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| General Information |
Hojojutsu, also named torinawajutsu or just nawajutsu, refers to the art of tying the enemy originating in Japan.Hojojutsu is part of the curriculum in some ninjutsu, bujutsu and jujutsu schools. The art uses a long rope to trap and constrain the enemy using complicated knots (Black Belt Wiki, s.d.). Initially the hayanawa or ‘fast’ rope is used, which later will be replaced by the honnawa, ‘main’ rope, that will make sure the enemy or suspect can be transported safely (Cleaver 1998; Crocker 2015).Next to rope in some cases a chain is used. Some hojojutsu techniques can also be carried out with certain weapons like the surujin, kusarigama, kyoketsu-shoge and kusari fundo (Black Belt Wiki, s.d.). |
| History/Development |
During the Edo period (1600-1868) it was seen as extremely shameful to be bound by a rope, hence the technique of restraining a suspect was of great importance. The restraining rope shouldn’t have any knots. There were four important rules in hojojutsu: (1) to not allow the prisoner to escape, (2) to not cause any physical or mental injury, (3) to not show the technique to others and (4) to make it visually beautiful (Cleaver 1998).Samurai left the job of tying somebody with rope to their servants. Inside the police higher ranks (which for a big part consisted of samurai) also would leave it to the lower ranks. Traditionally four colours of rope are used, depending on the time of the year. By the end of the Edo period just two colours were used, white and indigo. Their use depended on the branch of constabulary and not on the seasons.There are different lengths of rope for different purposes. Commonly the ropes were made of hemp, for practice silk ropes were used on dummies made of straw or paper.The practice was also commonly used for torture in Japanese history (Cleaver 1998).Similar techniques are also used in kinbaku, Japanes rope bondage which was a popular depiction in Japanese prints and still finds a place in contemporary, pornography, erotica and art (Toshidama 2012). |
Transmission
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| Relevant Organisations |
- Kokusai Hojojutsu Kenkyukai (International Hojojutsu Research Society)
https://www.hojojutsu.org/ |
| Additional Materials |
- Seiko Fujita’s Zukai torinawajutsu (図解捕縄術, “The illustrated technique of binding rope”) gives an overview of ties and techniques from many schools. The book was first published in 1964.
- Nawa Yumio published different books on the subject: Studies in Jitte and Torinawa in 1964 and An Illustrated Encyclopedia for Historical Studies: Constables' Tools in 1985. |
| References |
- Cleaver, R. (1998). “Hojojutsu”, Japanese Rope Art.
http://japaneseropeart.com/RopeArt/Hojojutsu/hojo_cleaver.html
- Black Belt Wiki (s.d.). “Hojojutsu – Japanese Rope Martial Arts”, blackbeltwiki,
https://blackbeltwiki.com/hojojutsu
- Toshidama (2012). “Beauty and Violence: Kinbaku, The Art of Japanese Rope Bondage”, Toshidama Japanese Prints.
https://toshidama.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/beauty-and-violence-kinbaku-the-art-of-japanese-rope-bondage/- Crocker, L. (2015). “Hojojutsu 捕縄術 The Science of Rope Arresting”, CMARA Classical Martial Arts,
https://medium.com/classical-martial-arts/hoj%C5%8Djutsu-the-science-of-rope-arresting-9072aa6ccc39 | | |
