Willcat.
William Desjardins · she/her they/them
Building frameworks for understanding body, rope, movement, and practice.
Three shapes. Three principles.
The square holds.
The triangle chooses.
The circle returns.
Why
these shapes?
These symbols □△○ hang above the Kamiza at Tension MTL.
Kamiza (上座) — a place of honour in a dojo. In our studio, our classroom IS a dojo,
and it is not decoration. It is a reminder that our actions in rope should be practiced
and eventually understood; every tie, every decision, every transition is navigated
through these three intersecting forces.
Maru Sankaku Shikaku: Circle, Triangle, Square. An ancient teaching from Zen and Japanese martial arts, brought into a contemporary practice. Not as philosophy for its own sake but as a working tool for understanding body, rope, movement, and relationship.
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The Square
Structure · Practice
Form · Container · Safety The square holds. It is the container: the form, the frame, the kata repeated until reliable. Without the square, there is nothing to push against and nowhere to return. "The square is not a cage. It is the container that makes freedom possible."
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The Triangle
Tension · Intention
Direction · Choice · Consequence The triangle is the moment of decision, where forces meet and something must give. Every transition is a triangle. You choose a direction, apply tension, and there are consequences. "Every tie is a choice. The triangle holds or it doesn't. It should not be forced but felt."
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The Circle
Flow · Continuity
Return · Community · The Dō The circle has no beginning and no end. In rope it is the return: to fundamentals, to humility, to practice. Every teacher was once a beginner. The community is circular. "The path is not something you complete. It is something you continue."
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Philosophy.
Or Practice?
As you reach the higher levels of the art it is not at all about the rope itself but the story you want to tell with it. If you are spending all your time thinking about the rope you are not taking the time to connect with your partner.
These shapes are not ideas to contemplate but integrate. They are tools to use; Structure (□) tells you what the form requires. Tension (△) tells you what the moment demands. Flow (○) tells you how to adapt when reality differs from the plan.
These are not sequential stages. They are simultaneous forces. At any moment in practice, all three are active. The question is: which one needs your attention, the most, right now?
All of this should be approached in a methodical way, so that eventually you are not thinking about the manipulations of rope, frictions, or bodies, but instead about intention and emotional transmission. In teaching, this framework organizes how concepts are introduced. In practice, it organizes how decisions are made. In community, it organizes how accountability and safety are held.
"The rope will tie you as much as you tie it; Mastery is not the goal. Walking the path is."
Willcat / Tension MTL
Practitioner.
Educator.
Still learning.
William Desjardins (she/her, they/them). Fell into rope in 2014 through a Mistress, head first into kink. Started tying in 2015 and never stopped. Founder of Tension MTL, a rope studio built slowly and stubbornly in Montréal. Over 10,000 hours in. Teaching, tying, performing, making mistakes, learning from them.
Former technical training director. That background translated directly: breaking complex things into their smallest learnable components is the same skill, different material. The teaching philosophy has always been about planting seeds and watching students grow. The tree at Tension continues to flourish, adding with each new student a branch and a path that broadens every day.
Teaching approach shaped by component-based martial arts pedagogy. Kenjutsu practiced seriously. Aikido explored more through reading than formal training. Not authorized in any Japanese rope tradition. Everything drawn from many sources, shaped by a decade of deliberate practice and the humility to keep questioning it.
Behind the rigging, behind the classes, behind the policies and the leader label, there is just a person doing their best not to fuck it up. Rope is edge play. Not a caveat. The foundation. The Fundamentals are not a phase to get through. They are the whole practice, revisited at every level.
I was told once during a workshop I was giving: "Your movements are so precise, it looks like you are voguing when you tie." I attribute it to precise movements influenced partly by my experience in Kenjutsu, minimal Aikido, and approach as martial training.
Kenjutsu taught the impossibility of true mastery, and that the realization itself is the lesson. I was already breaking things down to their smallest parts, refining each movement, embracing the process of learning. But the idea that mastery was genuinely out of reach only fully landed when I engaged seriously with that practice. The journey matters far more than counting hours. That started shaping everything: my rope, my study of movement, my approach to teaching.
In 2024 someone asked if I had reached 10,000 hours. A quick, lowball calculation confirmed it without doubt. I tie professionally for a living. It is both my job and my passion. I am aware of the privilege in that. I found my ikigai. Not everyone gets that and I do not take it lightly.
"Is achieving 10,000 hours mastery? Mastery of what, exactly? Each individual movement? Every possible variation? True mastery is understanding that you can always do more."
William Desjardins / WillcatThirteen companions.
When philosophy does matter.
Not rules to follow but lenses to see through.
These philosophies shaped me but they are not rules, only companions. They remind us that rope is more than just tying bodies; they are philosophies, aesthetics, and values that integrate into a living practice that evolves. Mastery is never the goal. Walking the path is.
The Dō.
A path,
not a ladder.
Westerners would typically like to skip as many steps as possible. In rope, this leads to dangerous practices. People get hurt, physically and emotionally. The curriculum at Tension exists because of that gap — not just technical but philosophical. A slower, more methodical approach to foundations, with honest conversations about risk, accountability, and consent built into the basics, not bolted on later if you get that far.
Like martial arts belts, the rope colours at Tension are not trophies. They are reminders of where you stand on your personal Dō, and an invitation to return to roots with each advancement.
Each stage reflects both skill and mindset: how one carries rope, self, and partner. There is no top. Every colour eventually circles back to Beige. Every advancement should reflect a revision of our roots.
"The path is not something you complete. It is something you continue."
Tension MTLOpenness, curiosity. Received at your very first Floorplay class following Fundamentals. Mastery begins in simplicity and humility.
Your plaque is hung in the Tension tree. Frictions, patterns, connection. Repetition, structure, and stability — the soil from which skill grows.
Awareness and responsibility. Introduction to uplines, anchors, and mechanical systems. Every choice affects your partner's safety.
Weight begins to leave the ground. The gateway between floor and air. Risk, restraint, intensity. Control under pressure.
Structural precision and reliability. Passing the Takatekote (TK) — stable upper-body harness. Purity of form; simplicity under tension.
Full suspension structures, risk management, responsive control. Black is not an end — it is the threshold to a deeper practice.
Return to humility. Private lessons, dynamics, and philosophy. Reflection, not achievement. The rope now ties you as much as you tie it. ○
Responsibility to others. Teaching within the Tension curriculum. Patience, clarity, balance between tradition and innovation. The path turns outward.
The container.
The container.
Not the cage.
Structure is not the opposite of freedom. It is the condition of it.
The square is the container. The kata. The protocol. The harness pattern practiced a thousand times until it is reliable under load. Without the square, the circle has nothing to return to and the triangle has nothing to push against.
In rope, structure means the form that holds everything else. The single column practiced until it is second nature. The safety check that happens every time, not most times. The anatomy knowledge that makes a decision possible under pressure. These are not constraints on creativity. They are what make creativity safe to pursue.
We approach rope like we would martial arts — methodically, with repetition and patience. Not because tradition demands it, but because the risks demand it. People get hurt when steps are skipped. The foundation exists to prevent that.
"The square is not a cage. It is the container that makes freedom possible."
Willcat / Tension MTLAnatomy before application. Nerve paths, circulation, joint loading. Understanding what the body can and cannot hold before asking it to hold anything. Structure in the body is prerequisite, not optional.
Clean frictions. Reliable knots. Consistent tension. The forms that can be repeated identically under pressure, under stress, under the weight of someone who has given you their trust and their body. Repetition is not boredom. It is preparation.
Policies, agreements, and accountability frameworks. The structures that hold a community together when things go wrong. And they will go wrong. Having the container ready before that moment is the difference between repair and rupture.
Where every
practice
begins.
"I saw over and over that it wasn't when people learned about safety and consent. Sometimes it was if. And that if was unacceptable."
Willcat — on why Fundamentals existsFundamentals began as a teacher's aid. A handbook. A reminder of knots, frictions, and concepts to support students after class. But as the writing continued, something became clear: the gap was not just technical. It was philosophical.
We did not just need more tutorials. We needed a way of thinking about rope as Dō, a path and a discipline, with honest conversations about risk, accountability, and consent built into the basics. Not bolted on later, if you got that far.
Fundamentals is the prerequisite to all classes at Tension, and strongly encouraged for anyone tying or being tied anywhere. Not because of gatekeeping. Because rope is an extreme activity and the body, the nervous system, joints, circulation, and the emotional safety of your partner require more than enthusiasm to keep safe.
This is not a beginner class you graduate from. It is the whole practice, seen again at every level with new eyes.
Single column · Futomomo · Batten-Dome (X-Friction) · Taiko-Dome · Kannuki · Larkshead · Takedome · Nodome · Gote framework · Hojo Cuffs · Double columns · Wadome · Clove hitch · L-frictions · Rope care · Quick releases
Nerve compression · Circulation · Joint safety · Torsions · Vasovagal syncope · Loss of consciousness · Death · Neck rope · Eyes · Mouth · Hair · Leaving someone unattended · Tools and safety equipment
Consent & negotiation · Opt-in vs opt-out · The Fuck Yes framework · Risk profiles · Play sessions · Debriefing · Aftercare · Follow-up · Selfcare · Vetting · Restorative justice · Safer spaces · Locations · Planning ahead
Fundamentals.
Shibari for
Beginners and Beyond.
What started as a teacher's aid slowly turned into a whole damn book. A handbook to support students in class became a comprehensive guide to rope as practice: technical, anatomical, emotional, and communal.
200 pages / 400 images. Step-by-step technique with diagrams. Anatomy and nerve safety vetted with medical input. Consent, negotiation, aftercare, and community accountability built in from the first chapter. An art section. A full lexicon. A cheat sheet. And an honest attempt to address every question a new practitioner should be asking but often is not.
Not just how to tie. How to think about tying.
Safe(r).
Not safe.
The parenthetical is not a technicality. It is the most honest thing we can say about what we are trying to build.
Safe(r) spaces require structure. Agreements, policies, and accountability frameworks are not restrictions on community — they are the container that makes community possible. The same principle as rope: without a solid structure, nothing can be held safely.
We have a responsibility to hold people more accountable inside safe(r) spaces, not less. Some people may not always be welcome. Some behaviors will get you benched or removed. Freedom does not mean freedom from consequences. It means knowing exactly what you are free within.
Safe(r) spaces are exhausting to run. Every event has risk. Every person brings their history, their triggers, their needs. Every boundary enforced gets called discrimination by someone who does not want to be accountable. That is part of the work. It is not a failure of the space.
If your first response to disagreement is blame or public tearing-down instead of curiosity and conversation, Tension may not be the place for you. That is said with love and with boundaries. Both are necessary.
When you fuck up, own it. Listen. Repair where you can. Step back if you need to. Adjust your compass. Leadership without accountability is just ego in a shiny outfit.
Aim for Fuck Yes. Sober, informed, enthusiastic, revokable, ongoing. No half-truths, no pressure, no opt-out-only nonsense. Negotiate honestly. Every time.
Places like Tension do not exist by magic. Show up. Help out. Pay when you can. Respect the rules. Contribute to the culture you want to live in.