Fast Hands | Slow Burn

This playlist is part of our Rope Resolutions challenge to help make 2026 your knottiest year yet, so practice regularly this January to earn your streaks and win a prize. Find all of the details in our Community!

Experience prerequisites: Pre-requisites are in the title! Fast hands really matter here. You might opt to use old rope if you’re new to tying in this way, in case your bottom wants out right now. For bottoms, panic management skills are important if things start to feel overwhelming as well as the ability to register when something is approaching your edge with enough advanced notice that your rigger can act accordingly.

This playlist is all about challenging your hands before you challenge your tying partner – and trust us, there’ll be plenty of both. Drill your speed all month in preparation for a tie that is deceptively advanced. You might not put every drill to work in the final course (especially while you’re kneeling), but you’ll be glad to have invested in your rope handling skills. Sometimes a slow burn is only possible with fast hands. That’s definitely the case to feel confident and safe in hua hua’s dense rope.

Work through the videos in order until your hands feel like they’ve developed their own independent sentience – in other words, when the movements come fluidly, naturally and with no need to think it out as you tie.

Heads up: The final two ties are intense from a bottoming perspective. When you’re building up a tie as maximalist as this, there’s no space for uncertainty – the leg overlap class is an opportunity to taste test this style of tying for both parties.