Torinawa "Rope from road" used in order to tie prisoners often called Hojojutsu

There is a good bit of discussion, some of it is even polite, regarding the birth and evolution of Hojojutsu. Most of this came from books written in Japanese and translated by a native speaker. The point is that there were many different schools and they kept their courseware secret so what may have been right in one school may have been wrong in another. There is no one true way.

The teachings of the art were limited to the warrior class between 400 and 500 years ago during the Shinkoku period.  The techniques were the trade secrets of the over 150 different schools where the officers were trained  - due to the secrecy and intervening wars and or destruction, much of the art has been lost but some examples have been found at Matsumoto Castle and elsewhere in the form of scrolls, straw dolls, and paper dolls that were used to demonstrate and practice the art.  One purpose of hojojutsu was to keep a prisoner alive so that they might later be persuaded to part with information or if they were thought to be valuable in an exchange or to bring a criminal to trial.  In none of these instances was the long term health of the prisoner of particular concern.   A fellow could talk a lot before gangrene took his life and in the event of exchange – you were going to cut that hand off to send with the ransom note anyway. 

The history of Hojo-jutsu or Baku-jutsu goes back to schools of martial arts practiced by the Samurais the dark epoch of medieval Japan. Under the Tokugawa Government rope use was highly ritualized in both the capture and punishment of prisoners. When the bloody and protracted Shinkoku Period drew to an end and the peaceful times of the Edo Period began, the leaders of the time wanted to put behind the violent years of the War Period. Hojojutsu or rope tying art was used until quite recently by Japanese law enforcement officers to control criminals. Some officers find rope tying superior to handcuffs and continue to use the cord tying skills today. Knots reflected the crime, social caste, gender and even the season of the year, providing for a particularly interesting view of premodern Japanese culture.

Due to the secrecy and intervening wars and or destruction, much of the art has been lost but some examples have been found at Matsumoto Castle and elsewhere in the form of scrolls, straw dolls, and paper dolls that were used to demonstrate and practice the art. The tradition of passing the methods from master to student was stopped and its images were destroyed.  Hobaku-jutsu slowly died out. Everyone forgot about the barbaric violent methods of times past. - - - Almost.

This group is dedicated to the study of this martial art.

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hojojutsu/

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