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WykD Dave Interview

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WykD Dave Interview

I don’t do rope, I do people… But I do them with rope.


Lover of the beauty of Japanese rope bondage and the physical, psychological and emotional effect it can produce.

Shibari/Kinbaku rope bondage performer, educator and enthusiast. I tie for pictures, film and performance as well as for my personal pleasure and that of my partners.

Into kink and bondage for over 20 years I have seen my obsession with Japanese rope bondage deepen enormously over time. I have had the great fortune to learn from some truly great masters in the world of Japanese bondage and am privileged to call some of them friends.

I love rope bondage and am passionate about continuing to learn and improve.

Rope can get you connected in a way that I’ve never encountered in any other way. Seeing people ‘get it’ is a huge kick.

Rope is not about rope.

RopeTopia is a site that was originally meant to be more of a collective venture that has pretty much ended up as just me.

I wanted to put on useful and interesting stuff and to provide good bondage equipment as well as tutorials and galleries and even some of my thoughts on bondage. A paradise for rope enthusiasts along with ropebondageforum.com

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The Interview

SM: How did you get the name WykD Dave?
WD: Because my name’s Dave and because, I’m reliably informed, I’m a bit wicked. Not evil or horrible (except in certain specialised circumstances) just a bit wicked.

SM: When did you meet clover?
WD: Three years ago we were introduced at a munch.

SM: Dave, You have been into bondage and kink for over 19 years, how did that all begin for you? Can you tell us the whole story?

WD: It all started around Halloween people talking about getting dressed up. I was in a pub talking to some friends at one table, some girls were talking at another. One of them caught my eye, we got talking and eventually we both went in uniforms and then… well the night developed. After a while we talked about what fun it had been and how it didn’t really need to be Halloween to play did it?
It was great fun and over time we gradually inched our play in the direction that we were originally afraid to admit to each other. Roll play always made me laugh (still does) and eventually we just did what we liked. Things crept more to d/s over time.


So many things we made up. Took ideas from movies, raided the kitchen for things to play with.
I think it was lucky that it happened before Internet access and so developed naturally between people without being subjected to anyone else’s opinions or ideas of how things should be done. I think that’s been good for me throughout my kink life.

SM: When you are tying a person what are some of the things that you think about?
WD: It depends, if it’s for a picture I think very much of the feel that the image needs. With a class of showing things clearly. With an intimate scene… when things are going their best I’m not really thinking of anything it’s just what happens in the moment I get totally lost in it.

SM: Why does Bondage become so emotional for you?
WD: For so many reasons. Because it’s such a personal and intimate thing to do. Because of the trust and surrender needed. Because of the personal commitment needed to really tie well. When everything really comes together all the work, study, practice, everything. It really works in a way that no other thing I’ve ever experienced does.

SM: Why does bondage matter?
WD: Because art, emotion, freedom, beauty, and love matter and all those things are in good bondage.

SM: What is a Japanese aesthetic? Is it easy to recognize?
WD: I think that most people can recognise the Japanese aesthetic or parts of it. It’s one of the things that people seem to demand to be explained to them in a quick and easy way. Unfortunately I can’t do that in a couple of paragraphs; I don’t think you can with anything as big and diverse as a cultural aesthetic. Many scholars far more knowledgeable than me and with a lifetime of study have failed.

To explain a very little as simply as I can the most important single thought for me is the beauty of nature brought into focus and framed by the artist. The most important concept that of wabi-sabi. But I’m always learning in this. In a few years I might give a different answer.



SM: What should it feel like when a person is tied in some form of Bondage like a suspension?
WD: That depends entirely on the person, the day, the tie, the scene, the feeling and the intention. Anything from very relaxing to stunningly painful.

SM: Can you tell us who inspires you and why?
WD: Osada Steve. After all his experience after all that he’s achieved he still takes lessons with the greatest exponents, he still pushes to expand his knowledge, he is still learning. I hope to follow that example and always be learning for as long as I’m able to continue tying.

I often look back through his published work and it inspires me again.

He’s a remarkable man and has been very generous with his time and expertise, I am very proud and grateful to consider him a friend.

SM: What is  66 Shibari?
WD: 66 Shibari came about as a joke due to a silly person arguing on-line. They claimed amongst other crazy things that it was ‘ridiculous’ to think that you could do a complete tie with 6 feet of rope(1.8 meters).

So at the end of a shoot I took a piece of rope exactly 6 feet long and made 6 ties with it (doubled in the usual style making it really only 3 feet of working length) and published the images to show what can be done.

66 Shibari = 6 ties with 6 feet of rope.

It was an interesting exercise but now the name continues as a reminder that more is possible for the open minded than for the closed. Even the ‘limitation’ of only 6 feet of rope can be overcome by when approached with an open mind.

SM: Three people  you would like to see interviewed?
WD: Osada Steve, Lotuslily and Clover

SM: What is the definition of Shibari and Kinbaku? How are they different?
WD: It’s important to remember that just as in the rest of the world the Japanese have differing opinions on what is what and which is the best term to use for what not only Shibari or Kinbaku but Nawashi, Bakushi, Newaza, Yukawaza etc.

These are not contradictions, they are preferences of expression.

For myself if I have to separate them I’d say that Shibari is the tying, Kinbaku is tying plus emotional connection.



SM: You said you consequently want to use the best rope you can; What is the best rope so-far in your opinion and is there room for improvement?
WD: Marrow at Bindme.nl produces the very best rope I’ve used. I used to think his rope was great but then he got better. I love his passion for his rope and that he always strives to improve on an already excellent product.

SM: What’s a rigger finger?
WD: Ah. It’s any finger you use for quickly grabbing and pulling a rope (rather than grabbing it between fingers). A finger used as a hook!

SM: What is your ultimate Bondage fantasy?
WD: To be really good at it one day

SM: How do you handle someone critiquing your work or anyone else’s for that matter?
WD: It depends on who the person critiquing it is. It also depends if they’re critiquing it from a technical or artistic perspective. Generally I can bear most criticism with equanimity. If artistically
someone doesn’t like my work then I must just shrug. Everyone has different tastes. What I liked a few years ago is different to what I like now. They may come to like my work, they may never like it.

Technical critiques are another thing. There are only a few people who’s judgement I value on such things. So mostly I would either explain the wherefore if something is misunderstood or not worry.



SM: Can you explain the relationship between music and bondage?
WD: If you can explain music or bondage to me? I really can’t. Sometimes I’ve played and people have remarked on how I moved the mood of the scene with the music. I’ve had to admit that I wasn’t really conscious of the music and was just working in the mood of the moment. Obviously the music was part of the moment but I wasn’t consciously working with it.

Shows are another matter though as you use music with a show in order to provide a mood for the audience. Hopefully to bring them into the same mood space.

SM: You are practicing Japanese bondage. Do you think that the average person looking at your work understands your feeling and perception of Japanese bondage?
WD: Probably not. But then nobody fully understands the feelings and perceptions of another. This for my partner and myself is a bit of a dichotomy as we have on one hand an intensely personal experience but then in a show that can be played out in front of hundreds of people.

That doesn’t make it less personal for us or less emotional. It’s a different experience. How someone viewing that performance understood our feelings isn’t something I can answer. Or the feelings that might be provoked by our images.

SM: What can someone learn from you?
WD: Oh that’s a tough question. Bondage technique certainly. I can pass on my thoughts on bondage but if they will fit with that person is another question.

SM: Do you consider yourself a good teacher?
WD: I will leave the answering of that to the people I have taught.

SM: Do you think there will ever be a day when you stop learning?
WD: Yes, and on that day you can put me to bed with a shovel!

SM: Where will you be in performing in the upcoming future?
WD: We have no shows booked till next year as we’re booked up for teaching and photoshoots till the end of January 2012 The following are as planned but will not have confirmed dates until the new year.

2012 – Baltimore, New York, DC, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, London, Rome

Firm bookings will be posted on RopeTopia.com when the information becomes available.

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