SHIBARI KINBAKU ART

LEVEL 6 /// THE SUSPENDED BODY I

STILLNESS

Static Full Suspension & Orientation

The Sixth Chapter of Tiger Nawa Ryū

Find stillness in space.

Partial suspension allows the body to negotiate with both rope and floor.

Full suspension changes that relationship.

The final point of support disappears.

Gravity becomes absolute.

Level 6 is a two-day immersion into the foundations of static full suspension: creating, loading, observing, holding and returning the suspended body with clarity, sensitivity and control.

Stillness does not mean that nothing is happening.

Inside a suspended body, weight continues to shift. Breath changes. Rope settles. Sensation develops. Emotion rises and falls.

Stillness requires continuous attention.

Rope becomes architecture.

The body becomes suspended form.

Gravity becomes an active participant in the relationship.

“Let’s fly together.”

FROM PARTIAL SUPPORT TO FULL SUSPENSION

Level 5 introduces Han Yuka Zuri: the changing territory between the floor and the air.

Level 6 removes the remaining floor support.

Students learn how the structures and shapes developed through the earlier levels can support the fully suspended body.

We explore the principal families of static suspension including face-up, lateral, face-down, inverted, diagonal and torsioned orientations while maintaining connection, communication and responsibility.

Each suspension is approached as a complete journey:

Preparation.
Construction.
Loading.
Observation.
Stillness.
Return.

The purpose is not to collect spectacular positions.

The purpose is to understand what happens when rope, body and gravity become one structure.

WHAT YOU WILL DEVELOP

FULL-SUSPENSION FOUNDATIONS

• Progressing from partial to full suspension
• Preparing the body, rope and suspension system
• Lifting and lowering with intention
• Recognising when a structure is ready to receive full load
• Understanding the increased responsibility of elevation

LOAD AND SUSPENSION LINES

• How weight moves through rope, body and suspension points
• Directional tension and load distribution
• Attaching, lifting, locking and adjusting suspension lines
• Maintaining and recovering tension under load
• Understanding how small changes affect the entire structure

STATIC ORIENTATION

• Face-up suspension and openness
• Lateral suspension and asymmetry
• Face-down suspension and containment
• Inversion and altered orientation
• Diagonal and torsioned suspended forms
• Understanding how orientation changes sensation and emotional tone

READING THE SUSPENDED BODY

• Observing breath, facial expression and muscular tone
• Monitoring hands, feet, colour, temperature and responsiveness
• Recognising circulation, nerve, joint and pressure concerns
• Reading fatigue, fear, excitement and emotional change
• Knowing when to adjust, lower or end the suspension

STILLNESS AND COMPOSITION

• Creating clear suspended lines
• Working with gravity, angle and asymmetry
• Understanding compression and extension
• Holding a shape without abandoning communication
• Allowing the suspended form to breathe and develop

CONTROLLED RETURNS

• Preparing the Ukete before lowering
• Managing changing loads during the return
• Preserving communication until the body is fully supported
• Recognising landing as part of the suspension
• Integrating release, recovery and aftercare

STATIC DOES NOT MEAN FROZEN

A static suspension is a suspended position that is entered, held and returned without progressing through a sequence of dynamic transitions.

The Bakushi remains active throughout.

The rope may need adjustment.

The body may settle.

Breath, sensation and emotional state may change.

The suspension is never left unattended simply because the visible shape appears still.

Level 6 develops the attention required to remain present inside that stillness.

Dynamic transitions, drops, rapid rotations and movement-led suspension sequences belong to Level 7: The Suspended Body II.

DAY 1 /// LOAD, LIFT AND RETURN

Foundations of the Suspended Body

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

Day 1 establishes the foundations of full suspension.

We examine what changes when the Ukete leaves the floor completely and how responsibility, communication and observation must change with them.

Students develop their understanding of suspension lines, directional tension, load distribution and controlled elevation.

The day introduces static suspension through supported orientations that allow students to concentrate on the essential process of lifting, observing and returning.

AREAS OF STUDY

• The transition from Han Yuka Zuri to full suspension
• Preparing structures for full load
• Suspension-line handling and tension under load
• Face-up, lateral and face-down orientations
• Communication before, during and after elevation
• Reading the suspended body
• Adjustments, lowering and controlled exits
• Recovery, reconnection and aftercare

The objective is not simply to make the body leave the floor.

It is to understand how to care for the entire journey.

DAY 2 /// ORIENTATION, LINE AND STILLNESS

Composing the Body in Space

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

Day 2 expands the physical, emotional and visual possibilities of static suspension.

We investigate how direction, orientation, height and asymmetry transform the experience of the same body.

Selected studies may include inverted, diagonal and torsioned forms, adapted to the readiness, experience and bodies of the participants.

Rather than moving continuously between shapes, students learn to approach each form as an individual composition: entering it clearly, holding it attentively and returning from it with control.

AREAS OF STUDY

• Inverted orientation and disorientation
• Diagonal lines and asymmetrical loading
• Static torsion and rotational tension
• Compression and extension in the air
• The relationship between structure and image
• Stillness as active observation
• Emotional intensity in full suspension
• Clean exits and controlled returns

The original Tiger Nawa Ryū progressions, construction sequences, adaptation methods and troubleshooting systems are taught inside the room and are not published as a public syllabus.

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 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 each line doing?
How is the body receiving the load?
What changes when I alter the direction?
What is the Ukete communicating?
When should I adjust, continue or return?

The goal is not to reproduce Lola’s rope.

The goal is to understand suspension deeply enough for your own rope to emerge.

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 /// THE SUSPENDED BODY I

Stillness, Static Full Suspension & Orientation
Find stillness in space.

LEVEL 7 /// THE SUSPENDED BODY II

Movement, Dynamic Suspension & Transitions
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, suspension, 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 brought together creative self-exploration with the study of Japanese rope disciplines.

Lola’s practice draws from Ippon Nawa, Aibu Nawa and Seme Nawa. Studies include internationally recognised teachers Osada Steve, Yagami Ren, Kazami Ranki, Jyuubei and Tenma Haru, alongside inspiration from 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 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 an advanced Level 6 course.

Completion of Tiger Nawa Ryū Level 5 is strongly recommended.

Equivalent experience acquired elsewhere may be suitable when participants already have confident and consistent experience with:

• Single and Double Column Ties
• Frictions and tension control
• Structural chest, hip and leg ties
• Han Yuka Zuri and progressive weight transfer
• Suspension uplines and Y-hangers
• Directional tension and basic load management
• Controlled lowering and emergency response
• Consent, communication and body monitoring under load

Participants must be able to construct and manage partial suspensions without continual instruction.

Please contact Ropejam Studio before booking if you have not completed Level 5 or are unsure whether your current experience is suitable.

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

Existing trust, clear communication and familiarity with one another’s responses are important.

CONSENT AND SAFETY

This course includes unsupported full suspension.

Full suspension carries significant physical and emotional risks. Particular attention is given to load, breathing, joints, nerves, circulation, pressure, fatigue, panic responses, orientation and disorientation.

No rope practice is universally safe. Risk changes with the body, position, pressure, duration, movement, health history and many other factors.

All suspensions are developed progressively and adapted to the bodies, experience and communication of each pair.

The tutor may ask participants to modify, slow down or discontinue a suspension when it is not appropriate for their experience, communication or physical condition on the day.

Level 6 teaches static full suspension.

Dynamic drops, rapid transitions, uncontrolled spinning and performance-driven suspension sequences are not taught.

Every suspension includes a planned and controlled return to the floor.

The studio is a sober learning space.

INCLUSION

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.

LIMITED CAPACITY

The course is limited to eight duos.

Keeping the group intentionally small allows every pair sufficient space, access to suspension points and individual guidance.

Early booking is recommended.

PROGRAMME

Saturday
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Sunday
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Lunch each day
1:30 PM to 2:30 PM

Please arrive 15 to 20 minutes before the course begins.

WHAT TO BRING

Please bring:

• Approximately 10–12 suitable ropes
• Two to four shorter ropes, if available
• Safety shears or another appropriate rope-cutting tool—required
• Water
• A warm layer and socks
• Any personal comfort or aftercare items
• An optional notebook

Limited communal ropes may be available. Please contact Ropejam Studio in advance if you need equipment guidance.

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

WHAT TO WEAR

Wear comfortable clothing that allows freedom of movement.

Close-fitting, non-slippery layers are recommended because they make rope placement and bodily responses easier to observe.

Consider personal skin sensitivity and the pressure created by rope when choosing clothing.

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. Cafés, supermarkets and restaurants are 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.

FIND STILLNESS IN SPACE

The floor disappears.

The relationship remains.

Rope becomes structure. Structure carries the body. Stillness reveals everything.

Discover the Art of Suspended Stillness.

Unconditional Rope Love 🖤🪢