Some of my Shibari students publicly express their learning experience during their training under my guidance. Some of my Shibari models also shared their feelings during some of our rope sessions. As long as I notice more of your comments about this I’ll be adding them on this special space.
Thank you very much to all of you who dare to write down your feelings and experiences because this way of gratefulness means very much to me.
HaruTsubaki 
This is von_U_Sternberg‘s experience. He’s an Italian rigger who took private intensive training classes with me during 2013:
“On my experience with Sensei Camelia_Tsubaki
Hope this will help if you are looking for Shibari classes in Buenos Aires.
Last year while i was living in Buenos Aires i had the opportunity to meet Camelia and his boyfriend EduNawa. We share great time together, but most of all Camelia brought me into the world of Shibari. I had the opportunity to take several lesson with her and she changed all my approach to the ropes.
I am not a great Kinbaku expert and until that time i have had just a few lesson on ropes. I really love the way she tie, but what i really want to share with all of you is the way she taught me the basis of Kinbaku. Sensei Camelia is passionate and dedicated, she been travelling to Japan many times, she can speak japanese and she has succeeded in those years to get deeply in touch with Japanese culture.
I had no precise idea of what I wanted when I contacted her, just wanted to learn the basic rules of bondage. When I left Buenos Aires, I realized that I had entered into a new and fascinating world, Camelia has opened the doors of a culture, I was made aware of rituals and symbols. Our chats about Japanese culture, on the ropes, on breathing, on the meanings of the various terms, the many moments “put the wax on, put the wax off” have been an integral part of a process of a unique training.
I think it’s really hard to find a sensei so passionate, kind and empathetic. A few months passed since my stay in Buenos Aires and I realized that I often used this site over the years but I never gave my contribution. I do not know if she will continue to teach in Buenos Aires, or in some other part of the world. But if you get the chance you should try to learn kinbaku with Sensei Camelia.”
Here you can read his native language (Italian) version. From my humble point of view, this is where he could best express his feelings. Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!
“Mi sono reso conto che spesso ho usato Fetlife per creare connessioni e trovare posti, luoghi e conoscere persone che non avrei potuto conoscere in altro modo. Invece poche volte ho condiviso delle cose su Fetlife, questo messaggio vuole essere una maniere per recuperare e per essere d’aiuto per tutte le persone che si troveranno a Buenos Aires.
Lo scorso anno mentre vivevo a Buenos Aires ho avuto l’occasione di incontare Camelia_Tsubaki [https://fetlife.com/users/18300] e il suo compagno EduNawa. Abbiamo passato dei bei momenti insieme ma soprattutto Camelia mi ha introdotto nel mondo dello Shibari. Ho avuto la fortuna di fare delle lezione con lei e il mio approccio al mondo delle corde è cambiato radicalmente. Non sono un grande esperto di Kinbaku, fino a quel momento avevo fatto alcune lezione e avevo pratica da autodidatta, in maniera soddisfacente ma sentivo che mancava qualcosa. Ho visto Camelia legare ed è stata una esperienza incredibile, ma soprattutto quello che voglio raccontarvi riguarda le cose che ho imparato, le basi del Kinbaku. Sensei Camelia è una vera appassionata di corde e della cultura giapponese, ha viaggiato in Giappone molte volte e ha studiato con i grandi maestri dello Shibari, conosce la lingua e la cultura giapponese in maniera approfondita e completa. Non avevo una precisa idea in mente di quello che volevo quando ho iniziato a fare lezioni con Camelia, volevo semplicemente apprendere le basi del bondage. Quando sono andato via da Buenos Aires ho realizzato che ero entrato in un nuovo e affascinante mondo, Sensei Camelia mi ha aperto le porte di una cultura a me estranea, mi ha messo a conoscenza di un universo di simboli e rituali, Le nostre chiacchierate sulla cultura giapponese , sulle corde, sui materiali, sulla respirazione, sui significati e sulla derivazione dei singoli termini, i tanti momenti “metti la cera, togli la cera” hanno costituito un processo di apprendimento unico e irripetibile.
A distanza di mesi le lezioni sono ancora impresse nella mia mente, i movimenti delle mani così come le spiegazioni, le sensazioni sulla pelle e le regole teoriche, il tutto ha costruito un mosaico che mi ha dato una prospettiva totalmente diversa sulle corde, sulla pratica del BDSM e anche su me stesso. Penso che sia molto difficile trovare un Sensei così appassionato, gentile, empatico e preparato. Per questo motivo desidero condividere con più persone possibile la mia esperienza, proprio perché spesso ho usato questo sito in maniera passiva, prendendo informazioni e risorse e lasciando ben poco di me. Quindi se avete la possibilità di conoscere le corde con Sensei Camelia, se i vostri percorsi si incontreranno con i suoi, a Buenos Aires o durante i suoi frequenti viaggi, vi consiglio di concedervi questa opportunità.”
This is the experience of Xlheel Xlheel, who modeled for me at Copenhagen Shibari Dojo during 2014:
“Experiences with Camelia_Tsubaki as rigger by XLheel
Slightly nervous when we met at the Copenhagen Shibari Dojo/SMil nawa group workshop in the autumn of 2013, as it was a setup through Tina from the dojo. Soon discovered that Camelia had a good energy as rigger. At some point Tina told me to give Camelia a little more resistance/challenge, which she took in stride. Remember the tie which I know as the bambi tie best. Not so much because of the tie which is pretty basic, but because I here saw Camelia unfold some of her great potential. She asked me after, if she had hurt me, which she hadn’t or least not more than I could handle.
The potential was also why I did not think twice, when I asked if I wanted to be her model for her private lessons and an intensive workshop at the dojo in the summer of 2014. We did a lot of great ties, both at the lessons and workshop. From that I remember a session best, where Camelia was told something by the sensei Max without my me being present. Don’t know what he had told her, but felt that I had been attacked by a female tiger, when the session finished. This why I now call Camelia, Mesu No Tora. Another tie I remember, was the second one we did when Camelia arrived for dojo’s birthday, both because it was a little tough with my folded legs pulled wide apart and because she made me feel wanted, with her breathing and running rope over parts of my body. We actually use the breathing later, or more precisely Camelia used the breathing later to get into “attack” mode.”
This is DojoGuy‘s experience about meeting me at Osada Steve Honbu Dojo, StudioSIX during 2014:
“Tsubaki is someone who defies easy explanation. You can use terms like “female rigger,” and “rope top,” but they fail to convey the essence of her. From the moment I met her in Tokyo, she had a certain energy about her that I’ve only seen a few times before. I have come to associate that energy with meeting someone who’s doing what they love with no reservations, as if the full force of their energy is being poured into the pursuit that makes them happy—that is Tsubaki.
We met at Osada Steve’s Studio SIX, though we had exchanged a few messages before then on Fetlife. I found myself intrigued by this Argentinian rigger with the beautiful photos. The rope work in her photos reminded me of work by my first instructor Okienawa. I was unsurprised to learn that Tsubaki has, like him, made several trips to study with Osada Steve; not all of them to Tokyo either.
When introduced to her Tsubaki’s smile was the first thing I noticed. As she smiled and shook hands I took in the rest of her: short, curvy, and a bit of a quick talker. Being a man from the Southern US I tend to speak a bit more deliberately. We became fast friends, chatting over rope and what we were there to learn more about. I shared my worries over my skill at tying a teppo and she talked of her desire to bring more kinbaku skills home to Argentina.
Over the next few days that I spent learning, Tsubaki was kind enough to invite me to sit in on her studies with Steve. Watching her work was a joy. Her rope flowed smoothly, in ways that I was hoping to learn during my time there. Wrap after wrap, twist after twist, she built beautiful and complex structures that drew the eye as much as they accented the model’s beauty.
The degree of focus she had was also impressive; she would lose herself completely at times in the connection between herself and her model. At other times, quietly spoken Spanish would issue from her, as she leaned into the rope and emphasized the “ki” with her words as well as her body. The erotic tension of those moments still resonates in my mind, even as I write this now many months later…
At my request, Tsubaki also sat in on my sessions and asked to take photos of me learning. I’ve been a guest at many martial arts dojos and made friends before, but few were thoughtful enough to offer to take pictures for me! I am grateful for those photos because they remind me of how unique my Studio SIX experience was, not just in rope, but also in my entire life.
Although my time in Tokyo was short, Tsubaki and I found time to roam the bookstores for kinbaku books. We found some of the books shown on the wonderful Kinbaku Books blog (http://kinbakubooks.wordpress.com) in the Jimbocho area. I’d been there once alone, but with Tsubaki’s cute and energetic presence shopkeepers were very helpful, even drawing us maps to other bookstores to find more kinbaku books. We found many more things than we could afford to buy!
While waiting for one bookstore to open, we stopped at a restaurant and talked even more about our pasts. There’s nothing quite like talking about family, rope, and world travel to bond with a new friend. An excellent meal also helps, but that’s because I am a “foodie!”
Although we had a great dinner later that week with Steve-san and one of the models, I remember lunch with Tsubaki more fondly, because we got to know each other fairly well over course of the meal. That’s rare for me; I am an introvert, with more expertise in computers than people. I attribute it to meeting someone who is genuine and passionate about her life, both rope and otherwise. I look forward to meeting Tsubaki again some day.”