Excuses voor de wat brakke opmaak ;)
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Hojojutsu is the feudal
martial skill of restraining a
prisoner with rope. It was
practiced by the warrior class
and in particular the samurai, who
acted as police officers.
The word hojo is made up of the
character 'ho', which is also pro-
nounced 'tori' and means to catch,
seize or arrest someone, the character
'jo', which is also pronounced 'nawa'
and means rope, and of course the
word 'jutsu', meaning art or skill.
The actual characters can then be
read in English as either 'torinawa
jutsu' or 'hojo jutsu'. However, both
meanings remain the same.
The main reason for tying someone
up is because a need has arisen to
keep them alive and take them
captive, or prevent their escape. This
was often the case during Japan's
feudal period, particularly when the
captured enemy was thought to be
able to be persuaded to part with vital
information, or be used in an ex-
change deal for someone of import-
ance who had been captured by the
other side. There were various other
reasons why rope tying was employed
in Japan. One further purpose was to
secure prisoners who were to be
brought before a magistrate and tried
for crimes they had committed.
Securing prisoners
In practically every country
throughout the world the feudal era
was littered with various means of
securing prisoners. The techniques
ranged from rope, to shackles or ball
and chain. It would seem, however,
that no other nation developed such
a sophisticated system of rope tying
as the Japanese. Hojojutsu was incor-
porated into the samurai's knowledge
of fighting skills and used during the
sanguineous era of the 'Sengoku
Jidai' in particular.
The lower class police officers,
called 'okapiki', were taught very
basic forms of Hojojutsu under the
guidance of senior police officials
from samurai stock. However, with
the Meiji restoration (1887), the art of
Hojojutsu began to fall into decline.
When prisoners were held captive,
they were tied in a specific manner,
according to their rank and social
status. Each method of tying denoted
what class of society the prisoner
came from, each was tied in a recog-
nizable way. If a person had been
found guilty of a particular offence
he was tied in a manner denoting the
offence he had committed. There
were special techniques for people
with strong arms or people capable of
slipping out of the knots, even mad
and extremely violent people were
tied using special knots. Because the
style of tying varied with both the
crime and status of a prisoner, the
length of rope used varied consider-
ably. Some ropes were only a foot in
length, while others reached well over
30 feet. Most of the Hojojutsu ropes
were made of tightly twined linen that
had been beaten until soft. Silk rope
was not very popular because it was
easy to slip the bonds. However,
hemp rope did play a part in various
styles of Hojojutsu.
During the Edo period the use of
coloured rope to denote particular
crimes and status became popular.
White rope denoted someone who
had only committed a minor crime,
while a blue rope was used to secure
offenders who had committed serious
crimes. If a person was of high rank
then a violet rope was sometimes
used, but if they were of low rank
then a black rope was used.

Knots

The knots used for making the rope
secure were many and varied. Some
were employed to tighten as the
prisoner struggled, while others
simply held fast. When a number of
prisoners were being conveyed some-
where together a long length of rope
with hand loops secured each
prisoner to the other. When the
prisoner was conveyed alone the
length of rope usually measured seven
metres. Even the retaining cord on
the sword scabbard was used to
secure the unexpected prisoner.
There were many classical ryu
(martial art schools) who employed
the technique of rope tying in their
repertoire. These included Fujiwara
ryu, Chokuji Goden ryu, Sekieuchi
Shin Shin ryu and many others.
Apart from the actual tying skills, the
ryu employed various techniques of
throwing and restraining that comple-
mented the art of Hojojutsu.

Accessories

There were many subtle append-
ages to the rope used in capturing an
escaping prisoner. One included a
barbed hook. This special hook was
thrown as the criminal ran away.
However, as soon as it ensnared the
clothing the criminal was brought to
the ground and secured before he
could free himself. The prisoner
would then be subjected to an
intricate web of rope which would
make him completely immobile.
In modern Japan there are very few
masters of the martial arts who are
skilled in the traditional art of
Hojojutsu. I was fortunate enough to
witness this skill at the hand of Takaji
Shimizu dai sensei, the late grand
master of Shindo Muso Ryu. It was
amazing to see how quickly someone
could be restrained and with ii hat
ease the techniques could be effected.
The art of Hojojutsu has not yet
died out in Japan. The modern police
force still carry special rope with
which to secure their prisoners (of
course handcuffs are also carried).
The rope is also used by the police in
Japan to cordon off areas and keep
the public back during times of
disaster, so its use is not restricted
simply to the tying of prisoners.

Obscure

Hojojutsu is an obscure but inter-
esting part of the cultural history of
martial arts. It reflects the ingenuity
of the samurai class and the manner
in which the essence of this martial
skill has been passed down, even to
today's modern Japanese police
force.

© SquadJH

Leuk artikel :)
Zal ik het eens vertalen naar het Nederlands en mooier opmaken? Dan zet ik er meteen ook de kanji bij.

Trouwens, naar het schijnt is het hojôjutsu dat we van Bujinkan kennen een unicum. De meeste scholen leren hojôjutsu toe te passen op iemand die reeds overwonnen is, terwijl we bij Booj ook leren een tegenstander te knevelen die zich nog volop verweert.
Apropos... heeft er iemand een idee uit welke school onze hojôjutsu afkomstig is?