Two-Day Bondage Intensive
Details on how to register are in the "Registration and Fees" section, below.
10/25/11 - 
One More Seat!
An enrollee has had to cancel at the last-minute, making a single seat available.
If you thought you'd missed your chance to attend the October Bondage Intensive, here's another opportunity.
10/11/11 - Sold Out!
Three weeks ago the Bondage Intensive sold out. The limiting factor was hard points, and I promised I'd add seats if I was able to install more hard points.
Last Thursday we installed 6 new hard points at the CSPC and I opened up four new seats. I announced the new seats via my private mailing list first, and via FetLife a day later. Those seats sold in two days, and I've closed registration for the October Bondage Intensive.
If you missed your chance to register, watch my mailing list for the next Two Day Bondage Intensive, probably in the spring.
Two Day Bondage Intensive
Join Max for a special two-day Bondage Intensive on the weekend of October 29th - 30th.
This event provides 13 hours of focused bondage instruction, from the basics through suspension bondage.
Most of the Intensive is hands-on, so you'll have plenty of time to apply what you learn in a safe, friendly environment. The limited class size and the presence of several skilled co-instructors ensure plenty of one-on-one instruction and foster an intimate, cooperative environment. As with all of Max's workshops, the emphasis is on learning, having fun and building confidence.
The workshop will be held at the Center for Sex Positive Culture in Seattle Washington. A catered, hot lunch and an afternoon snack will be included each day, along with an extensive 70-page handout and a formal Certificate of Completion.
If you have a practice partner, register them too. If you don't, that's OK - we'll form small groups and everyone will get a chance to practice.
The fee for all this is only $285 per person if you register by the "Early Bird" deadline of September 15th, 2011. Couples registering together pay only $255 per person - a 10% discount.
Class size is limited, so early registration is strongly encouraged. Details on how to register are in the "Registration and Fees" section, below.
Here are some comments from graduates of prior Bondage Intensives.
Note: Max does not teach stand-alone suspension workshops. If you want to learn suspension bondage, this is your best opportunity.
Agenda
Saturday October 29th, 2011
9:15 - 10:00 Doors open / check-in.
- Coffee and juice
- Carabiner sales
10:00 - 1:00 Fundamentals of Rope Bondage
- Motivation
- Principles and technique
- Safety considerations
- About rope
- Basic knots and positions
1:00 - 1:45 Catered lunch
1:45 - 3:00 Intermediate Rope Bondage
- Bondage positions
- Intermediate knots
3:00 - 3:15 Break - pop, water, cookies and fruit
3:15 - 5:30 Advanced techniques
- Ad hoc bondage
- Extreme bondage
- Bondage for sex
- Hair bondage
- Head and face bondage
- Equipment considerations
5:30 - 6:00 Questions & Answers / Wrap-up
Sunday October 30th, 2011
9:45 - 10:00 Doors open / check-in
10:00 - 10:15 Saturday's material - practice drill
10:15 - 1:00 Partial Suspension Bondage
- Physics and physiology
- Rigging techniques
- Partial suspension positions
1:00 - 1:45 Catered lunch
1:45 - 3:00 Suspension Bondage
- Full suspension technique and positions
3:00 - 3:15 Break - pop, water, cookies and fruit
3:15 - 5:30 Suspension Bondage
- Full suspension practice
What You'll Get With Your Registration
- 13 1/2 hours of instruction in a small-group environment
- Plenty of time to practice and work with the instructor
- Hot catered lunch and an afternoon snack each day
- A 70-page illustrated handout to help you remember the material and to assist with your at-home practice
- Extensive resource list with book, video and online references
- Specific recommendations for rope and equipment
- A Certificate of Completion
Click HERE to register. Registration opens on August 7th, 2011.
Early Bird Registration - Through September 15th, 2011
Register by Thursday September 15th and save $15 / person!
Fees are $285 per person, and couples registering together pay only $255 per person - an additional 10% discount.
Standard Registration - September 16th - October 27th, 2011
Standard registration fees are $300 per person. Couples registering together pay only $270 per person - a 10% discount.
Class size is limited, so early registration is strongly encouraged.
Click HERE to register. Registration opens on August 7th, 2011.
What to Bring
Required rope and equipment
You'll need the following equipment for the workshop. Please note that if you are registering as a couple or have pre-arranged practice partner(s) for the Intensive you'll only need one kit per group.
- (1) 15 foot piece of 4mm or 3/16" line
- (1) 40 - 60 foot piece of 6mm or 1/4" line NOTE - This piece is optional, as Max will have pieces available for you to borrow.
- (1) 30 foot length of 6mm or 1/4" line
- (6) 30 foot pieces of 8mm, 3/8" or 5/16" line
- (4) 10 foot pieces of 8mm, 3/8" or 5/16" line
- (2) "D" carabiners (like REI item 682630)
- (2) triangular carabiners - like REI item 737863 (preferred) or 736529 or 737864
- (1) suspension ring (like this one from TwistedMonk.com)
Suggested (but not required) rope and equipment
- (1) pair of EMT shears or similar tool for emergency releases (like these from TwistedMonk.com)
- (1) 10' length of military spec webbing (like REI item 472006)
Rope and equipment notes
- The long 6mm / 1/4" line will be used for a body harness (karada) and does not need to be strong. Any nice-feeling 1/4" nylon line from a hardware store will do. 6 mm hemp is fine too. NOTE - This piece is optional, as Max will have pieces available for you to borrow.
- The 30 foot 6mm / 1/4" line will be used for some basic Hojojutsu work and does not need to be strong. Hemp is traditional and works well because it is grippy.
- The 15 foot 4mm / 3/16" line will be used for head and hair bondage.
- All other rope and equipment will be used for the suspension portions of the workshop, so strength is important. Please bring 8 mm hemp in excellent condition or synthetic line with a breaking strength of at least 1,000 pounds. If you buy synthetic, be sure that it is "grippy" enough to hold knots well and not too stiff.
- If you choose to buy rope or hardware from www.TwistedMonk.com, be sure to contact them ahead of time so they can have your rope shipped in time for the Bondage Intensive.
- Monk is offering a discount to Bondage Intensive attendees - go to www.TwistedMonk.com/max.htm and order "Max's 2 Day Bondage Intensive Kit". This kit includes everything you'll need for the Bondage Intensive except for the carabiners and the 40-60' piece of 1/4" line.
- Max will be selling carabiners Saturday before the workshop. If you would like to buy carabiners, please contact Max by Friday October 21st.
Please note that you will not be allowed to participate in the suspension / partial suspension practice sessions without appropriate equipment.
Clothing
- Wear comfortable clothing.
- The temperature may vary throughout the day, so layered clothing is suggested.
Other items
- A small blanket for padding when we're doing floor work.
Comments from Prior Bondage Intensive Graduates
These comments were taken verbatim from the evaluation forms collected from prior Bondage Intensives.
From the April 2011 Bondage Intensive in Seattle Washington
Thank you for the opportunity to learn and experience this!
Great workshop, all my expectations were met. I hope there’s a second level!
You are all incredible, loving, caring and intelligent presenters of a beautiful art form! Thank you!
Thank you! This was an awesome experience.
From the November 2009 Bondage Intensive in Seattle Washington
Fantastic presentation, great attitude, perfect environment to learn. Would happily recommend to anyone looking to get into suspension.
Thanks for everything. You are a wonderful instructor and you have fabulous assistants!
Max’s sense of humor is priceless and made the workshop even more amazing. Plus it helped me pay attention – that’s a big accomplishment! Lorelei and Griffin are extremely helpful, warm, and friendly, too. Workshops are a lot better when nice people give them!
I liked the way Max balanced bondage positions (knots etc), principles, safety, humor, and lecture.
From the April 2009 Bondage Intensive in Seattle Washington
The best workshop that I’ve ever taken, more effective than dozens of other individual workshops.
This was such a great workshop, thank you so much! You convinced my husband he wants to tie me up. The workshop book is very helpful.
I really appreciate your additional comments on dealing with bottoms that are heavier than their top’s strength. Thank you!
This was great! I feel much more ready to play with rope now.
I had a GREAT time, learned more than I expected, and would recommend Max to anyone interested in bondage. I’m impressed with how ACCESSIBLE he made all the information.
Phenomenal. Really learned a lot and enjoyed every minute of it.
Max, Lorelei, and Griffin made all the information so accessible. They were so helpful and friendly - I felt totally at ease.
From the October 2008 Bondage Intensive in Portland Oregon
Awesome, best overall rope workshop. The intensive format drives home each skill.
Thank you for a fantastic weekend. My confidence and knowledge have improved drastically and I have a greater understanding of risk.
Responsive answers to questions was good. VERY MUCH appreciated the full 1:1 detail in personally checking and tutoring knots during practice sessions, not glossing over what each student has done. It made everything click.
Love Max’s sense of humor and watching Max and Lorelei flirt with each other. Cute. Very nice to get such great hands-on personal attention and instruction from several people. Wonderful space for workshop! Come back and teach more, thank you!
Max is the kind of teacher you don’t even notice how much you are learning from until all the pieces come together. Thanks to Max and his incredible co-teachers Griffin and Lorelei. They were always right there when I had a question.
From the March 2008 Bondage Intensive in San Jose California
Great Workshop! I’ve wanted to do this for a while.
Great workshop. Totally built my confidence with knots and bondage in general (i.e. how bottom feels, how to make bottom more comfortable).
It was just plain old perfect. You’re a great teacher, info was right on, good attitude... I know I’m supposed to give more constructive criticism - sorry!
I had an excellent time. You did very well at keeping the class fun while still providing lots of information.
And here's an online review: http://whipartist.livejournal.com/480736.html
From the October 2007 Bondage Intensive in Seattle Washington
Wonderful workshop - even better than I hoped.
That was amazing! Thank you!
Thank you! Max, your teaching style is wonderful. The demonstrations were clear and you were very thoughtful about how to answer without saying “you need to do it this way”. It allows for creativity.
This was my first real “formal” bondage experience from a topping perspective, and I already feel confident. Thanks!
Max, you are a great teacher. I really liked how you emphasized what would be challenging for the bottom and why. I also liked how you gave tips on building a scene. In the past I’ve gotten someone in a basic tie and thought “Now what?” After your class I feel much more creative and I have more building blocks to use when putting a scene together.
I think you’ve helped me tap a side of myself I’d only contemplated before. Thank you.
I was so nervous and excited coming in on Saturday, and you and Tess and Laura were so warm and welcoming. You teach without making people feel stupid, and the balance of information, humor, and warnings was perfect. Thanks so much for doing this class, and we’ll look forward to seeing you in the future.
From the February 2007 Bondage Intensive in Seattle Washington
Every one of your workshops has been a blast, Max – I always learn something new, both technically and mentally. Thank you for sharing your expertise and joy and love with the community!
This is the best weekend I’ve had in a very long time.
This was my second time through, and the class seemed to flow better and move forward more smoothly than I remembered. Nice work. Also - I don’t give ratings this high unless I mean it (straight 5s). I’m not just being nice.
Both the demonstrations and hands-on practice sessions were highlights for me – being able to see and then work on many of the knots and techniques.
Well-managed practice with assistant instructors – a pretty good ratio.
From the April 2006 Bondage Intensive in Seattle Washington
I am amazed by the amount of information you were able to convey so thoroughly in a relatively short time. I've learned so much.
It was awesome! You are a great teacher.
Thank-you for being who you are in this community - you provide a space where everything is OK for those of us who are new - better than OK, really. Thank-you.
I've already mentioned how good you are on the stump. You worked well with both the class as a whole and individual participants. Pacing was great. Your 'show-them', guide-them', 'let-them' approach to lecture/practice was spot on, as was your enthusiasm for bondage and teaching. Trust me when I say that you offer the best course I've seen in a very long time.
From the April 2005 Bondage Intensive in Seattle Washington
Fantastic!! This was my first hands-on experience and it's definitely a lot to process.
Thank you for all the patience and help. Also for letting us know that lots of mistakes happen. I didn’t feel inadequate hearing about that.
