SHIBARI KINBAKU ART

LEVEL 5 /// HAN YUKA ZURI

THE ART OF MEETING GRAVITY

Partial Suspension & Body Transformation

The Fifth Chapter of Tiger Nawa Ryū

Meet gravity.

The floor has supported every chapter of the journey so far.

Now the relationship begins to change.

Level 5 is a two-day immersion into Han Yuka Zuri: the art of partial suspension.

We introduce gravity progressively, allowing the body to move between support and surrender without entering full suspension.

The Ukete remains meaningfully connected to the floor while part of the body is lifted, redirected, loaded or transformed.

Partial suspension is not simply a smaller version of full suspension.

It has its own language.

One part of the body may remain grounded while another rises.

Weight moves.

Posture changes.

Familiar shapes become unfamiliar.

The floor remains present—but it no longer provides all the answers.

BETWEEN THE FLOOR AND THE AIR

Partial suspension exists between two worlds.

The body is neither entirely grounded nor completely elevated.

This creates a unique relationship between support, instability, choice and surrender.

Small changes in height or direction can have a profound effect.

A few centimetres can transform posture.

A change of angle can intensify sensation.

A single line can alter the relationship between the body, the rope and gravity.

Level 4 teaches you to compose the body.

Level 5 teaches you to transform it.

We do not chase height.

We study what happens as support gradually changes.

SIX PARTIAL-SUSPENSION STUDIES

The weekend is organised through six progressive Tiger Nawa Ryū studies.

Together they explore:

• Progressive weight transfer
• Lower-body and upper-body loading
• Directional tension
• Changes of height
• Changes of orientation
• Asymmetry and redistribution
• Supported transitions
• Controlled returns to the floor

These studies provide a structured journey through partial suspension without publicly reducing the course to a collection of reproducible patterns.

The detailed constructions, sequences and adaptations are taught directly inside the course.

WHAT YOU WILL DEVELOP

MEETING GRAVITY

• Understanding partial suspension as its own discipline
• Introducing load gradually
• Recognising how small changes affect the whole body
• Working with gravity rather than fighting it
• Maintaining control during loading and unloading

UPLINES AND DIRECTION

• Understanding the purpose of an upline
• Reading the relationship between height, angle and force
• Managing directional tension
• Maintaining clarity and control at the suspension point
• Recognising when a line should be adjusted or released

WEIGHT TRANSFER

• Moving progressively from support into load
• Reading how weight travels through rope and body
• Identifying primary and secondary support
• Redistributing pressure when the body changes
• Avoiding sudden or uncontrolled loading

BODY TRANSFORMATION

• Changing posture through height and direction
• Moving between compact, extended and asymmetric forms
• Exploring protection, vulnerability and exposure
• Understanding the emotional effect of orientation
• Allowing one structure to evolve into another

PARTIAL-SUSPENSION COMPOSITION

• Creating relationships between body, rope, floor and suspension point
• Working across vertical, diagonal and horizontal directions
• Using negative space and changing levels
• Developing coherent transitions
• Creating a complete journey rather than an isolated lift

CONNECTION UNDER LOAD

• Maintaining touch, communication and emotional presence
• Reading changes in breath, muscular tone and expression
• Recognising physical and neurological warning signs
• Preserving Aibu awareness during technical decisions
• Preserving connection during Seme intensity

AIBU, SEME AND ROMANTIC SEME IN SUSPENSION

Gravity can amplify everything.

Tenderness can become deeper.

Restriction can become more confronting.

Exposure can become more vulnerable.

A small movement can become a significant emotional event.

AIBU NAWA

Aibu brings attention, pacing, pleasure and reassurance into the transition away from the floor.

The rope listens while the body changes.

SEME NAWA

Seme uses gravity to create pressure, effort, restriction, predicament and consensual challenge.

Intensity is introduced deliberately rather than accidentally.

ROMANTIC SEME NAWA

Romantic Seme holds connection within that challenge.

The Bakushi does not disappear into the mechanics of the suspension.

The Ukete is not treated as an object being positioned.

Both remain inside the same experience.

Gravity becomes the third participant.

DAY 1 /// THE FOUNDATIONS OF PARTIAL SUSPENSION

Support, Direction and Progressive Weight Transfer

Saturday /// 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Day 1 introduces the physical and relational foundations of Han Yuka Zuri.

We begin close to the floor.

The focus is not height but understanding: how weight moves, how support changes and how the body communicates under progressive load.

SUSPENSION FOUNDATIONS

• Assessing the working space and suspension point
• Personal safety equipment and emergency readiness
• Upline purpose and line management
• Directional loading
• Controlled entry and release
• Keeping the working area clear

READING WEIGHT

• Recognising when the rope begins carrying load
• Observing changes in balance and posture
• Understanding active and passive support
• Communicating before, during and after loading
• Responding to unexpected physical changes

THE FIRST THREE STUDIES

The first three partial-suspension studies explore:

• The relationship between the feet, legs and floor
• Progressive changes of height
• Supporting and redirecting the upper body
• Moving between stability and controlled imbalance
• Returning weight safely and deliberately

Each study is adapted to the body, mobility, experience and boundaries of the pair.

CONTROLLED RETURNS

Coming down is part of the suspension.

We practise:

• Progressive unloading
• Maintaining control as the body returns
• Avoiding sudden changes of pressure
• Supporting balance during landings
• Remaining emotionally present through release

DAY 2 /// TRANSFORMATION THROUGH GRAVITY

Orientation, Transition and Romantic Seme Nawa

Sunday /// 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Day 2 develops the foundations of Day 1 into more complex body transformations.

We explore how partial suspension can change orientation, redistribute weight and move the Ukete between different relationships with the floor.

The work becomes more compositional, relational and emotionally charged.

CHANGING ORIENTATION

• Reading the body through different directions
• Understanding how orientation changes pressure
• Moving between protection and exposure
• Creating asymmetric relationships
• Recognising when a position has reached its useful limit

THE SECOND THREE STUDIES

The second progression explores:

• Multiple relationships between body and floor
• Greater changes of direction and orientation
• Redistribution across more than one supporting structure
• The development of controlled partial-suspension transitions
• Returning from complexity to stability

TRANSITIONS

A transition is not empty space between two positions.

It is where balance changes.

It is where pressure travels.

It is where communication matters most.

We explore:

• Preparing the body before movement
• Changing one element at a time
• Maintaining control during instability
• Pausing within a transition
• Reversing or abandoning a movement when required

THE PARTIAL-SUSPENSION JOURNEY

The weekend culminates in a guided Han Yuka Zuri journey.

Students bring together:

• Technical control
• Body adaptation
• Aibu presence
• Seme intensity
• Romantic Seme connection
• Composition through height and orientation
• Controlled return and release

The objective is not to demonstrate every technique learned.

It is to create one coherent experience.

PARTIAL IS NOT PRELIMINARY

Partial suspension is often treated only as preparation for full suspension.

Tiger Nawa Ryū approaches it as a complete expressive language.

Remaining connected to the floor creates possibilities that disappear once the body is fully elevated.

The floor can become:

• A place of support
• A boundary
• A point of resistance
• A compositional surface
• A place to leave and return to

Level 5 prepares students for full suspension, but it is not defined only by what comes next.

Han Yuka Zuri has its own gravity.

THE TIGER NAWA RYŪ METHOD

Learn the elements. Understand their function. Experiment. Discover. Create.

Tiger Nawa Ryū is not built around reproducing your teacher’s rope.

Its teaching is influenced by maieutics, the Socratic philosophical tradition in which the teacher creates the conditions through which understanding can emerge.

We learn through questions, observation, experimentation and discovery.

Instead of only asking:

How do I reproduce this suspension?

We begin asking:

Where is the weight travelling?
What is supporting the body?
What changes when the direction changes?
How is the Ukete responding?
What is gravity contributing?
When should I continue, pause, return or release?

The goal is not to reproduce Lola’s rope.

The goal is to understand gravity sufficiently to make informed choices of your own.

THE TIGER NAWA RYŪ JOURNEY

LEVEL 1 /// THE ART OF THE ROPE

Foundations & First Forms
Learn the language.

LEVEL 2 /// TIGER AIBU NAWA

Connection, Pleasure & Feeling
Learn to listen.

LEVEL 3 /// TIGER SEME NAWA

Challenge, Intensity & Transformation
Learn to deepen.

LEVEL 4 /// TIES & SHAPES VOCABULARY

Bodies, Forms & Composition
Learn to compose.

LEVEL 5 /// HAN YUKA ZURI

Partial Suspension & Transformation
Meet gravity.

LEVEL 6 /// ELEVATION I

Static Full Suspension & Orientation
Leave the ground.

LEVEL 7 /// ELEVATION II

Transitions & Dynamic Suspension
Move through space.

LEVEL 8 /// HASHIRA

Mastery, Integration & Personal Language
Make it your own.

Eight Chapters. One Evolving Language.

Each chapter builds upon the last, moving from foundational mechanics towards connection, challenge, composition, gravity, elevation, movement and personal expression.

YOUR SENSEI

LOLA TIGER NAWA

Lola Tiger Nawa is the founder of Ropejam Studio and creator of Tiger Nawa Ryū.

Lola’s relationship with rope began through competitive sailing in childhood, long before rope became an artistic, relational and philosophical practice.

More than twenty years of dedicated Kinbaku practice have since brought together creative self-exploration with the study of Japanese rope disciplines.

Lola’s practice draws from Ippon Nawa, Aibu Nawa and Seme Nawa, with studies including internationally recognised teachers Osada Steve, Yagami Ren, Kazami Ranki, Jyuubei and Tenma Haru, alongside inspiration from the traditions and work of Osada Eikichi, Yukimura Ryū, Akechi Denki, Nureki Chimuo and Seiu Ito.

But rope is only one part of Lola’s creative language.

A philosopher, filmmaker, artist and creative director, Lola’s work explores perception, human experience, expression and the relationship between ideas and form.

A background in electronic music as a DJ and producer brings rhythm, composition, tension, repetition, silence and improvisation.

More than thirty years of yoga practice and teaching contribute an understanding of anatomy, movement, breath, body awareness and presence.

These disciplines converge in Tiger Nawa Ryū.

Physics and body mechanics provide foundations.
Japanese Kinbaku provides history and vocabulary.
Philosophy asks why.
Art and filmmaking inform composition and perception.
Music brings rhythm and flow.
Yoga brings awareness of body, breath and presence.

Together they form an approach to rope as technique, structure, communication, human experience and art.

WHO CAN ATTEND?

This is a Level 5 partial-suspension course.

You should arrive with confident foundational and intermediate rope skills, including:

• Single Column Tie
• Double Column Tie
• Confident frictions and consistent tension
• Familiarity with functional upper-body and lower-body structures
• Familiarity with an upline and its purpose
• The ability to construct and release ties without continual assistance
• Experience communicating during physically demanding rope
• An understanding of circulation, nerve safety and emergency procedures

Completion of Tiger Nawa Ryū Levels 1 to 4 is strongly recommended.

Equivalent experience acquired elsewhere is welcome, but this is not an introduction to suspension.

Please contact Ropejam Studio before booking if you are uncertain whether your experience is suitable.

The course is practised in established pairs. Please attend with the person you will work with throughout the weekend.

Both people should be comfortable communicating clearly under physical and emotional intensity.

Ropejam welcomes people of all genders, sexualities, bodies, identities and relationship styles.

We are proudly LGBTQIA+, FLINTA+, queer, trans, non-binary and BiPOC inclusive.

At Ropejam, difference is not something we simply accommodate.

We celebrate it. 🌈

Discrimination, harassment and coercive behaviour are not tolerated.

CONSENT AND SAFETY

Partial suspension can place significant load on the body even when the Ukete remains connected to the floor.

Consent, communication, body awareness and controlled exits are integrated throughout the course.

We practise:

• Negotiation and personal limits
• Verbal and non-verbal communication
• Circulation and nerve checks
• Monitoring breath, movement, colour and muscular response
• Distinguishing expected intensity from warning signs
• Progressive loading and unloading
• Emergency awareness and controlled release
• Adapting or abandoning a position when required

No full suspension is taught or required.

The Ukete remains meaningfully supported by the floor throughout the course.

Every exercise can be modified or declined in response to mobility, flexibility, pain, previous injuries, body shape, emotional state and personal boundaries.

LIMITED CAPACITY

The course is limited to eight duos.

Keeping the group intentionally small gives every pair access to a suspension point while allowing individual observation, adaptation and direct feedback.

Early booking is recommended.

PROGRAMME

Saturday
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Sunday
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Lunch each day
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Please arrive 15 to 10 minutes before the course begins.

WHAT TO BRING

Please bring:

• 6–8 ropes of approximately 6–8 metres
• One or two shorter ropes, if available
• Safety shears or another suitable rope-cutting tool
• Water
• A warm layer and socks
• Any personal comfort or aftercare items
• An optional notebook

Please do not bring or install personal suspension hardware without discussing it with Ropejam Studio in advance.

Limited communal ropes may be available. Please contact us before the course if you do not yet own a suitable rope set.

Premium Japanese jute rope is also available to purchase from the studio, subject to stock.

WHAT TO WEAR

Wear comfortable, close-fitting and non-slippery clothing that allows freedom of movement.

Suitable clothing makes rope placement, loading and physical responses easier to observe.

Please consider:

• Personal skin sensitivity
• Pressure created by loaded rope
• Shoulder, hip and knee mobility
• Temperature changes during and after partial suspension
• Access to areas that may require monitoring

Bring a warm layer and socks for breaks and aftercare.

Vanilla, expressive or kinky clothing is equally welcome.

Come as yourself.

REFRESHMENTS

☕ Tea and herbal teas are available throughout the course.

Please bring your own lunch and snacks.

There are cafés, supermarkets and restaurants within walking distance of the studio.

📍 HOW TO FIND US

Ropejam Studio
Unit 2, 7 Fountayne Road
London N15 4QL

⚠️ Make sure you go to Fountayne Road N15, not N16.

Enter through the courtyard at number 7. The metal and glass courtyard door is open.

Go inside and follow the corridor on your right.

Unit 2 is the second door on the right.

There is no need to ring or message when you arrive.

If you get lost, WhatsApp or call:

07772 955 639

🚇 TRANSPORT

Victoria Line: Seven Sisters—use the High Road/buses exit—or Tottenham Hale

Overground: South Tottenham on the Suffragette Line or Seven Sisters on the Weaver Line

Approximately 10 to 13 minutes’ walk.

Stansted Express: Liverpool Street to Tottenham Hale takes approximately 15 minutes. Stansted Airport to Tottenham Hale takes approximately 36 minutes.

MEET GRAVITY

The rope rises.

The body changes.

The floor remains—but the relationship with it transforms.

Support becomes tension. Tension becomes direction. Direction becomes experience.

Discover the Art of Han Yuka Zuri.

Unconditional Rope Love 🖤🪢