Kata ashi zuri 片足吊り

Kata ashi zuri (片足吊り), also written kata ashi tsuri, joins kata ashi, one leg, with zuri, the suffix form of tsuri (suspension). Shibari Study points out that the name describes a situation rather than a single shape. Most directly it means suspending one leg, which can be a partial suspension with only that leg lifted. The same term can also describe a full suspension with one lower leg lifted and usually bound either to the waist or folded into a futomomo, and even for someone lying on the floor with one leg lifted. English Wikipedia lists a related name, kataashi age tsuri shibari (片足上げ吊り縛り), for a partial suspension with one foot raised.

The Osada-ryū form

Kinbakuwiki, a German-language community wiki, describes a specific version from Osada-ryū. There it is a partial suspension in which one foot stays on the floor while the main load rests on the upper-body rope, often a takate kote. The wiki calls it an important part of the school’s fifth kyū and the preparatory step for yokozuri, the side suspension. Because one foot stays down, the person tied can lift it briefly and feel how the rope carries the weight before a full suspension. The wiki adds that similar patterns from other styles can reasonably share the name, since it only describes the position.

Variations by teacher and school

• Osada-ryū: Kinbakuwiki describes the Osada-ryū form as a partial suspension using an upper-body tie, often a takate kote, with one foot on the floor.
• Kazami-ryū: Osaka Dan teaches through ShibariClasses a partial side suspension in the style of Kazami Ranki, under whom the course page says Osaka Dan studied. The course page does not use the name kata ashi zuri.
• Yukimura-ryū: ShibariClasses lists the Yukimura-ryū leg binder kata-ashi shibari in its floor-work series; Kinbakuwiki places kata-ashi kaikyaku in the fourth kyū and calls it essentially a partial suspension.

Difficulty and risk

As a partial suspension it sits between floor work and full suspension. Wikipedia’s article on suspension bondage gives balancing on one foot as an example of partial suspension, with part of the weight carried by the lines. Kinbakuwiki places the Osada-ryū form as the preparatory step for yokozuri, so Kinbaku World lists it as intermediate and moderate risk. Forms that lift the body completely, or turn it upside down from one ankle, belong with full suspension and inversion and carry their higher risks.