Description:
Bondage Soup: Pressure Cooker is a new, accelerated, and immersive rope program
created by the Bondage Soup community. BoSo: Pressure Cooker is intended for tying
pairs with rope experience seeking to take their rope to the next level. Like its
predecessor, BoSo: Pressure Cooker will be free to attendees for instruction. The only
cost will be travel and food related.
The program is a series of three weekend intensives spaced over five months with a
progressive curriculum as part of a small cohort. Based on the twelve-month Bondage
Soup program, this accelerated series is meant to refine existing skills, develop deep
rope connections, and create community. The curriculum is based on the Bondage
Soup intensives; those accepted into the program will learn the same vocabulary,
patterns, and suspension sequences as in the 12-month program in addition to more
advanced work at a faster pace.
Mission:
BoSo: Pressure Cooker’s mission is to support the continued education of rope practice
through the refinement of technical skill, interpersonal attunement, and embodied
practice. Building on established fundamentals, this program explores precision,
intentionality, and the interplay between structure and creativity. Our community is built
on mutual respect, accountability, and shared responsibility to create space for
challenge, growth, and meaningful connection.
Pre-requisites:
The program is intended for those who are through the early stages of their rope
journey and are ready to take the next steps. Tops will need to be able to tie a solid
single-column, know a suspension worthy chest and hip harness, and are either already
suspending, or ready to do so. Bottoms should have an understanding of how their
body reacts in rope, be able to articulate when a tie isn’t working, and capable of
communicating clearly. The objective is to help take those skills to the next level, with
the instructors guiding and improving existing competencies, while sharing attendee
experiences with one another. Expectations for practice and commitment are high, as
the condensed nature of the program will be intense.
Location & Instructors:
BoSo: Pressure Cooker will be held at Ram’s Head in McMinnville, OR. Ram’s Head is
a leather house and event space located on 20 acres with a large amount of space. It
includes a dedicated rope room that will provide not just the opportunity for instruction
but for socializing and labbing rope. Space will be available for attendees to camp or
stay overnight in the main house. We’ll share communal meals over the weekend of
each intensive.
HedonisticUrge, Stabbie, & Trauma will be the lead instructors for BoSo: Pressure
Cooker. HedonisticUrge is a 2018 BoSo Graduate, Stabbie is a double graduate (top
and bottom), and Trauma graduated in 2024. Collectively we have thousands of hours
of rope instruction, practice, and play. We are a Leather family with a particular interest
in rope and education. Additionally, BoSo graduates and instructors from the main
program will be providing their perspectives and facilitating learning.
Application & Selection:
The application and selection process for BoSo: Pressure Cooker will be different from
the main BoSo program. We will begin accepting applications on March1 thru March
30th. Like BoSo, when applications open we will cap the number of applications
accepted at 20 tying pairs. Tying pairs of a top and bottom will be able to apply for the
program online. The instructor team will then review those applications and select ten
tying pairs to be invited to Ram’s Head on April 18th for the final selection process.
Final selection: We’ll have an afternoon of in person interviews, demonstration of
existing rope competency, and socializing with other candidates, BoSo graduates, and
instructors. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate a single column and a futo, be
able to articulate their interest in rope and the BoSo community, and to interact with
others in a group setting. Final selection will be based on the instructor’s evaluation of
fit based on those interactions. Candidates may also opt out at this point. Five tying
pairs will be selected for BoSo: Pressure Cooker.
Structure & Process:
Each intensive will be for a weekend, divided between Saturday and Sunday sessions.
Saturday’s immersive intensive will start at 11AM and run until 7PM or 8PM. There will
be two or three short breaks, a break for lunch, and for dinner, and ample time for untie-
retie. Attendees will be invited to stay at Ram’s Head overnight but are welcome to
procure lodgings in McMinnville or return home.
Sunday will start at 10AM after a communal breakfast. We’ll have a lunch break and
wrap up no later than 6PM so attendees can return to normal life. There will be time
and space for individual practice of curriculum, both guided and unguided.
Intensives will be scheduled for June, August, and October. With afternoons for
practice and development in July, September, and November. Attendees who complete
the program will perform with attendees of the main Bondage Soup cohort in December
at a graduation ceremony.
This structure is an experiment. It could go gloriously wrong, or disastrously right.
Success will be determined by participation of the attendees. Proficiencies will be
incorporated into the weekend intensives, with a proficiency on Sunday based on the
learning from Saturday AND a proficiency in intensives 2 & 3 based on all of the
previous curriculum. Disciplined practice between intensives is crucial. Due to the
schedule, no allowance for missing sessions will be made. All attendees will be
expected to attend the full weekend intensive, the November practice, and December
final performance to complete the program. No partner changes will be allowed.
Attendees will be expected to have a full rope kit capable of suspension and associated
rigging hardware needed (rings, straps, carabiners, etc). We will provide a meal each
weekend (usually Saturday dinner) but would ask attendees to pitch in for take-out or
ingredients for the other three meals (Sat lunch, Sunday breakfast, Sunday lunch). The
group will work out details as a group.
Intensive One:
June 6 th and 7 th
Intensive 1 - Day 1: Theory, Singe Columns, Negotiation, Rope Handling
Intensive 1 - Day 2: Lower Body Harnesses, Uplines, Tie-Ins & Lock-offs.
Intensive Two:
August 8 th and 9 th
Intensive 2 – Day 1: Proficiency, Gotes
Intensive 2 – Day 2: Non-Gote Chest Harnesses
Intensive Three:
October 10 th – 11 th
Intensive 3 – Day 1: Proficiency, Rope Physics Class, Partials
Intensive 3 – Day 2: Three Suspensions.