Flirting with Danger
Dynamic Suspension Transition Sequences with Sam Jay and Zero-Gi
price per tying pair:
BOUND Members $380 |TIED Members $390 | WRAPPED Members $400
Session 1: Saturday May 10th, 10AM to 4PM
Session 2: Sunday May 11th, 10AM to 4PM
Danger is the stuff of action movies and romance novels. Danger is also a palpable presence in BDSM and rope suspension, whether explicit or implicit. Here, we give you the tools to navigate and play with danger in a consent-informed and thoughtful way. By directly confronting the danger inherent in rope suspension, we show how this allows you to break free from stale shibari tropes and develop your own unique collaborative style. Throughout the weekend, we provide an example of one such style, co-developed by our mutual interests and preferences, steeped in traditional elements and blended with modern tying innovations to create dynamic and exciting tying experiences.
Our appetite to experience danger but also to manage that danger has led to the development of a number of unique ties: our Thighbinder, Thigh High, and Zero-Gravity Slipper. These ties are not merely about the color-by-numbers pattern. Instead, they are taught from the context of having been rigorously tested in a rich diversity of situations, materials, and bodies. These ties are demonstrated in context with extant alternatives so attendees can evaluate best cases for each.
We then put these ties to work in custom transition sequences for which they are best suited. Two of our most iconic signature dynamic suspension transition sequences feature transitions for stunning drops to flip, roll, twist, swing, and spin safely in style, with body mechanics and adaptations for high-impact top and bottom-led transitions.
Our teaching style heavily emphasizes technical skills on all sides of rope, and key soft skills. Within these technical skills we further focus on elements that we feel are missing in the wider rope education curriculum and on adaptations for diverse bodies. As for soft skills, we share our own but we largely focus on interactions and leave the interpretation of “connection” for the attendees. Finally, we teach skills that will allow you to escape the trap of technical perfection and the endless labbing it promotes.
Things to bring:
- Your favorite swivel and rigging plate, ring, and/or carabiner system
- Standard suspension rope kit, ideally with POSH or Hempex for uplines and natural fiber ropes for body ties. Slippery synthetics will be more challenging to work with, and jute uplines will increase upline failure risk
- Water bottles, notepads/pencils, blankets, meds, snacks, or anything else you or your partner need
- It is possible but challenging to suspend our custom leg ties successfully with nylon rope and/or slippery leggings, however it may take more time and practice to achieve that. Easiest will be natural fiber rope against bare skin for less hairy legs and non-slippery pants or high socks for more hairy legs (unless you like your glorious mane of leg hairs being pulled out by rope—people being tied, you have been warned!)
Prerequisites:
Please ask the organizers if you or your tying partner have any concerns or questions about any of the following pre-reqs or required materials and we will let you know if we can safely and effectively accommodate or adapt!
For everyone
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Hardpoint and equipment evaluation and risk awareness
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Bondage risk awareness and anatomy/body mechanics in rope suspension
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Multiple transitions in suspension including upright and inverted
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Multiple sustainable upper body harnesses for suspension
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Following instructions and asking for help while suspending, both from instructors and partners
If tying
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Managing and handling multiple uplines in suspension
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Secure, fast lockoffs for suspension
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Rope and body handling on the ground and in the air
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Tying and loading non-collapsing suspendable single columns and harnesses quickly and securely with consistent and accurate tension and placement
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Making all adaptations required for your tying partner
If being tied
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Tying at least one form of non-collapsing single column tie
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Sustaining and communicating effectively through extended inversions and backbends with your partner
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Communicating adaptations and adjustments for your body in suspension
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Sustaining single point suspension from a front-loaded hip harness or waist rope with your tying partner
Recommended/Will benefit from (all)
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Experience safely using or adapting Tenshi in suspension transitions
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Experience safely using or adapting gote/box ties through suspension transitions
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Experience safely inverting from ankle or foot ties
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Having many variations of upper body, hip, and lower body harnesses in your toolbox and knowledge of their comparative strengths and weaknesses in different applications with your tying partner
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Experience navigating both dynamic and static transition sequences
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Experience learning with your tying partner
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Ego management
Sam Jay & Zero Gi DISCLAIMERS
- We are not licensed instructors of anything here.
- Some things we've picked up from others, but these are our own interpretations
- Other things are our own Inventions
About the Instructors:
Sam Jay he/him, Zero Gi she/her
Zero-Gi and Sam Jay are best known for their NYC Street Shibari project and for their without-a-net high-altitude urbex suspensions, which gives them a unique perspective on suspension safety and dynamics. Around NYC, they are known for their speed, performing at Torture Garden and local burlesque/circus/aerial venues with suspension routines in under 10 minutes. They’ve been teaching and performing together since 2020, including internationally, but the dirty secret is that it’s really all just about the hot ties at home.
Before joining forces in 2018, Sam Jay picked up strong fundamentals from 2011 to 2017 in the Osada-ryu-based Melbourne Rope Dojo, where he was one of the first five students. In 2017, he decided to tie partners rather than to tie styles, and that has made all the difference. Zero-Gi caught the rope bug in 2017, and while she owes a great deal to her rich education in a broad diversity of styles from tops, bottoms, switches, and self-suspenders worldwide, she has always rooted her core practice in dedicated solo study, challenging assumptions, interrogating standard forms, and eventually developing and crash testing new ties on her own body first. Together, Sam Jay and Zero-Gi have continually pushed the envelope on a global stage, from single toe suspensions and death-defying heights to popular new ties, techniques, signature transition sequences, inclusive adaptations, and dogma-ditching expansion of the standard rope repertoire.
Important Registration Information:
- All attendees must register and pay online, no admittance or registration at the door.
- Photo ID is required to be admitted and must match the Last Name listed in your online registration.
- You must be at least 19 years of age to attend Studio Friction events.
- No refunds or credits on cancellations within 24 hours of event (contact us for extenuating circumstances).
