Uncategorized

This post is to thank Ishemia for the beautiful interview she published on the new Russian site dedicated to shibari: shibari.ru. Following the request of my friend Pepefritto, I publish here the original text in English. Enjoy!

1. Where was you born and grow up?
I was born in Milan, Italy, but I grew up in a small town nearby. There were not so many stimuli in this town, but my parents have always given me opportunities to travel and discover the world with them since I was a child.
2. How long have you been doing rope? When did you do it at the first time?
I started feeling fascinated by rope at 16, surfing Italian bondage websites. When I was 18 I tied my first girlfriend to the bed; aged 21 I started studying bondage as a technique and attending S&M parties. After some months I had my first public performance at Black Hole in Milan. Now I am 24 and this February Kirigami’s character celebrates his second birthday.
3. How did your entrance into the shibari world happen?
After something like one year attending the S&M scene in Milan I was invited by some friends to see the first performance by Wildties. I felt that stuff was completely different form the bondage I used to know. I got fascinated by this style and I talked to him. He showed me many artists’ work and let me know about a whole international scene outside Italy. I started picking up inspirations by those international artists and publishing some pictures together with Marta (aka Tenshiko). I went to Japan to see Kazami San’s and Kanna San’s performances and eventually I started talking to some people in the international scene.
4. Who was your rope-teacher? Who did you train with?
Actually I didn’t have a true teacher, I am almost completely self-learned unfortunately. I am 24 and still studying, I cannot say: “Hi mum I need some money for my kinbaku lesson”. As I said, my parents always give me many opportunities, allowing me to do many things and to travel around the world, but they pay in advance for what they think is right for me, and kinbaku is not among those things. I have to credit many different people for teaching me something, either in person or by their tutorials; among those Esinem, Hebari, Andrea Ropes, and Wildties himself of course, plus many others. I trained on my own body and with some girls friends of mine. Until the last year, the Milanese scene was not much Japanese-style-oriented so I did not train a lot with other riggers in Milan, now there is a peer rope in Milan which is very nice, and I hope I will manage to attend it often.
5. What about the sources of your inspiration?
When I look to a ligature I love Naka Akira style apparently “messy” rope, but I even if I try, I still can’t manage to get that effect as I like it, so when it comes to a shooting or to a show I still try to pick something up from “neater” works. Sometimes when I look to some of my works I have the feeling I am almost completely copying some of Wildties’s early works. Anyway looking to ropes by nawashi Kanna, or Kazami Ranki is a great source of new rope patterns and new ways to build strong connection. When it comes to dirty minded ideas i love to skim Sugiura Norio’s website. I am still discovering new artists everyday, so it is possible I will soon find some other sources.
6. Who are your favorite riggers, models?
It is difficult to give an answer because I love and hate different works by the same riggers and models; hence I will try to give an answer which is not related to the artists’ work too much. I love Kinoko shows’ double soul, his power to alternate traditional shows with the fluo show, his attitude to be the right man on the tatami and at the club. Among the Italians I appreciate Wildties and Andrea Ropes, because they are skilled and successful, they manage to give great performances, and they often make me feel a true Japanese soul in their sessions. Recently I had the pleasure to see Esinem tying live and it was beautiful to feel the experience in the movements of his fingers. To answer about the models is too embarrassing to me. I will just say Kagura is the most beautiful Japanese girl I saw when I went to Japan.
7. Did you have difficulties in searching your first model?
Not really. I almost ever found girls who enjoyed ropes. The true difficulty was to find a girl willing to go to a public rope party and to get tied in front of strangers.
8. What do you like to do most of all? Newaza, rope suspensions, private sessions, performances?
I enjoy them all in different ways. I am an exhibitionist, so I love the people looking at a circus style suspension in a dancing club. But there are some rope-related activities I would not share with an audience. Shootings allow me to share some of these activities; others, and the actual deep connection with my significant other are to be savored during private play. I don’t actually like distinguishing newaza and rope suspension. Often, especially during private play, moments on the ground alternates with moments of suspension.
9. What are your interests outside of shibari? (Music, sport, literature, etc) Your hobbies?
I am not the kind of person who gets mad for one special topic or another, I like learning a little bit of everything, even if this often causes a lack of in-depth analysis. Anyway I have some preferences of course: physics, which I study at the university; human anatomy, both form a scientific and artistic point of view; human physiology and psychology. I have a special interest in martial arts, and I believe they give a good understanding of the human body from a practical point of view. I also enjoy literature a little bit, I prefer French literature (both prose and poetry) and some Italian poetry.
10. Why do you wear a mask? Do you wear it to create a mysterious image or you have other reasons?
My parents are running a shop in a small town. Unfortunately many of our customers would not appreciate my passion for kinbaku. I wear the mask because I respect their business.

Translation by Mara

Today I finished reading a book our Tea Ceremony Teacher suggested all of us students.
It’s actually a pretty light reading, nothing as philosophical as you would expect by the author, Morishita Noriko — an experienced Tea Ceremony Teacher.

I could recognize myself in every single word of her book “Every Day a Good Day”, in which she talks about the 25 years has spent in the Tea Ceremony practice.

Recommending this book, our Teacher used the same words she said the day when the first Japanese student joined our class; that is that many Japanese people know nothing about Tea Ceremony — Cha no yu —, so we weren’t supposed to expect more from her just for being Japanese. She didn’t mean to justify her, instead she wanted us to understand that she would be as shambling as we were, and she would make as many mistakes as us. Because Tea Ceremony isn’t something that comes just from being Japanese, it is a Ceremony in itself, that elicits its own way of thinking and acting.

Wax on wax off

Federico and I have been attending classes just for two years now. Everything started by folding a handkerchief — fukusa —, and today it’s a complete otemae; simple, very basic, but a complete one.
It brings with itself its rhythm, its breaths, the kettle sounds and the whole morning our Teacher commits to the preparations for our class. It also means to me to spend half an hour wearing my kimono before we begin, time I value very much to get to that inside emptiness I will need to open the door to announce the beginning of my Ceremony.

Today, when I closed my book, I started thinking about the attitude and the rituals that allow me to perform a complete otemae to just make tea for my guests, managing to breathe normally, without thinking.

Obviously I can’t compare my studies to the 25-year experience of the book’s author and I am sure that should I read this page again in five years I would make many changes, not to mention in 15 or 30 years.

But still I remember my very first attempts: I was clumsy and couldn’t remember any of the passages, I had to follow our Teacher’s voice step by step. I never used to practice at home, if not a few times on special occasions; I was not a good student all things considered.
After two years, I can perform otemae with almost no mistakes, I sometimes forget small details realizing at the same time why I keep leaving them behind. Once I realize what the mistake is and why it happens I manage to internalize it and that mistake just vanishes, I won’t do it again. It’s something that keeps amusing me: at first there’s something I can’t do, and the next time not only I can do it, but I also understand the reasons why it needs to be done.

Learning wating to learn

Tea Ceremony, talking about the simplest among all kinds of otemae, is optimization becoming aesthetics, becoming zen; simplicity and elegance blend together to make everything flow. However, until you get to understand the reasons behind it you’re just a clumsy mess of thoughts.

Our Teacher never explained “why” everything needs to be done in a specific way. You start with folding two different kinds of fabric — fukusa and chakin — which are used in two separate moments of the Ceremony, but then you suddenly find yourself “thrown” in a complete Ceremony, from entering the room to leaving it.

It’s not like our schools or classes, where you keep repeating the same small steps of something, may it be a choreography, a poem, a procedure, until you’ve learnt it and then move on. Here you learn while you are waiting for learning.
After all, even the book says: “At school you are taught to think so that you can give the right answer in the established amount of time. The more the answer is quick and correct, the higher the score. On the contrary, if you overrun your time or, still, can’t get used to this system, your score will be low.”

This way of thinking does not exist in Tea Ceremony, because time has no limits, answers can’t be right or wrong.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Leonardo Da Vinci

It may sound odd, we are used to think about the Ceremony as something solemn, refined, far from our regular lives. That’s because our culture in these times keeps pushing us to set goals, to be competitive.
Tea Ceremony is actually much more free than it looks like, but it becomes such only when your mind is free as well, leaving back the mistakes, the meaningless searches for reasons that do not exist, stopping to hold your breath in worry.

When I used to dance I had a goal I dreamt about every night, I cried about every day, I chased 24/7. Until it got so exhausting I had to abandon it, because I found out it had pushed me away from the actual reasons why I wanted to dance.

When I started practicing Tea Ceremony I had no goals, I didn’t even know if there were meant to be any. I chose to keep it like that, for my past experience had consumed me inside and out.
I don’t want to set goals, because I don’t want to compete even with myself.
“Today I’ll do better” isn’t something I keep repeating myself to motivate me. I don’t say anything, because I don’t have to be anything. It’s just tea, a moment with myself. Something that may be called zen, but that is often mystified.
– A goal is the target of an action or an initiative; the result you hope getting to: “I practice Tea Ceremony to get to be flawless and perform more complex Ceremonies”.
– Motivation is what pushes you to do something — or not: “I practice Tea Ceremony to have some time for myself and my personal growth”.
There is a huge difference.

[…] in Tea Ceremony you relate with yourself from yesterday.

Tea Ceremony changes you a bit — actually, a lot. But what I’m looking for isn’t just change, I don’t even like the idea of “looking for something”. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to learn, or grow, but I want to take my time, I want this feeling of “doing without thinking” to extend to many of the things I usually do.

I quote from the book: “Both school and tea aim to the person’s growth, with a substantial difference: at school, you relate with others, whereas in Tea Ceremony you relate with yourself from yesterday”.

I believe this is essential for many aspects of life and I thank my parents every day for teaching me Tea Ceremony without even knowing it.
Learning is the best way to get to know yourself, but to actually grow I believe it’s necessary to live in the present, knowing our past and accepting both the mistakes we made and what we gained, without being anxious about the future. Nowadays our idea of the future is too strongly related to competition, which however keeps looking towards others without leaving us the chance to look inside ourselves and give us the necessary space to grow.

Cover: Shōrin-zu byōbu, Hasegawa Tōhaku

Two great personalities, two stiles on comparison, two different points of view to live Kinbaku.

 

Riccardo has a strong personality.

He is confident, and you can tell by his tone of voice, by his posture, by how he dominates space.

Dave is British and you can understand at first sight. He is elegant, moderate, and always looks like he is ready to correct mistakes with an attentive and subtle gaze.

It was not only the style being on comparison; the style one chooses to do Kinbaku is a consequence of one’s taste. Our choices depend on our past, on our experiences.

Much more was there to see!

 

The keystone was subtle, and it was noticeable during the performance and the second day of workshop.

While on stage, Riccardo is a mix of Caravaggio and Michelangelo. He sculpts and displays. He involves the audience and exposes his bottom. He drags you inside even if you would rather observe from outside. He does this with a dark aura surrounding him.

He sculpts Ale like the David; sometimes he really looks like he is asking her: “Why don’t you speak?”.

He seems to fall in love with her at each new rope, it looks like he wants to make her perfect before his eyes, and tell the beholders: “look, she is there for me, for you… for herself”.

Like Caravaggio he draws the ropes upon her like dramatic light spots. He highlights her greatness, Ale’s greatness. She is there, still and steady, speaking with her eyes; she looks for him, and hides herself.

You hardly notice Riccardo while he ties, maybe you have to focus to see him, because he tries everything to be the tormentor in a great opera and symphony. He himself often stops and stares; this make the audience also observe, guided by his gaze.

 

While Dave is on stage, he is a symphony painted by Kandinsky. He paints like he is following a melody, proposing him a rhythm that changes at every moment, becoming more intimate and subtler while time passes.  He paints Clover as if he wants to create something unique with her, something for them alone. Ropes look like a frame of love and tenderness, often also created by the tension and the physical challenge he builds for her. As in Kandinsky, it looks like he wants to give two different sensations to the beholder: from one side a physical one, related to the challenge he creates with Clover’s body; from the other side, a psychological effect, related to the bond and intimacy they have.

They are there, surrounded by a frame of affection you might envy.

Riccardo wraps, tortures, grasps, creates suffering.

Dave wraps, tortures, creates difficulties and then frees.

 

From a stylistic point of view, I believe we could actually mix up the two things, and it is clear they took something from one another.
I don’t want to make a list of differences and similarities, I believe one sees what one wants, depending on one’s experience.
I think the “answer” lays it being able to take all the details that can improve and perfect communication and intention with our partner, from both styles, different yet similar.

Riccardo with his darkness and his chisel,
Dave with his calm and his brush.

Two styles, two personalities and lots of concepts.

Wild or Wykd?

Wild or Wykd!

Read article on Kinbaku Today!

When Kirigami told me he would start studying the tea ceremony, I had been away from Milan for a couple of months. I knew it would only be a first lesson but I still felt a note of jealousy.
His first class would’ve been one-to-one with a Japanese teacher and he was excited like a child on his first day of school. When I got back we decided to continue this path together.
I’ve always been attracted by rituals, by any kind of choreography.  After 17 years studying ballet, anything related to body and mind, or connected with elegance, fascinates me.

I had never seen a tea ceremony, I didn’t know much actually.  I just saw a few photos showing moments from the long ceremony. I suppose I  felt thrilled like our students at the rope school.
I wore a white flowered dress , made a bun, put my tabi in a bag and went to my first tea ceremony.

First time in the tea room

In front of the teacher’s house I feel nervous. Kirigami told me something about the ceremony but I knew very little about  how I’m meant to behave and knowing something about Japanese culture I’m afraid of making mistakes, being clumsy or even rude.  I repeat to myself that the teacher will understand my mistakes are mainly caused by inexperience but when she opens the door I’m still embarrassed. I bow and wait for her invite to enter her tiny home.

At the entrance we see a sort of art studio. She paints, very well actually! I also notice a particular fascination for Canova and my eyes light up, not only because it perfectly fits my taste, but also because  this confirms many of my beliefs about aesthetic research.
I take my shoes off, wear my tabi and wait. At my side, Kirigami is more at ease than me.
After a few minutes another girl walks into the room to take lesson with us. It’s her first time too. When we are ready we walk down the small and narrow stair to the tea room.

The ceremony

Kiri is the first guest so he has to enter  the tea room first. Our teacher shows him the proper way and he repeats it by the book, just a bit clumsy and tied by his clothing. Than the teacher shows me how to do the same. How to enter the room, how to walk, how to bow down and stand in the seiza position. It’s totally new to me. Some sort of weird choreography to learn and repeat. I do my best.
I go down in seiza on the tatami and, with my hands into a fist, I enter the tea room and bow on the mats. I stand up on the diagonal she showed before, walk towards the calligraphy on the wall and gently go back down in seiza. I look at the calligraphy and bow, I look at the flowers and bow…

I stand up and turn, go back across a new diagonal and walk toward the kama (the tea pot); then I go down in seiza, bow and stand up again to return to my spot, next to the first guest. When we are all ready in seiza, the teacher starts her ceremony, telling us that if we can’t hold the position we can sit on the tiny stools prepared for occidental guests. She knows it can be hard for us.
She explains every single movement but she doesn’t say why, she only says what and how.

Her movements are precise, elegant and smooth.
I’m in seiza in my spot, trying to understand the sequence but it’s hard to memorize.
Kirigami performs the ceremony as  a first guest, makes a few mistakes and tries again. When he makes something particularly well she highlights his ability. She’s amazed when he anticipates her movements, especially when he takes the sticks from her hands to put them back on the tray. She didn’t expect it. It seems to be a common mistake among occidental guests.

I’m more and more anxious to forget some movement and make mistakes.
After about half an hour my ankles start hurting. Kiri and the girl are already on the stools and I’d really like to do the same but it’s my turn and I have to hold the position.
The teacher starts again cleaning the chawan (the tea cup) and preparing my macha.
I have to drink the tea, watch the cup and flip it to give it back to her. I have to act gently but I’m suffering. I can’t feel my feet and it’s difficult to stand up at the end of my turn. When the girl has finished her macha our teacher concludes the tea ceremony cleaning the crockery. After the ceremony we have time for some questions and we have many. We ask about the crockery and the ceremony in general and she answers all our questions before letting us go home.

Folding a chakin

A few weeks later, we are at our second class, just Kirigami and myself this time.

We start folding the chakin (the tea towel), as she asked. We don’t know what’s for but it’s probably impolite to ask. We repeat the sequence about 10 times before walking down the stairs to the tea room.

This time it’s my turn to be the first guest. Luckily, our teacher shows me again how to enter the room, walk and sit down, saving me the embarrassment. I try to repeat the sequence but I make a few mistakes and I have to start again. Kirigami does the same and then the teacher does it again.
At the end of the ceremony, I can’t wait to ask a few questions. I try to limit myself because I understood questions are not polite in her culture, but I also imagine she’s used to occidental students and to our way to learn.
Every time I learn something new I think about my students, imagining their feelings so similar to mine. I compare my moments in the tea room with theirs at our school.

I’m not only learning the tea ceremony, I’m also back being a student: an occidental student facing an oriental discipline. It’s not easy at all. It’s so different from ballet, maybe similar in elegance, movements and rhythm, but certainly far from our methods.

Femininity and elegance in Japan

Among my few question I ask about a particular movement women do differently from men when they are in seiza to move from their position. I ask if it’s because of the kimono, assuming it could be a logical reason. She answers: “It’s more graceful and gentle”.

She doesn’t say much but it’s everything to me. It may seem approximate but it isn’t. It’s just easy, like her gesture and it’s full of meaning.
I’m not sure I’ve understood her answer completely. Maybe my ballet background helps me to accept it as is: an easy answer for a graceful gesture free from technique and made of precision, elegance and smoothness. It’s just beautiful.
I don’t know anything about the tea ceremony and two classes are not enough to understand such a complex ritual. I’m intrigued and I really want to reach the same elegance in gestures to make it smooth and free from technique. It’s like tying. We learn how to manage the technique to be able to forget it and focus on the elegance and beauty of a human body.

 

______________________

Thank you Marianna for the translation