It’s always good to put in perspective our expectations. It’s good to know what are we expecting on something, and thus what would we be able to find in it.  This happens in every aspect of our lives and obviously Shibari/Kinbaku is not an exception.

There are many people in the world that are saying that 21’st century technology should be available for those who want distance learning, or even to get more accessible and popular the possibility to train in any discipline.  That purpose,  even when completely understandable and plausible, sometimes hits the hard reality and ends with useless discussions between those who support the technology as a teaching method and those more traditional and more focused on the traditional Dojo training.

If we limit ourselves to just the technical aspect of Shibari, we can surely agree that a pair of cameras and a good video edition would let us transmit the way ropes should be laced and even many movements that the rigger makes during one particular tie.  That would be an excellent idea if we were aiming to tie inanimate objects, or even when you’re up to copy some rigger’s movements.  Japanese people are experts in making robots for everything, able to reproduce human movements to the perfection, or even a pet’s one as it was AIBO, the Artificial Intelligence robot dog that SONY company made.

But in the same way that AIBO, whose project was cancelled in January 2006, people are able to perceive that subtle difference in a practice made in an automatic way, from something that has a soul behind.  Reality is that after a time where we have seen and experienced those people coming from this methods, or even worse, those who have been taught by those who learned using this methods; we found the bitter reality of practices and vices that were taught and take long time to correct.

No wonder that any model who has the chance to choose an experience with someone who had been formed in traditional Dojo classes, from one who tried learning from videos (and would probably use her body as a guinea pig), would have her choice perfectly clear. Even when she would not say it, she has the clear understanding that the rigger coming from a Dojo practice with a Sensei would probably have an intrinsic understanding and basis to resolve any problem when it shows up. She wouldn’t surely want to hear her rigger’s excuses saying  “Upsss… That was not what happened on the video…”

There are countless things impossible to be transmitted through a video. Besides nourishing our patience, perseverance and dedication as students, assisting to traditional Dojo classes there are many other topics unable to be transmitted through any video. How should you know what is the correct rope tension for that model in particular, and that day in particular? How could you transmit the correct way to approach your model and react according on what you “read” from her? How could you transmit the sensation of “letting yourself flow with the ropes” that the one who learns this art in a Dojo  experiences? Unfortunately there is no other way to learn an art that in front of a teacher. No occidental martial artist, no artist in general had emerged from learning techniques from a book or a video. Even less had emerged those who can inspire art with their ropes rather than those who have had their basis in a  persistent following of a Master that may forge their basis and let them fly free later on.

Some great Senseis as Osada Steve, or Yukinaga Max had clearly understood that 21st century communication channels should be used wisely and as a complement or in some cases illustration of traditional Dojo learned techniques. In the first case you’ll find one only training video clearly aimed to awake in the viewer the passion for the ropes. It’s completely focused to show and demystify the ropes, and it covers the basic aspects of rope care considered as essential by a bakushi, so to later invite those who want to fully learn this technique to his Dojo. In the case of Yukinaga Max, on the other hand, he aims to a precise and accurate answer to all those who misuse Japanese terminology nowadays spreading that over the power of social networks.  He does not show but a small bit of what is learned in a Dojo and makes an interesting effort to divulgate the clear difference between occidental and oriental visions on many concepts. Those videos are ideal to be watched by those who had already started their way in any Dojo as they may illustrate in a clear way how certain Kinbaku concepts are to be understood.

We can’t deny either that the visual persistence of personally observing good riggers in a regular basis may be highly rewarding.  Keep in mind that I’m using the expression “observing” and not “seeing”, as well as I’ve referred to “good riggers”.  I’ve recently had the fortune to enrol a student who had the inspiration and wish to practice this art after being a regular visitor to the rope meetings in the Club Social Rosas 5 in Barcelona. We taught our students in the same way and dedication,  but her sabaku flowed almost instinctively.  Besides the great satisfaction smile it draw on my face, it provoked me to tell her: “You’ve been visually consuming some Good Quality Shibari/Kinbaku”. It is undeniable then, that watching attentively and smartly some renowned rope artists performances, may impact our aesthetic perception and development in the art, in the same way that someone who listen to good orchestras all along may develop a particular taste for the musical art and perceive it when it shows.

Sometimes perspective can fool us, as sometimes happens on wide open landscapes where the horizon line gets confused and we’re not sure on what we see. Same thing happens sometimes with this art, as it seems that simply having an oriental looking face, have Japanese ancestry, or simply “look Japanese”, warrants us that the person is a Shibari expert. There is no doubt that ropes, ties and certain rituals are deeply rooted culturally in Japanese people. However, in the same way that just because you’re from Buenos Aires city it does not mean that you’re an eminent tango dancer (in fact a few years ago Kyoko san y Hiroshi san, both Japanese, won the Tango Championship in Buenos Aires),  being Japanese that not endorse you as an rope artist. This is not always obvious to the eyes of some incautious westerners, and sometimes it leads to confusions, accepting everything that a Japanese does as visually valid, and as something to lead.

Unfortunately none of the video tutorials you might find in the free video platforms are done by great bakushis.  Even if we talk about performances you’ll find very varied material, and not all of them would show the real beauty of Shibari/Kinbaku.  Some training tutorials you may find are just made to simply publish, in a plain and raw way, certain way of tying, breaking Kinbaku’s basic principle were the most important focus should be the model. It’s up to you what kind of material you want to consume.  What do you want your mind to be exposed to (remember what we have said before), and finally what is your concept of Shibari/Kinbaku and what are you looking for in this art.