My favourite knot to make was called a monkey's fist. So titled, as when completed it looks like a scrunched up paw or fist. Genius! It was used by old school sailors at the end of ropes to add weight to them so a rope could be thrown from the deck of a ship or boat, to a third party waiting on a dock to catch and tie off. After conducting some research into the history of the humble monkey's fist, I discovered that it also had a more sinister use. It went by the alias slungshot, and was used as a rather crude but I assume effective malee weapon by sailors when involved in tavern and street fights way back in the 1800s.This is one of the hardest knots to master the art of. It took me several attempts to get it right. Out of all of the attempts I have made over the years to tame this beast, I've only managed to get it down pat twice! The hardest part is at the end, when you tighten up all of the loops to become a round ball shape. I almost always ended up with a random loop that would not go away! This frustrated me so much that on one occasion out in the back yard, I poured zippo fluid on my precious jute rope and set it alight. After my rage subsided, I was sad that my rope was gone and I had to explain to my somewhat grumpy father, why I needed a new length of rope. I made up a lie and told him that the ends were too frayed to use anymore. He bought my story, and off we trotted around the corner to Mitre 10 for new rope. I chose a white 3 ply acrylic. Once I got it home, I spliced both ends so they did not fray or unravel.
Getting back to where this fable began, my discovery of Japanese rope bondage. I was intrigued by the woman in the red rope so I searched for more and more images to ogle. I was fascinated by what people had managed to do with a few metres of rope. I got online bought my self a few 'how to' books on Amazon.com and went to Bunnings and bought 10 metres of rope. I dusted off my armless and headless mannequin, cracked open the book and jumped straight in. I flicked through the book and stopped at a page with a photo of a bottom (person being tied) wearing what looked like a bra made of rope. My mannequin has boobs so I thought that would be a great place to start! My eager hands palpated the rope as I read through the instructions. I folded the rope in half and began to string up the dummy. Before I knew it, I had created some simple breast bondage. I was as happy as a dog with two dicks! I took a quick photo and untied my creation. I was now hooked on a new drug. A drug called Shibari. Enter my new obsession!
