Hojojutsu, martial arts that use rope as a medium

News24xx.com - Hojojutsu is one of martial arts from Japan. Most of Japanese martial arts like Aikido or Karate do no use mediums. However, Hojojutsu use rope as some sort of weapon. The rope is used to capture the opponent.

In the past, Hojojutsu was taught to the police for them to be able to capture a running criminal. If used in modern times, it may not be a problem. You can get away by cutting the rope or by untying the knot. However, in the past, it symbolized shame. Anyone who was tied in this way would be disgraced enough to the point that he would want to commit hara-kiri. The reason was because only those deemed as criminal were tied in this way.

Japanese people in the past saw people who were being tied in this way as a criminal, scumbag and pariah. Anyone who saw it would not forget it until they were old and it became a permanent and extreme damage to one’s honor and dignity. Some even considered it to be worse than death itself. That is why anyone who used Hojojutsu in a wrong way would be fired from his or her job.

Due to the extreme view of Hojojutsu, samurai or any high official did not want to do this. That is why, if they were caught by the police for whatever reason, they preferred to be tied by their servant in order to keep their dignity intact. The police officers with high standings or ones from samurai family also did not want to use it so they ordered their underlings to capture the criminal instead.

Hojojutsu uses tying technique called Hayanawa. Hayanawa means tying quickly. Ideally, Hayanawa is done fast and beautifully. If the one tied up was not convicted, then there was no need for special knot that became a sign of disgrace.

There are four colors for the rope that is used in Hojojutsu, which are blue, red, white and black. The colors symbolize the four seasons in Japan and are associated with the four holy beasts that appear in Japanese and Chinese myths that symbolize four points of the compass. The person who is tied should face the direction that the color of the rope indicates:

1.       Blue rope symbolizes spring and the blue dragon, facing the east or the left

2.       Red rope symbolizes summer and the red phoenix, facing the south or the front

3.       White rope symbolizes autumn and the white tiger, facing the west or the right

4.       Black rope symbolizes winter and the black tortoise, facing the north or the back

However, in the end of July until the start of August, a yellow rope was used. This only applied until the end of Edo period. After that, only two colors that were used for the rope: white and indigo. The colors are used based on the police branch.

Seeing the extreme nature of Hojojutsu, there are rule that the user has to obey. First, the captive should not untie the rope themselves. Second, hurting physically and mentally is forbidden. Third, no one should see the process. And fourth, the tying should be done beautifully.

As the third point suggests, this martial art is not for public eyes to see. People rarely saw it, even back then. This was to prevent criminals from seeing it and finding a way to escape from it.

 

 

 

 

News24xx.com/fik/red