be achieved using equipment such as an X-cross (also referred to as Saint Andrew's cross) or spreader bars or with ropes or chains attached to different endpoints.

[44] As an erotic humiliation technique, it forces the subjects to display their genitals and to provide access to the crotch, groin or anal region.

For instance, a bed can be adapted using a restraints kit; webbing attached to leather cuffs is placed under the mattress.

[47][2] While the strappado bondage position is considered to be a form of BDSM play, it shares its basic principles of restraint with the method of torture and therefore can very easily become just that if not practiced safely.

[48][2] The different styles of the strappado bind can be summarized as follows and these can be combined with crotch ropes and breast bondage, gags or blindfolds.

[49] A form of predicament bondage is to tie one foot of the subject to the opposite thigh or another body part so they have to concentrate on not causing more pain.

[49] With the breasts pointing towards the floor, the use of nipple clamps, possibly with weights attached, can be used to stimulate the subject with more pain.

[49] Due to the difficulty of maintaining this position, this type of BDSM play does not allow for long periods of being bound.

The classic partial suspension position is to have the person balancing on one foot with part of their weight supported through a chest harness and the other leg pulled up in some direction.

The position of the person's body in a full suspension may be horizontal, vertical or inverted; it is only limited by their endurance and the skill of the binder.

The rope used for Japanese bondage is made from natural fibres such as hemp, it is prepared by boiling to make it soft, but it is coarse and binds to itself: there is a lot of friction, so the knots hold fast.

This includes never leaving the bound subject alone, never performing under the influence of alcohol or drugs and always having shears available to cut the rope in case there is an emergency.