In reply to Mutl3y:
There were two types of body belay, the waist belay and the shoulder belay. The waist belay, used properly, was quite safe and in the first four years of my climbing (up to mid-1970) I used it the whole time, holding many quite big leader falls successfully. The shoulder belay was a whole different fishkettle, and potentially very dangerous. I have written at length about the last time I used one, when it all 'went wrong' ...
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