In addition to Osada Steve’s ‘Secrets of Floor-work’ series, I’m delighted to announce the latest of his tutorials: ‘Teppozuri (鉄砲吊り)’ aka Osada-ryu rifle carrier suspension.
The enigmatic teppo suspension aka teppozuri (鉄砲吊り) aka rifle suspension results in the shape of a soldier shouldering his rifle.When the first Portuguese arrived in Japan in the 16th century they would soon introduce firearms aka teppo / 鉄砲. It is those rifles slung over the shoulders of soldiers that first inspired the teppo shibari / 鉄砲縛り and later the teppozuri / 鉄砲吊り aka rifle suspension. This suspension has been made popular by the late shibari grandmaster Akechi Denki.The tie can be fairly complicated because you have to adapt the takatekote / 高手小手 aka bread-and-butter box tie to be built with one arm only – the other arm being bent upwards with the elbow above the head. Fortunately, the bondage can be broken down into easy-to-understand micro units, making it easy for beginners to understand.Most of the bondage will happen “on the body” so even riggers without immediate access to a suspension point will be able to benefit greatly. Once the rope on the body is complete it is only a matter of applying one main suspension line to the upper body and two more suspension lines to the legs to achieve a “running-man” position.
The Osada-ryu version of the teppo suspension introduces several new safety features.
