How to Suspension

About the workshop:

Join us for a weekend intro to suspension workshop with Serafina and SubtleRebellion. Throughout this weekend, you will be learning a suspension worthy chest harness, hip harness, and thigh harness. By the end of the workshop you will have a solid understanding of how to manage uplines and perform a few basic suspensions, both full and partial.

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is aimed at people who are new to suspension, but are comfortably familiar with fundamentals of floor work. Additionally, your instructors believe wholeheartedly that bottoming education is equally as important and as such will be devoting sections of the workshop to learning about suspension from the bottom's perspective.

How much does it cost?

The cost is $350 per tying pair. If you are very interested in taking the class, but financially unable to pay the fee, please get in touch with Serafina or Nikki to see if help is available.

What skills are required?

In order to get the most out of the workshop, you should know how to proficiently and quickly tie the Somerville bowline, X and L frictions, munters, and half hitches. You should also be able to tie a basic chest harness, understand the concept of tension, and have rope handling skills in your toolbox. With your fundamentals and previous groundwork experience, you should find this weekend challenging but very doable. Please note: If you are not proficient in the above fundamentals, or have little to no tying experience, this class is not for you at this time. The class will not slow down to accomodate teaching prerequisites. Please come prepared.

Workshop Schedule

The class will happen over three days. This is to make sure we are not rushing material and allowing our bottoms to have breaks to revitalize and recover. Though subject to change based on the pace of the day, the schedule is:

Day 1 Friday, November 10th

6pm-9pm Meet/Intros, Chest Harness

On this night we will cover:

• Introductions (Teachers and Students)
• Teach arms-out chest harness
• Practice chest harness

Day 2 Saturday November 11th

9:00am-9:30am - Coffee and coffee and coffee

9:30am - Workshop starts

1pm-2pm - Lunch break (food will be delivered)

2pm-6pm - Workshop

On this day we will cover:

• Safety and risk in suspensions
• Physics of uplines
• Upline management and tie-off techniques
• Bottoming for rope suspensions
• Revisit/re-tie suspendable chest harness
• Learn thigh harness
• A partial suspension

Day 3 Sunday, November 12th

9:00am-9:30am - Coffee and coffee and coffee

9:30am - Workshop starts

1pm-2pm - Lunch break (food will be delivered)

2pm-6pm - Workshop

On this day we will cover:

• Learn Hip Harness
• Lifting techniques
• Multiple suspensions, both full and partial

Note: Lunch and class-end time may not be exact. Depending on the flow of the day, we may do lunch a touch earlier or later. The end of the day may experience the same flux depending on how quickly we go through the material. The start of class at 9:30a, however, IS and exact start time. Please do not be late.

Required class materials

In order to participate in this class you will need the following:

• A willing partner, preferably someone you have experience tying. Due to the inherent risks in suspension, we ask that you do all your negotiation ahead of time.
• 8-10 hanks of 7-8 meter rope suitable for suspension. This includes jute, hemp, MFP, and nylon.
• 4-5 large weight-rated climbing carabiners. If you are buying new equipment, be sure to check the UIAA Certified Equipment Database (https://www.theuiaa.org/safety/safety-standards/certified-equipment/) to ensure your equipment is safe.
• Rings are not recommended for this weekend, we will be teaching on carabiners. Rigging plates are welcome but not recommended.
• Trauma shears.
• One (but two is better) weight rated 36-48 inch climbing strap. Regardless of the rigger's height, sometimes we need to lower our hardpoint.

We will NOT have loaner rope or other equipment for the workshop. If you are unsure whether a part of your rope kit is suitable for suspension, feel free to reach out to @Serafina on Discord and FetLife or at SerafinaSilk@yahoo.com with any questions.

COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS

COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS (Masks Optional) The following precautions will be in place for this event:

• For this event, masks will be optional inside the building.
• Our capacity (guests, staff, and presenters included) will be capped at 24 people.

Upon entry, you must present your CDC vaccination card, electronic vaccine passport, or state-issued vaccination certificate that shows that you have received your original COVID-19 vaccinations as well as a booster along with your government-issued ID to check for a name match on the card/certificate/passport. You will not be admitted into the event if you do not present these documents. If your medical professional has advised you that you cannot get a booster at this time or you are ineligible for one because it has been less than 5 months since your last vaccination dose an exception will be granted.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Serafina 

Fina (She/Her) Switch, Rope Human, Positivity Enthusiast, NEMA Mentor. Serafina is an introductory level, safety-forward educator in Central Connecticut. She feels the best part of teaching is sharing the excitement of discovery and instilling confidence in those who may be shy or tentative. Her teaching style starts at a beginner level with heavy emphasis on safety and effective negotiation. Entering Fetlandia in August 2017, she wanted to learn everything she could about all the wonderful new activities she was seeing around her. That's when the "Education Frenzy" began, attending countless classes and intensives.  What inspires Serafina most is creative collaboration, visual shapes and colors, combining mediums and passions, and finding creative solutions around physical limitations.

SubtleRebellion

Nikki (She/her) is an all around Switch, Rope enthusiast, and NEMA mentor. Nikki has explored and discovered much about her kink, queer, and polyamorous self; and as a switch, she has had the pleasure of learning from both sides of the slash.  Her first dive into getting involved in communities started early in her exploration in 2018 and rope was her initial draw to the lifestyle. Nikki wants to share her passion for rope with others with education focused on the fundamentals and safety.  She is drawn to rope due to the extensive variety of experiences it can provide.  Both as a top and bottom she enjoys the creative shapes, challenges, and connections it brings, and wants to educate and encourage others to find what they love about it as well.