Tying and Flying: Bondage for self-suspension

by Shay Tiziano, Stefanos Tiziano (Photographer)

Self-suspension can be used for dynamic movement, exploring intense sensation, performance, learning partnered bondage, ritual, and more. This first-ever guide to self-suspension takes a thorough and nondogmatic approach, including everything from meticulous safety information to practical step-by-step rope bondage instruction. Beautiful color photography with a diverse range of self-suspenders is featured throughout. Whether you’re brand new to rope or you already have years of practice, this reflective and nuanced approach has something for you! Preparing your body to both tie and be tied, building a rope kit, communicating with a spotter, creating a self-suspension community, assessing risk, and much more are all discussed. There are hundreds of instructional photos and detailed explanations of ties, including multiple variations on chest and hip harnesses as well as leg ladder, mermaid, bent leg ties and much more. After how to build a solid foundation is explained, in-air skills including upline theory and practical management plus a wide variety of specific self-suspension rigs are covered.Author Shay Tiziano is a renowned self-suspender based in San Francisco, with more than a decade of experience educating and performing around the world. This book combines her movement-focused, fun, and attainable approach with quotes and perspectives from many other self-suspenders.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sexuality, Reference

271 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2019

Reviews

[Amber Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a self suspender, read this book!

What a fantastic book. As someone who has long had an interest in self-tying but lacked the motivation and courage, this book has gone a long way toward changing that! Great material, fantastic pictures, and that last collage in the back might just be my favorite. I look forward to your next pursuits!

[Samantha Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flew through this

This book gave me so much information, on preparation before flight, to looking at risks, nerve damage, first aid and so much more!
Definitely a must read for anyone starting their journey. A***

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really beautiful photos and detailed information that's easy to digest. I really appreciate the accurate medical information and encouragement to determine your own risk profile and play safely.

[Pand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down the best bondage instruction book I've read (and I've read several). The quality, quantity, and detail here is far beyond anything else. This is a fantastic (dare I say essential?) read if you’re interested in suspension.

This book contains a lot of good information. There's quite a few things this book covers which I learned through much harder methods (research, experimentation, minor mistakes, etc.). If I had been able to start with this book it would have been so much easier! This book is also correct in several areas where other instructors and instructional material are wrong or use less safe or less efficient methods. I feel so validated. You tell them!

Tying and flying also contains best in class technical illustrations. Every technical step has both a picture and a description. Learning a tie wrong and then having to unlearn the wrong way is a frustrating experience that can be avoided by the more detailed style and presentation used by this book.

Tying and flying goes a bit light on covering the physics of suspension. That’s maybe the one area where [not so] Complete Shibari Volume 2: Sky by Douglas Kent provides more. Don’t get me wrong Shay covers all the essentials but it’s very much just the what-you-need-to-know not the theory of why. I sort of get it. The community has had pockets of disagreeability around gear choices that bleed over into this area.

This book has beautiful art/photos. I’m not a big fan of two column page layouts but this is by far the best-looking bondage instruction manual in my library (key phrase in-my-library and also in my subjective opinion; I could see some people being partial to for example bondage for sex by Chanta Rose and I'm sure there's other art books out there that are good).

This book contains short diverse stories on the experiences and perspectives of others and it’s great. It’s something I didn’t even realize I wanted in a shibari book. It adds so much.

This isn’t strictly related to the book but seeing Shay perform in person was exhilarating. When it comes to skill with performance bondage Shay is the real deal. Getting this level of detailed instruction from a world class instructor and performer is a treat.

This book contains a lot of book. A common experience I’ve had with bondage instruction books is getting to the end and going: is that it? Anyway, I won’t oversell it, I think I’ll always feel like it’s not enough but this book is substantial.

For now, this is the only suspension book I’d wholeheartedly and unreservedly recommend although I suspect there will be a second when I get my hands on this book’s sequel. Yes did I mention this book has a sequel: Soaring & Exploring!

[Mia Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful. I think I'll be coming back to this for years but I'm marking it as done now so it doesn't hang around on my goodreads forever.

[Seeking · Rating 5 out of 5]

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