Hanzuri

Hanzuri (半吊り) pairs han (半), which Jisho.org glosses as half, semi- or partial, with tsuri (吊り), suspension. Rope365, which spells it han-dzuri, uses it for any suspension in which the person tied is still in contact with the floor. In English the same idea is called partial suspension; Shibari Study defines that as a tie that uses uplines to put tension into the body without fully lifting it from the ground, and lists semi-suspension and half suspension as other names.

What it covers

Hanzuri names a category rather than a single tie, and sources use it for a wide range of positions. Wikipedia’s article on suspension bondage gives two examples, balancing on one foot with part of the weight on the lines and lifting the lower back while the rest of the body stays down. English Wikipedia’s list of Japanese ties includes standing partial suspension (tachi tsuri shibari, 立ち吊り縛り) and partial suspension with one foot lifted (kataashi age tsuri shibari). Some forms keep the person almost entirely on the floor: Kinbakuwiki describes the Yukimura-ryū pattern kata-ashi kaikyaku, in which one leg is held up while the body lies on its side, as essentially a partial suspension.

Place in teaching

In the curricula consulted, partial suspension comes before full suspension. Kinbakuwiki describes the single-leg kata ashi zuri as the preparatory step for yokozuri, the side suspension, in Osada-ryū, and Ropejam Studio in London expects students in its full-suspension course to be able to set up and manage partial suspensions on their own first. Kinbaku World therefore lists hanzuri as intermediate.

Variations by teacher and school

Osada-ryū: Kinbakuwiki describes the school’s partial suspension as a one-leg form, kata ashi zuri, in which one foot stays on the floor and the main load rests on the upper-body rope. The wiki places it in the fifth kyū, before the side suspension yokozuri.
Yukimura-ryū: Kinbakuwiki lists kata-ashi kaikyaku in the fourth kyū as a floor technique and also describes it as essentially a partial suspension. ShibariClasses lists the Yukimura-ryū leg binder kata-ashi shibari in its floor-work series.
Kazami-ryū: Osaka Dan, who according to the course page studied under Kazami Ranki, teaches through ShibariClasses a partial side suspension that the page presents as a first step into suspension. The page does not call it hanzuri.
Tiger Nawa Ryū: the listing for Level 5 at Ropejam Studio, the school of Lola Tiger Nawa, uses the name Han Yuka Zuri and calls partial suspension a discipline with its own language, not a smaller version of full suspension. The listing says the weekend is built on six studies and that the person tied stays connected to the floor. Level 6 then covers full suspension.
ShibariClasses, with Bruce Esinem and Nina Russ, lists a partial suspension among the variations and transitions of its hashira course.

Risk

Sources describe the risk as lower than in full suspension but not absent. The authors of the 2023 Cureus case series state that full suspension carries the higher risk of compression injury to nerves of the two. A ShibariClasses safety lesson links tight bondage and arms-above-the-head positions to fainting, and points out that a tied person cannot catch themselves if they fall. Kinbaku World rates hanzuri as moderate risk.