Secret56

Secret56 has offered a place for rope bondage since 2010 and has been an official dojo of Osada-ryū since 2018. Its events take place at the Alpha Lounge in Dietlikon, just outside Zurich. Large events use more than ten fully equipped tying spots there, while smaller formats such as the Starter Lab and private lessons use a separate, more intimate tying room.

People

The space is run by Ibinuphis and RedRopeTiger, who say they have more than forty years of rope experience between them. Ibinuphis took his first workshop in 2003, co-founded the Seilschaften jam in 2007 and was part of the founding of Secret56 in 2010. He names workshops with Osada Steve in 2011 and Vinciens in 2012 as turning points and has since focused on Osada-ryū and Yukimura-ryū. With the team and Harukumo he organized Osada Steve’s first visit to Switzerland in 2018; he received permission to teach Osada-ryū in 2019 and has been an official instructor, entitled to hold Kyu exams and train new trainers, since January 2022. RedRopeTiger has been involved in rope since 2012, first mainly as a bottom and later also tying, and holds Kyu 6 in Osada-ryū.

Program

Seilschaften, a monthly rope jam and rope get-together running since July 2007, needs no registration and is open to all genders, identities and levels. It calls itself a safer space, especially encourages FLINTA* people and can arrange an experienced co-pilot for anyone unsure of a technique; house rules keep rope at the center and discourage loud or heavy play. Beginners start in the Starter Lab (Mukyū), held alongside the jam. The open Foundation Lab (Shōdan) and Progress Lab (Nidan) move from topic to topic according to participants’ interests and level.

The structured Kyu training follows nine grades, each with its own curriculum and an exam taken by a licensed instructor; Secret56 prefers that students are examined by someone other than their own teacher. Once a year it holds a joint exam event with Dojo Aijō, attended by Vinciens. Workshops are booked by couples only and partners do not switch roles. The full-suspension basics workshop, limited to six pairs, builds a three-rope takate kote and a yoko-zuri side suspension, with a trainer as co-pilot for the first lift. A monthly online rope evening is held with the Vienna studio Hasenstall.