The term BDSM is formed from three other terms:
B&D - Bondage and Discipline
D/S - Dominance and Submission
S/M - Sadism and Masochism (sometimes called Sex Magick)

Bondage means restriction of a person's bodily movement for erotic reasons using fastenings of various kinds. It can either involve fastening parts of the body to each other (such as cuffing the hands) or tethering to another object (such as chaining someone to a cross or bench), or even to another body!

There are countless different bondage techniques: some bondage practitioners become highly skilled and take pride in their originality and invention, and bondage competitions are popular features of many SM events. On the other hand, the simple act of tying someone's hands behind their back with a plain but reliable knot can carry such a profound symbolic charge that it may be as effective as an elaborate creation involving total immobility.


What to Use
A vast range of equipment can be put to use in bondage. Below we've discussed the most common items under several headings:

Whipping Posts
be quite uncomfortable and lining the holes is suggested. They can be made at home or bought from specialist suppliers. Whipping posts are simple fixed wooden posts, with two metal wrist shackles fixed at about waist height, and were formerly found on many village greens in conjunction with stocks. The bottom can be either standing with hands below or kneeling with hands above.

Chairs and Horses
Elaborate bondage chairs are available at a price from perve suppliers, but much can be done with the simple domestic variety. Choose a sturdy wooden chair with plenty of struts to use as fixing points. A chair with arms enables the bottom's arms to be secured very thoroughly, but one without arms gives more access and flexibility. As well as having the bottom sit in a chair in a conventional way, consider the possibilities of having them facing the chair back (leaning forward slightly here exposes the shoulders wonderfully) or kneeling with waist across the seat.

This latter position is essentially using the chair as a horse to expose the buttocks and arsehole. Similar results can be achieved using a stool of suitable height, or even a padded horse intended for gymnastics. A gym horse will take a standing person, rather than a kneeling one, which can be an advantage.

Cages
Cages are a sort of bondage for the whole body: they can be big enough to occupy relatively comfortably or small enough to cramp the body into an unnatural posture (with careful time limits). Cages made for large dogs, or for large birds such as Amazon Parrots and Macaws, are also suitable for human occupants too: they are available in sizes up to 1.3 x 1.3 x 1.7m (4' x 4' x 5'). A welded cage designed for a human occupant will set you back. A reliable cage is difficult to improvise, but some have obtained good results from the wirework trolleys sometimes used in supermarkets and warehouses.

What sort of cage you go for will depend on what you want to evoke. An animal-style cage might be suitable if the thrill comes from treating humans like animals. But it is also possible to obtain reproductions of 'highwaymen's coffins', the cylindrical cages designed for suspension in which offenders were once imprisoned in the open air and left to die. These permit very little movement.


Room Modifications
Much can be achieved by adding items like large, sturdy hooks, eyes and rings to walls, floors and ceilings, though what you can do will depend on the construction of your rooms and how much discretion you need to exercise with potential visitors. Floorboards are ideal for locating hooks and eyes; but plasterboard dividing walls cannot be expected to take any serious weight. With all such modifications, test them thoroughly first before subjecting a bottom to them.

Hooks in the ceiling are a very useful addition, but safe installation is not as simple as it sounds, especially if they are to carry the weight of a body under suspension. DIY Dave (1984a) points out that the safest method is when you can get into the roof space above the ceiling, when the room is on the top floor with an attic above. Then you can accurately locate the centre of the ceiling joist to provide a sturdy home for your hook. From above, drill two small holes through the ceiling hard against each side of the joist: then you can locate your hook exactly halfway between them from below. Use the longest screw eye or hook you can, at least 100mm (4") long with plenty of depth to the screw thread. For maximum sturdiness, install two hooks on the same joist, a few centimetres apart, then 'plate over' the joist: from above nail lengths of 80 x 80 mm (3" x 3") or 80 x 110 mm (3" x 4") timber at right angles across the joist you've used and a couple of neighbouring joists on each side to spread the load.

If the room is not on the top floor, the only way to get a look at the joists will be to take up some of the flooring. If this isn't practicable, or you don't have access to the roof space, then trial and error is the only method. Whatever you do, test the hooks thoroughly by slinging a rope with a noose over them, raising yourself up on the rope and jerking as hard as you can. A safe hook should stay in place without bringing down any plaster or flooring!