Los Angeles

The Los Angeles scene

Two quite different models shape rope in Los Angeles: a dojo that follows a Japanese lineage, and a collective that shares its curriculum openly. The wider North American story, with its conventions and touring teachers, is told in Kinbaku in North America. This page covers what is specific to the Los Angeles area.

A Yukimura dojo

LA Rope Dojo was founded in 2011 and has had dedicated rope spaces since 2012. It teaches traditional Japanese rope based on the style of Yukimura Haruki, the Tokyo master whose gentle, emotional approach became Yukimura-ryū. The dojo says it brought Yukimura himself and the rope master Naka Akira to Los Angeles for seminars and workshops. Its classes stress communication and connection between partners, and in 2026 it added a class on aibunawa and semenawa. Besides group classes from beginner level up, it holds Yukimura-ryū classes, open practice nights and private lessons. Its news page also reports a 2019 shoot for Italian Vogue.

An open-source collective

A different model began a year later. The Devil Mask Society formed in Los Angeles in 2012 and calls itself an anarchist rope collective with no formal leaders. It teaches through a “Cell” program, which offers an open-source tying curriculum and in-person lessons through local groups. Its members also teach at national and international conferences. The collective publishes a code of conduct for teachers, hosts, students and attendees, reads a consent statement at its events and has published an overview of racial and gender equity in its own history. In January 2024 three of its members opened Devil Mask Studio, a shibari studio in Downtown Los Angeles. The Society also holds a public rope jam.

Beyond the city limits

Much of the region’s rope happens outside the city of Los Angeles. In Long Beach, LB Shibari Dojo runs a 4,000-square-foot space that is open only for scheduled events. Its classes are numbered by level, from 100-level beginner ties to 300-level theory and partial suspension. One monthly class is written and taught by experienced rope bottoms, and the dojo also holds two monthly rope jams. MasterKush Kinbaku has listed beginner classes, rope jams and film nights at Nirvana Studios in the City of Commerce, and a beach bonfire rope social in September 2026.

What to expect

Between them, these groups offer structured courses that lead toward suspension, drop-in jams, film nights and social events, and one teacher lineage that leads back to Tokyo. The venues advertise their classes in English. The Devil Mask Society publishes a code of conduct, and LB Shibari Dojo’s beginner classes include safety, negotiation and consent. Choosing a teacher and Rope jams, munches and salons explain how to compare such options.