Hi Fuoco,

Thank you for your thoughtful response! I really appreciate you personally taking the time to help me navigate this.

Emotions

The pointers are incredibly helpful. I've love Icky and Lief's work! I had great fun recreating their floor performance – using their template as a "conversation" with my rope partner, then varying it to explore different emotional tones helped me shift focus.

Your language metaphor resonates strongly. Sometimes it feels like the Duolingo Owl taught me all the animals but skipped the day-to-day conversations!

Harnesses

The level filters help, but I'm still finding myself a bit overwhelmed. Searching for level 2 gives me 7 hip harness classes, 5 futomomos, and over 50 suspendable upper body ties. I'm sure the "core curriculum" of "foundational building blocks" is there (e.g. TK Lab) – it's simply not apparent.

In Breaking the Kata Ena and Roxu compare different ties for similar ends, although quite advanced it provides context a catalogue can't.

I feel your struggle and I see MoBights (Community Manager) has already provided you with extensive and accurate answers.

Let me add my perspective: If you're looking for a practical starting point to use as a "base" or "reference" tie, I'd recommend this TK: https://shibaristudy.com/programs/tk-lab?cid=1518611&permalink=tk-stemless It is relatively simple and follows exactly the steps Mo outlined, which makes it easy to understand how variations map onto the individual steps, yet it performs well in many circumstances.

Just be aware that mastering only one TK variant leaves significant gaps in your knowledge. Dunning and Kruger might say you're "standing on mount stupid."

You mention that after 45 minutes, the hands go numb. Is it safe to restrict the blood flow for so long?

Do you have a tutorial somewhere on this site on that kind of play and the safety issues associated with it?