Zach & Nikoleta – Announcing presenters
Zach
Zach/sweetzephyr began exploring kinbaku in San Francisco 9 years ago. Since then, they have spent 2-3 months a year studying kinbaku with top artists in Europe and Japan. Currently, they own and operate Heartland Kinbaku in Chicago – the only full time kinbaku school in the United States. Their kinbaku practice and instruction is inspired by multiple lineages of Japanese rope, but is grounded in a passion for exploring suffering, surrender, power, and control. Their primarily goal is to inspire and spread love and dedication to kinbaku, and to make it as accessible as possible to anyone serious about exploring it.
Nikoleta
Nikoleta has been tying for over 5 years. She is based in several styles. She is most influenced by the Naka ryu , which allows her to immerse herself in deep, dark emotions. She also has a passion for tying in movement with a combination of Rough Body Play. It is typical for her to be able to submerge into emotions very quickly and deeply.
Shoulder Health for Gotes
(Workshop level: L2-3)
Shoulder pain should never be the reason someone can’t enjoy arms behind the back bondage. In this session, we will explore some basic techniques for decreasing shoulder discomfort prior to tying, as well as practical tools developed with a kinbaku-specialized physiotherapist that can achieve long term reduction in pain, increased sustainability, and decreased risk of injury.
Gote Troubleshooting Clinic
(Workshop level: L2-3)
In this interactive session, participants are invited to bring problems they experience tying/being tied in gotes and work through live trouble shooting sessions. Help will be provided in the order people arrive and request a session. If there is downtime in between sessions, general gote best practices will be discussed and demonstrated.
Harsh Semenawa Floor Play
(Workshop level: L2-3)
This session will explore how we can create imaginative, diverse, intense semenawa experiences with floor tying. With a handful of simple rope elements and a good framework, a skilled rigger can tie on the floor in ways that many models will find more harsh than suspension.
Floor Play for Neck Rope Lovers
(Workshop level: L2-3)
For many people who love rope sessions, neck rope can be one of the most powerful sensations to add to the experience. In this session, we will look at several options for creating neck rope that can work with any style of chest harness. Options will range from ‘effective, simple, and safe’ to multiple layers of blood choking that will require you to sign some paperwork with my lawyer before I show them to you.
