private lesson with naoko...

kitten and i's first rope-activity in london was a private lesson with naoko (@nawanaoko), and it was mind meltingly awesome. i was incredibly intimidated, and knew little about what to expect. i don't have any pictures from these lessons really, but i'll share some insights and conclusions.

we started the lesson by her asking me many, many questions. most of which i don't remember now that i really wish i did. "what is your purpose for doing rope?" "do you tie based on feeling or based on shape?" "what reactions are you looking for when you tie?" "do you use your body to move your model, or the rope to move the your model?"

she then asked me to tie her model, with the following three prompts: tie based on her reactions, tie at least one structural form, and tie using the rope to move the body. this was HARD. partially because i was nervous as hell tying someone i've never met before in front of a person i admire very much, in complete silence. turns out "using rope to move the body" is not my strong suit, and ended up being a big focus of our lesson. (but i'm great at using my body to move a body!). naoko then gave me thorough feedback and critique.

one big takeaway: minute details MATTER. the way i lay my rope in my single column, the way i tighten my frictions, the way i position myself in relation to the person i'm tying, the slightest difference in tension and placement and form, all make a difference and are important and worth paying attention to.

another big takeaway: yes, i'm great at body handling. being able to "throw someone around" has been a favorite skill of mine for a while. in this case, the person is feeling more my body on their body (which is not necessarily a bad thing, just a specific feeling) as opposed to using rope to move someone around (for example, using a tk upline to move someone around) which lets someone more specifically feel the feeling of the rope. similar actions, different vibes.

we spend the rest of the lesson watching her tie, and then her watching me tie kitten "with suggestions." breaking out of habits and common pathways is HARD. i often feel myself taking the same routes over and over and over again. i generally want to take the pathway i know will work, the one that feels most likely to be safe and successful. taking this lesson, and having her point out alternatives (or just saying no to the choices i wanted to default to) was helpful to break some immediate habits, and a reminder that there are endless options.

ya'll i LOVE learning.