Week 41: Prisoner Ties

Day 281: Capture – The first step is to capture the opponent. Explore with different ways to efficiently tie the opponent’s upper limbs. Be especially mindful of exposed nerves around the wrists and on the upper arms as you explore this activity.

• Tie a lark’s head on our own wrist and transfer it after grabbing the opponent. From there you can gently explore with armlocks to pin the person in place.
• For a resisting opponent that is lying down with their arms under them, tie a lark’s head around both upper arms and use the reverse tension to release the arms.
• Capturing someone wasn’t always a one on one fight. Often many people were holding the person in place to allow the leader to tie them up more easily.
• Historical documents showcase other fun ideas to explore like adding hooks or weights to the rope end and using the rope as a lasso.

Day 282: Upper Body Control – Most hojōjutsu capture ties are designed to control the wrists, the arms and the neck. Capturing a prisoner doesn’t focus on specific patterns, but is instead ready to improvise as the fight is happening. Most hayanawa ties put the body in a box tie position but there are a few variations like self-choking teppō.

Try restricting the body in an improvised way, change starting point and the order of which you capture each limbs. The safety of those ties can be questionable, it was the responsibility of the prisoner to stay calm and avoid incidents.

Day 283: Full Body Control – Continue the exploration of improvised restriction and add in the lower body. The feet and part of the clothing can be a continuation of an upper body tie. It is common in hayanawa ties to connect the neck with the feet or ankle in order to create a predicament and prevent escaping, this comes with obvious risks of choking.

Day 284: Meaningful – Once the prisoner is under control. More secure ties can be assembled in order to be less escapable and hold in place with movement. Some of these ties looked loose but would tighten up if the prisoner tried to escape. Other were escapable on purpose as the real restraint was the power dynamic with the samurais.

Different patterns were used depending on who was tied and the crimes for which they were arrested. It was considered very shameful to be tied using secured knots, therefore many patterns used open frictions to preserve the prisoner’s dignity depending on their rank and if they had be judged as guilty. For example, closed fist meant the prionner was still holding on something while open hands meant they had admitted to their crimes.

Most honnawa ties bind the arms in the back in a box tie position with a wide diversity of motif on the upper body. The hishi 菱 (diamond), jūmonji 十文字 (cross), and kikko (turtle shell, hexagon) are recurring shapes in these ties. Each school had their own patterns as a signature, hiding most of it’s complexity in the back, making it difficult for opponents to learn to escape.

Try to reproduce of the honnawa ties from references and explore in creating ties that are simple yet solid and restrictive. Explore the different sensations of the patterns to find what meaning you have for these ties. Just like with the hayanawa ties, most ties involves tying the neck and targeting exposed nerves, adjust the ties when needed, avoid struggling and keep your cutting tool close.

Day 285: Transport – To bring the prisoners to their new destination (usually a prison), most of the honnawa ties finished with a leash. A common technique was to coil that leash in a chain sinnet (Day 207) so that if they tried to escape, they could gain a bit of speed before being stopped, using their strength against them. Somes ties were designed to transport prisoners more easily such as tying the hands to the sides so it would be easier to keep their balance on a boat. Create a tie to transport your partner using a chain leash. Explore how different arm positions affect walking and balance.

Day 286: Tie Over Tie – Once your opponent is controlled, you can tie a more formal and solid pattern over the quick capture tie. This combines both the hayanawa and the honnawa techniques. Remove the original capture rope once the structure is tied. Try your favorite box tie on someone already tied with a capture rope. How does it feel to remove the capture rope under the existing tie?

Day 287: Disappearing Ties – The chain sinnet principle can be used to create ties that can be untied by simply pulling on the tail. These were used to get the rope back more easily after an execution or to exchange prisoners without giving away the rope. By walking straight forward with someone holding the rope, the tie can progressively untie itself. Try out different disappearing tie designs and try creating your own.