Let there be no mistake. Despite its romantic name Haktúcho (The Swan) has been designed with only one objective in mind: to increase the recipients’ ordeal as much as possible, both physically and mentally. Physically as a result of the pain and the stress, mentally because she knows and feels she is being tormentedd and that this is only the base of everything else, being done to her. This position works on the maximum discomfort level, which is why it is an advanced suspension position

The intensity of this particular bondage is predominantly the result of the strain on the spine and the shoulders. It is literally a matter of “bending over backwards”, more or less against the powers of nature. In a standing position this is painful but hanging – while gravity wants to pull the center of the body downward while shoulders and hips are fixed – the stress is more than double.

This is NOT a suspension position for novices. It requires long time training.

The giver needs to know how far he can go – the recipient needs to learn that she must not overestimate her abilities. Bear in mind that you may do permanent physical damage to the spine, the pelvis, the shoulders and the neck. Hence: at least take a very careful route, try lots and lots of practise sessions and for this position the recipient will do wise to take up gymnastics or ballet lessons in order to train the flexibilty of her spine as well as the strength of her muscles.

We cannot stress this enough. This is not a romantic position. It decends directly from Kinbaku, the martial art of the medieval Japanese executioners. Its sole objective is to make life difficult for the recipient. “Sacrifice” is the keyword here, which is what it was designed for. And this will only work as the bass-accords in a band: on top of this the experienced Nawashi will want to see more “sacrifice” through embarrassment and erotic torment.This is oriental cruelty.

In order to understand its function one needs to understand the Japanese need to go for the max in anything and that includes pain and discomfort. As always, you don’t need to win or even take part in the Shibari Olympics because there are none. If you are into this, fine – if you’re not, that’s fine too.

Yes, there is beauty in all this. The beauty is in the paradox between intens love and intens pain. The deeper the recipient is willing (and capable) to go, the more intens the bond between partners. Vice versa – the higher the level the giver is capable to let her reach, the more intens the bond. It is what great composers do when their masterpiece reaches its peaks: using dissonants. They scratch your ears and nerve ends, but pull you into the music. In other words, it works two ways, but it has to be your kink and if it isn’t, don’t even think about it.

Safety precautions

Make sure all other safety precautions – we have told you about – are in place before you start doing this. But on top of that:

♠ GO SLOW! The best thing to do is to make sure there is an extra support rope around the waist in the beginning of the bondage. As you progress, you may want to lower this (inch by inch) to the strain is increased slowly and the muscles and spine are allowed sufficient time to adapt. It is NOT a failure if you leave this extra support in place!

♠ Allow for regular relief – you can do this by either using the extra waist support rope and shortening it, so the weight will be taken off the shoulders and hips or by rolling a table under the belly so the recipient can rest for a while.

♠ Make sure the wrists and ankles are protected. Despite of what you may see in the pictures, it is a very good idea to either use dedicated leather foot and hand hanging cuffs to replace the ropes (especially if you are inexperienced). Alternatively, protect the skin with “wristlets” (the things tennis players wear around their wrists).

Making Haktúcho

There are two safe ways to make the bondage. Method number one is to have the recipient laying on a table and tie her in position. Next slowly first shorten the suspension ropes so the tension is being built up and finally remove the table.

The other way is shown in the picture. Tie the hands behind the back – or alternatively tie the hands over the head and leave the recipient standing upright. Next tie a rope to one ankle and slowly bring up the leg backwards. This will allow her to slowly get used to the position while still having the other foot on the floor – first on the foot, later on the toes and finally up in the air.

Please allow for sufficient time in between every stage. Unfortunately, what is “sufficient time” is different for everybody. You’ll have to do trial sessions to find out what is “sufficient time” for your partner. Some adapt rapidly, some need more time and some may even need other things – such as sexual stimulation, pain or other things – to be able to relax and get into deep trance.

If you are the giver, this trance is both your friend and your enemy. Trance will support the recipient, make her more open to what is happening, provide acceptance and create the endorphins she needs as a natural painkiller and erotic stimulant. She needs to be in a different level of awareness before the suspension is completed. But: don’t expect any coherent communication while the recipient is in trance, since she is unable to. Hence you need to carefully monitor her, read the body language, constantly check your ropes and – most importantly – USE COMMON SENSE! If it doesn’t look good, it very likely isn’t good, hence end it, no matter what she says.

 

The above article is a reprint from our information/educational site Kink Culture.
A joint project between Wasteland and PowErotics
Copyright © Hans Meyer