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Hello, I´m Luis Nogueira Serrano
President of the European Bugei Society
I´m here in June of 2012
in the house of my masters
Shidoshi Jordan and Shidoshi Juliana
To present all of you
what it is going to be the new documentary series
that the European Bugei Society
named "Impresiones"
These documentaries that will be
narrated by me
and we will find images
produced from the whole school
interesting sensations, interesting informations
which could enrich all of you
that are followers
and many of you that might come for the first time
see these documentaries and see these videos
I trust that trough our YouTube Channel
That you find informations, findings
and impressions that might facilitate
what it is going to be a finding or a deepening
of what is the knowledge regarding
Classical Arts, in particular our School
Kaze no Ryu Ogawa ha
Thank you very much.
HOJOJUTSU
The use of the rope, generally speaking,
has been prominent in countless times
in Japan and, of course, its use was applied in everyday needs,
such as its use as a weapon.
From this point of view, we can highlight Shiba Tsugami
used to tie horses,
Tori Nawa - to transport prisoners
Koshi Nawa - a rope the samurai tied on his waist on the armor, etc.
We can state that in the Tokugawa period
the feudal police developed sophisticated arresting procedures
with ropes, performing several methods of tying. These are known as Hojojutsu.
The word “hojo" is formed by kanji "ho", which is also pronounced "tori' and mean
"to capture, to arrest*; and "jo" which is also pronounced "nawa"
and means "rope". The word "jutsu" means "art, skill".
We can say that the techniques used as a weapon and war strategies were developed
for the need to transport prisoners, being detailed and studied later
later by several Ryu.
since the 16th century.
The main reason for tying someone was
because of the need to restrain, keep alive or
prevent the escape of a particular individual
As it happened in the feudal period in Japan,
where the enemy was captured to get
information from him, or to be used in
exchange of someone important who was
under the opponent domination. There are
several other reasons for using Hojojutsu
One was to hold a prisoner when
he was submitted to any authority, in an
eventual trial for the crimes committed.
Thus, the Japanese are noted for having developed
a sophisticated system using the rope to tie people.
The Hojojutsu was included in the martial
knowledge of bushi and mainly used in the
bloody Sengoku Jidai (Sengoku Period).
Lower class officers, called 'okapiki', learned
basic forms of Hojojutsu under the
supervision of officers of the samurai class.
The task of tying a prisoner or suspect was
relegated to the lower classes.
In the Meiji Restoration (1887), Hojojutsu
fell into disuse. It is important to note that
prisoners were tied in a specific way, which
indicated their social status. Each method
of tying indicated the social position held by the prisoner
and the crime he had committed. In Hojojutsu there are
special techniques for people with strong arms or able
to undo the knots, so that in these special and unique
techniques, in addition to the conventional set of forms
applied, the more the tied person moved, the more he was choked.
Usually, the ropes were made of linen, silk or hemp.
In the Edo period, the ropes of colors indicated the
crime and status of the person. For example, the white
rope was used for minor crimes, while the blue rope was
used for serious crimes. If the person was someone
important, the rope was violet. If he was from a lower
class, a black rope was used
During this period, being tied with a rope on the neck was extremely humiliating.
Some considered it worse than death
One method of capturing a prisoner was to throw a
sort of hook to down the adversary, who was then tied in
an intricate web of rope, which completely paralysed him.
As it has been mentioned earlier, in Japanese society,
different social levels established the social class at that time and
depending on the level and sex, differed in
their way of being caught and taken, establishing a
particularity for each individual. Logically, in that time
the handling of certain weapons also determined the
military status, which in some ways, established why the
soldiers of lower status were responsible for the arrest
and detention of prisoners. Despite having a low status
within the militarism of the time, their ways of tying
prisoners following detailed codes was very important
and could be a way for their advancement within the
military, especially if the prisoner was from a
higher level. Even the higher classes used
differet forms of ties and knots because they
saw in this a sure way to control their
opponents and take them as prisoners.
According to some texts, several samurai
expert in handling the rope developed
techniques using the Sageo- the rope of the
Saya (Katana scabbard) being known after as SageoJutsu.
According to some masters, there were some rules used in Hojojutsu:
1 - Do not allow the prisoner to move away from his limits.
2 - Do not cause physical or mental harm.
3 - Do not let others see the techniques.
4 - Make results be pleasing to the eye.
The Torimono were other officers in charge of arresting
and transporting prisoners.
These groups were formed by a minimum of four officers.
At the moment of operations, one of them carried out the
techniques and the others surrounded the prisoner,
taking passive control of the situation; in that way,the techniques could be
hidden from the eyes of criminals and common people.
The speed of officers to carry out the
restrain and the techniques was crucial at the moment of action.
For this reason, they trained hour afte hour to achieve a quick and
effective technique. The ropes used for training were made of silk,
while those used for arresting were made of other specific
materials, different for each Ryu.
Even if the form which was used had
countless turns, one part was left for taking and transportation.
On the other hand, they also knew that this was what kept the
prisoner controlled. Thus it arose the
name under which we know this art nowadays:
Hojojutsu - a form that would allow the prisoner to be transported from
one region to another,
to be handed over to other officers.
Each clan and each region had certain forms of this art.
There were different ways of arresting, tying or strangling an adversary
as well as different ways of combining ropes with
weapons, which was called "NAWA JUTSU".
In general, those arts of the rope can be classified into:
TORI NAWA - about 3 meters.
HAYANAWA - "fast rope' used in two situations: when the technique
provides a higher speed or when the rope used is not very long, used only
for quick arrests.
JAKUGUCHI - bow-shaped rope.
TORIHIMO - 8-shaped rope.
SAGEO - rope or cord of the sword scabbard.
KAGINAWA - rope with a hook at the end.
It is clear that, like other arts that evolved,
each school had sizes, colors and different
ways to take and muzzle every prisoner.
Thus, schools that still keep their techniques,
perform them in the form of Seiteigata, and
after a certain level, in free ways, trying to
revive the moment of arrest, simulating a real form.
Despite the many ways of using the rope,
we must highlight that it is vitally
important to make the difference
among their qualities, like the difference between Hojojutsu and Shibari.
In the 15th century, Japan was already immersed in constant conflicts
and wars in an era of military dictatorship and imposition.
Even before this period, there were already some ways to retain the
enemy with ropes and equipment used as tools for arresting.
In general, some of the techniques used were heavily ritualized and in
many cases their aim was to immobilize and arrest a samurai
enemy on the battlefield. Later, a punitive code in 1542 ruled the use
of ropes in torture and arresting of criminals and enemies. There were
four basic forms which included humiliation and discomfort,
and even torture to prisoners. These penalties .
disappeared with the reign of Tokugawa
In the Edo period, a particular form of war art called Honbaku Jutsu
was developed, which specified with intense mastery how to keep the
enemies and criminals restrained with ropes.
The precision of its forms was specific for the different regions and families,
who had the habit of showing the prisoner, tied and immobilized,
in a public place. Spectators could watch the forms of
bondages and types of ropes, guessing the social class,
or even the crime committed
by that individual. Some say that in certain cases it was possible
to know his age and profession.
Hojojutsu was not used to keep the enemy
tied to a tree, pole, or device which kept him
in that position for hours or days. Perhaps
therein lies a major difference between the
two forms. Shibari, which in Japanese means
moor, tie, catch, sets a state of arresting in
a position where the enemy can't escape.
Invented as a subtle technique of arresting,
although regarded in another aspect as a
codified form of torture and retain of
prisoners, this could only be performed and shown by a samurai warrior.
The way of practice for a Shibari had several stages,
with a considerable attention to time: first the body was immobilized,
then the buttocks and belly and finally the body as a whole.
Certainly, for scholars of Hojojutsu, he is the true forerunner of that practice.
For centuries, the Japanese police,
in this case from the lowest class of the Samurai,
used these techniques as a secret work tool,
arousing the interest of the warlords.
They didn't allow anyone to attend the performance
when they were tying the criminals.
For Hojojutsu, different from Shibari,
they had to follow three essential rules
at the time of performing the arresting techniques:
1. The prisoner could not suffer permanent harm;
2. The prisoner could not escape:
3. Nobody other than the samurai class could witness the process.
At the end of the Edo period, there were
the first documents on Shibari. Many of the
documented forms show the torture in areas of war.
Matsumoto castle seems to be a reference to prove the existence
of the first drawings indicating the trace of Shibari
as a martial and torture technique, even a practice
even a practice of refined sensuality.
The documentation on Japanese Shibari before that time is very
limited, although mentioned in popular literature.
After the collective shock that losing the
war meant and what it represented for Japan
a mentality of rebuilding of Japanese
historical traditions started.
From the 60s. the Shibari lived a period of splendour in Japan.
"Great masters from different schools who
performed exhibitions in theaters and halls,
enjoyed a very high social consideration and
had many admirers who wanted to be their
dorei (slaves), considering themselves
honored to be submitted to the magnificent
knots made by Shibari masters".
(Sanchidrian, Isacio. Kinbaku Diary, 1999)
For Shibari, the most traditional Japanese
used ropes of rice, for their roughness, but
they could also use cotton ropes from 8 to
12mm in diameter, which were between 6 and 15 meters long.
Among the arts of the rope several types of knots are used,
with purposes ranging from tightening,
strangling or tying a prisoner to another.
The Kaze no Ryu Ogawa Ha Bugei, Ogawa Ryu
has Hojojutsu in its curriculum,
like other schools that also developed this form,
as Fujiwara Ryu, Chokuji Goden Ryu,
Sekieuchi Shin Shin Ryu
and many others.
Nowadays there are few masters who
dominate the traditional Hojojutsu. At
present, the Japanese police are still
the Japanese police are still practicing TaihoJutsu
techniques, incorporating forms of ancient techniques with ropes for arresting