Sadly Studio Kokoro the physical entity is now closed but its ethos and character live on through those who came and those who worked to build community there.

Thank you everyone who made the studio what it was. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Studio Kokoro is a partnership with a shared desire to create a unique space with its own personality capable of hosting a variety of events and activities. Our mission is to provide a space for learning, practice, networking and collaboration.

Here are some guidelines on how to get the most out of your time at the studio, and our expectations of you as a guest in our space.

Please keep noise levels in mind when you are arriving and especially when you are leaving late at night. Please dress in vanilla style clothing when outside of the Studio. We expect all guests to keep any nudity, rope and play inside the studio at all times.

We like to keep a clean environment. Please remove your shoes when entering the studio, there is a shoe rack and plenty of floor space in the reception area as you arrive for your shoes. Fabric boxes are provided for other personal belongings.

We have found a big part of our warm atmosphere is that our attendees have left drama at the door when entering the space, or left it neatly with their shoes. You are welcome to collect it on your way out. 😉

Please be friendly and welcoming to newcomers whenever possible, you have the opportunity to be a positive part of their first time at Kokoro and make them feel included. We always aim to welcome everyone who attends the studio and show them around the space. This often naturally happens in the chill space but if we all actively aim to do this it can really make an impact. Things like introducing them to another attendee at the studio can really make all the difference in their first time.

We ask our attendees to help us keep the space clean during your time with us, and to please clean up after yourself. We have free tea and coffee and also provide free washing up materials for you to clean your cup before you leave. Please only take water into the tying area. For any spillages please clean up thoroughly. Please do not leave a mess in the area you were tying to be courteous to those who may tie there after you.

We welcome everyone through both our physical and virtual studio doors, regardless of ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, body size, disability, physical appearance, age, kink, pronouns, personal space or any label/identity/presentation preference. We are both a sex-positive and body-positive space. We ask you to treat everyone with respect and courtesy while in our space. ALL are welcome.

Harassment or aggressive behaviour for any reason towards other attendees will not be tolerated. Please make a member of staff aware of any harassment or aggressive behaviour. Members of our team on duty will be identifiable by wearing a lanyard.

We enthusiastically encourage those who may feel underrepresented in our community to join us at the studio. If you have any questions or concerns about feeling a sense of safety, belonging or community in our space – please reach out to us and we can help with those first steps.

We understand it can be daunting to attend an event for the first time and we want to make those first steps to our space as easy as we can for you, so if you are nervous please reach out and contact us. It can be helpful to know some friendly people before you come, you can meet our team here.

See our full Diversity and Inclusion Policy here…

Studio Kokoro is a space for adults over the age of 18 only.

Consent is the foundation of BDSM and is what separates what we do from abuse. You will find many different models of consent and the one we use at Studio Kokoro is based around a RACK Consent model, Risk Aware Consensual Kink. If you need guidance around this please ask a member of staff.

You can read in our ethos we are a consent focused space, want to cultivate a consent culture where attendees are at ease negotiating and feel confident to say no. When asking others to tie, and to avoid predatory behaviour, we ask attendees if you want to tie with someone that you inform them and leave it up to them what they do with that information, for example, “I would be interested in tying with you sometime, if that interests you please let me know.” Taking the pressure off for an instant response and leaving them to decide if they wish to uptake that invitation.

Consent is voluntarily given by someone with sufficient understanding & mental capacity to do so. No means no. No explanation is needed. Respect this and move on.

This relates to consent, hugs, physical contact or touching anyone’s rope or belongings. If you are unsure, please ask.

Particularly as we open our doors again and live in a world with COVID, if people want space or do not want hugs, please respect that.

If you are concerned about any decisions the Studio has made or actions we are taking, we always encourage you to reach out to alert us to that, and discuss a way forward. We are very open to feedback, discussion and being called in. Let’s be in this community together and have a discussion.

In the event of something having gone wrong, experience of unwelcome behaviour, harassment or you believe your consent to have been violated at Studio Kokoro and need to inform the Studio Team and/or need further support, we encourage you to reach out to any member of the studio team on duty if during an event. Team members on duty are clearly identifiable by their lanyard. You can also report via any of our online platforms or via the contact form on our website if online or after an event.

• We are here to listen and depending on the situation and what is needed, we may do any of the following at our discretion:
  Have an informal discussion with that person regarding their behaviour.
• Offer informal mediation (we are not trained mediators but can provide this informally if that would be appropriate or helpful to the situation).
• Issue a warning; warn them their behaviour is unacceptable and if they continue they will be asked to leave and potentially suspended from attending the studio.
• Temporary suspension from attending any events at the studio, while they focus on knowledge, skills or positive change and accountability.
  Permanent suspension from attending any events at Studio Kokoro.
• All reports will be treated in confidence, we will not name or identify those reporting concerns or incidents without their explicit consent. We will listen to their wishes regarding how they want the report to be handled.

If you are reporting an incident regarding a member of the Studio Kokoro Team please speak with Clover or Dave. If you are reporting an incident regarding Clover or Dave, we have accountability set up with Anna Bones and Fred Hatt at Anatomie Studio and you are welcome to reach out to one or both of them at anatomie.studio@gmail.com

We believe in transformative accountability, focusing on positive change and accountability. We can to the best of our abilities provide, or signpost to, support for anyone who has been harmed to help them recover from this harm. We can, to the best of our abilities, hold those who have been responsible for causing harm accountable, provide support, recommend appropriate education and resources to move them towards better behaviour, for example, consensual awareness and practices, improved skill etc.

We are not the police and are not trained to investigate, so there are limitations to what we can do as a venue. We are not prepared to attempt any investigation at the risk of causing further harm. We can support anyone harmed or responsible for causing harm with finding suitable and appropriate support, help from those who are trained professionals and/or support with reporting to the police.

Please respect the privacy of those enjoying the space, do not disclose any personal or private information. We invite you to take photographs of your work in the studio but please ensure you do not have anyone in the background of these images without their explicit permission. It is not acceptable to edit them out or blur the image later, they should not be there to begin with. To help with this we suggest choosing a space close to a wall if you do wish to take photographs.

Occasionally we may have an official photographer present at Kinbaku Night Performance events.

Wax play is allowed in the studio as long as you use a ground sheet (which we can provide) and clean up properly after yourselves.

Exception: No wax on the tatami!

Please keep smoking and vaping outside of the studio and keep your conversation and clothes vanilla while you’re outside as per the dress code policy.

Absolutely no recreational drugs will be tolerated in the studio.
Do not turn up drunk or high, you will be denied admission.

We allow alcohol consumption at the studio, we reserve the right to ask you not to tie if we feel you have had too much to drink.

If you have any questions that are not addressed here or on this website please contact us via the contact form.