Safety

Kinbaku World is an encyclopedia, not a course. Rope bondage carries real risk of injury, and it should be learned in person from an experienced teacher.

Nerve injury is the best-documented risk

A 2023 case series in the journal Cureus examined ten people injured during full-body suspensions. Nine of them had injuries to the radial nerve, which runs along the back of the upper arm; others involved the axillary and femoral nerves. The authors point to the course of the radial nerve near the deltoid as the area to protect. (Khodulev et al., 2023)

What experienced teachers stress

• Watch for numbness, tingling, weakness or loss of grip in the hands, and untie immediately if they appear.
• Keep safety shears within reach whenever someone is tied.
• Agree on limits and signals before tying, and keep talking during it.
• Never leave a tied person alone.
• Suspension needs dedicated in-person training; do not attempt it from pictures or videos.

Safety guides

• Nerve injuries in ropeWhat the medical literature and rope educators report about nerve compression in rope bondage: which nerves are involved, the early signs, how long recovery can take and where sources disagree.
• Circulation and breathingHow rope can restrict blood flow and breathing, the warning signs rope educators describe, why fainting matters, and what medical and forensic sources say about positional asphyxia and deaths in bondage.
• Rope and the bodyA region-by-region overview of the body areas rope educators and medical sources describe as vulnerable to rope, from the neck and armpit to the wrist, groin and knee, and the reasons they give.
• Suspension risksWhy sources call suspension high-risk: what body weight does to nerve and breathing risk, falls and equipment failure, fainting and harness suspension, health factors, and why sources say it must be learned in person.
• Cutting and emergency releaseWhy rope educators insist on a way to get someone out of rope fast, which cutting tools they recommend and avoid, what rope-rescue experience says about cutting loaded rope, and why an emergency plan comes before the first tie.
• Consent and negotiationHow rope communities and researchers describe consent, what people usually discuss before tying, how signals and safewords work, and why consent continues during and after a session.
• Aftercare and dropWhat aftercare means in rope, the physical and emotional after-effects sources describe, what little research exists on hormones and closeness after a scene, and the competing explanations for drop.

Pages about ties on this site describe what a tie is and where it comes from. They never contain step-by-step instructions.