Ittatsu-ryū

School of hojojutsu Japanese martial art

Ittatsu ryū (一達流) is a traditional school (koryū) of the Japanese martial art of hojōjutsu. Today, Ittatsu ryū has been assimilated into the traditional school of Shintō Musō ryū. This particular school of hojōjutsu was created in the late 17th century by Matsuzaki Kinueimon Shigekatsu, the third Shintō Musō ryū headmaster. The modern Ittatsu ryū system comprises 24 training forms (kata), grouped into 3 different series. The rope used in Ittatsu ryū is about 5 meters in length and a diameter of about 3.5 mm. Although handcuffs have generally replaced the rope, there exists today a modern form of hojojutsu in the Tokyo policeforce. This system was derived mainly from the Ittatsu ryū tradition and were taught by the Shintō Musō ryū Shihanke Shimizu Takaji in his formal duty as a police force instructor in the mid 20th century.

In the strict social system of the Tokugawa era (1603–1868) there was a high emphasis on treating each individual according to what class the individual belonged to. Each of the Ittatsu ryu form(kata) series is adapted to deal with the social status of the individual being restrained. A samurai lord, (if being arrested for a crime), would have to be restrained in a way that enables the individual to retain his or her dignity. Women, priests (of either shinto or Buddhist faith), samurai, and commoners (considered to be near bottom of the class system) would have to be restrained in a way that represented their position in the class hierarchy without disgracing them.

The hojō methods are for the most part taught only to advanced students who have achieved a high level of proficiency in the Shinto Muso ryu Jodo forms, though the level required is not standardized and different Jodo organisations have different requirements.