The binding art of Ittatsu-ryū
Ittatsu-ryū hojōjutsu (一達流捕縄術) is a Japanese school of hojōjutsu, the art of restraining a captured opponent with cord. This was the close of the arresting sequence: once an armed adversary had been controlled and disarmed, the cord secured him without further harm. The school survives as one of the auxiliary arts carried within Shintō Musō-ryū.
A tradition of thin record
The independent history of Ittatsu-ryū is only lightly documented, and its founder is uncertain; Ryūpedia does not claim a detailed founding narrative for it. What can be said with confidence is that the binding art was preserved as one of the companion traditions gathered around the great staff school, and handed down together with them.
To bind without harm once the fight is already won.
Preserved within Shintō Musō-ryū
Ittatsu-ryū hojōjutsu is carried today as one of the associated arts of Shintō Musō-ryū, alongside the chain-and-sickle, the truncheon and the sword. Kept within that living curriculum, the cord-binding tradition continues to be practised rather than merely remembered.