ShibariClasses are delighted to include Osada Steve as our most prestigeous teacher. Steve has undoubtedly been the biggest influence on not only my tying over the past 15 years but also on the western shibari scene as a whole. Having been in Japan for over three decades, he was the first to provide a conduit from Japan to the west through his teaching. This was possible because German is his native language and he is fluent in English. Through his teaching, the Akechi style 2 and 3-rope TK became the gold standard, his style soon became ubiquitous and he taught most of us our connective techniques. Some of us were fortunate enough to learn directly, the rest indirectly through official Osada-ryu instructors or other students. Now, you can learn from the master himself via ShibariClasses without all the time and money needed to attend real life classes.
Even now, Japanese nawashi have a limited grasp of other languages and very few of us gaijin speak Japanese. Consequently, we often miss much of the nuance of their teaching due to less than perfect interpretation. The devil is in the detail if you seek to do more than replicate patterns by rote. It is all about how you do it, not just what you do.; as Steve puts it “Shibari is 90% emotional, the other half is technical”. His tutorials are so much more that simple ‘monkey see, monkey do’ step by step tying guides as he explains exactly how and why he does what he does. As a result, you can extract the full depth and value from his lessons.
But you already have Osada tutorials
As you might know, we already have a selection of tutorials by Steve built as a co-operative venture when we formed our collaboration some months ago . These range from Yukimura influenced floor work (newaza), Osada-ryu grading series and suspension tutorials. If connective tying is your thing, I highly recommend the newaza series as they really are an eye-opener as this is an area in which he is highly skilled and Yukimura sensei is widely acknowledged for his caressing style of floor work. Even after a couple of decades of tying, I was blown away by what I learned. A lesson with a real master is always both an eye-opener and a great leveller. You don’t know what you don’t know…until you learn. It is only then that you appreciate the size of the gaps in your knowledge.
The Osada Steve Shibari Dojo
You might well ask “So, what’s new then?“. Well, what’s new is that we have added a whole new section of entitled ‘The Osada Steve Shibari Dojo’ which, so far, includes fifteen more of his tutorials. You can new follow the entire Osada-ryu grading program through all kyu (levels), many more suspensions and other tutorials. We promise that you will be amazed at how much you thought that you knew but didn’t. Upgrading your skills is an investment you won’t regret, especially when you see the effect on your partner. What are you waiting for?
