PARIS 3 DAYS MASTERCLASS - HOURAI KASUMI TEACHING NAKA RYU

 

To attend this Masterclass you need to know a good gote and be used to suspension. Dedicated to learn Naka ryu or having a deep interest on learning and practising this style are welcomed.

 

> Day 1 (11:00 - 18:00) :

 

A/

 Presentation and introduction : At first I will talk about my philosophy and my style and will share some thoughts about my own path into kinbaku I've experienced before and until I've crossed Akira Naka and embraced his style as his disciple and how my kinbaku has changed over 18 years of practise as a professional kinbakushi.

The students will also introduce themeselves.

 

B/

 I will do a first demontration. I would like the student to see my kinbaku.

I will not ask to the student to do exactly the same but to focus on their senses and feel the atmosphere in the moment. I would like them to understand things that cannot be explained with words.

 

C/ 

Muna nawa : exercice about the chest harness 

D/

 

E/ Safety measure for the additional and different type of ornaments on the chest harness

We will also analyse which decorations are suitable for each different types of suspensions

F/

Exercise about 2 types of suspensions

 

G/ Floorwork: I will show a demo of a shibari that Naka san does himself. The result will look like an ikebana.

 

G next / All the students will practise the same exercise.

 

H/ People in Paris always showed me creativity, so I am looking forward to see a lot of personal ideas inspired by the demo of the exercise G. Do it with your own flow and own style. It will help the students to be able to create their own beautiful shibari inspired by ikebana (the japanese art of flower arrangement).

 

 

> Day 2 (10:00 - 17:00) : 

 

Practise 1 : We will do an effiscient review of the previous day of the workshop > we will do again some exercises from C to H. It will take about two hours.

 

 

Norio Sugiura sensei regularly does dangerous things with Kinbaku.

I will explain the reasons of the danger, the beauty of the the ties and talk about the intentions behind it.

 

1/ The case of Naka san collaborating with Norio Sugiura sensei

2/ I will talk about my own collaboration with Naka san and also about all kind of struggles I had to face to overcome while I was working with them. (Kasumi laughing and serious at the same time )

 

 

I have plenty of elements I learned from Naka san  and Sugiura sensei for the past two years by working with them.

I will talk and explain about the concept of beauty in Japan and it's philosophy.

 

 

Exercices : Students will be asked to collaborate in a group of 4 people composed by 2 riggers and 2 models.

Each group will do  the exercise of reinventing Sugiura sensei's studio photoshooting type of environment.

Let's create all together Sugiura sensei's theater! I will show you the demo of the suspension we will use for the photo session.

 

For this special day I will have 2 models so I will be able to show you twice.

 

I will show 2 different type of suspension as a demo. I will always ask the students to collaborate again with each others.

 

It will be amazing if we could have also some lights and the kind collaboration of photographers. 

Please bring your own camera and work on the settings too.

 

At the end of the day : I will reply to all your questions

 

 

> Day 3 (11:00 - 18:00) :
 

Reinforcement of the knowledge shared the last 2 days : we will work again on parts of the things that the students struggled on.

 

 

We will also see the opposite of 'seme' at the same time in order to adapt ourselves to the feelings of the models, for those who feel that it could be "too heavy, feeling  the sensation of needles too quickly or being sensitive with nerves, not being very flexible, the body hurts or exhaustion"

I will show how to play in these case. We will always do it by maintaining the spirit of Naka style.  We will practise together a lot of things that can help for safety.

 

Demo 2/ Hashira shibari : Experiencing the world of female japanese ancient time prisoners by using a bamboo as a pillar and suspending on it. It is also very specifically considered being Naka ryu.

 

At the end of the last day we will talk about everybody's potential and what they would like to achieve in the near future in their kinbaku so we can think about a lot of possibilities of improvement and will reply to everybody's questions. Personal advices will be included for every couples.

 

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Kasumi Hourai biography :

 

Born in 1980, Hourai Kasumi is a highly respected Japanese Kinbakushi from Nagoya, Japan.

 

Initially self taught,  at 19 years old Kasumi decided to go to Tokyo in order to study under Akechi Denki in 1999. Since then she has has learnt from a variety of highly respected sources. Kasumi spent time training with Hajime Kinoko as a member of 'Ichinawakai' where she learnt a lot about the discipline itself, with a particular focus on modern Kinbaku. Then in 'Salon Kitagawa' she received instruction from Kitagawa on carabiner-less techniques and many different locks and knots as part of a logical, beautiful and efficient system.

 

Having had the opportunity to have an exchange with Akira Naka, Kasumi then developed a strong fascination with his work and in 2015 dedicated herself to study Naka Ryu with a passion.

 

From the beauty of Akira Naka's rope work and his attention to detail, Kasumi sensed what she felt was the soul of a traditional japanese 'craftsman' - the ability to give complete attention to detail focusing not only on aesthetics but on intention as well. This caused her fascination with him to grow even more.

 

From these experiences, Kasumi developed a strong desire to create a personal archive in order to keep a record of her own experiences as a rope bottom (bottoming for Akira Naka for DVD, performances and photoshoots in collaboration with Norio Sugiura).

 

Since then Kasumi has spent more and more time learning from Akira Naka and then started being called on by Norio Sugiura to help in his studio as a rigger. This inspired her further towards the more classical and traditional form of Kinbaku.

 

At the end of 2016, Kasumi was officially recognised by Akira Naka as his second disciple. Kasumi followed Riccardo Wildties to become one of only two people in the world to become officially certified to teach Naka Ryu.

 

Moving into the future, Kasumi’s focus is to not only teach the form of Naka style but to also transmit its soul: the warmth, the humanism, and the love that we can feel through his 'seme' (his threats) in his rope.

 

Kasumi also incorporates her own style of rope. A fusion of Kinbaku with more traditional Japanese personal tastes. Established in her own passion for traditional Japanese culture and her own understanding and sensitivity to it. Kasumi endeavours to teach this, not only with words but in real life with demonstrations.

 

Currently, Kasumi is using all of her experiences as a rigger, working for photo studios on collaborations with the goal of expanding the sense and beauty with three-dimensional photography. She also travels the world to share her passion for Kinbaku.

 

(translation : Aizen Kaguya / Copy editing : Precipice Malum)