TAVISTOCK College was the venue on Monday (Oct 5) for the first ever meeting of the South West Rope Dojo on behalf of the South West Kickboxing Academy and Martial Arts.

The South West Rope Dojo will be teaching Hojojutus, which is the federal art of rope restraint.  These techniques go back centuries.

In Japan hojojutus was used to tie up arrested people to be transferred around Japan and is still currently used by the police in Japan.

Fourth dan Steve Lilley from SWKA said: ‘Hojojutus is not just about tying people up but also about techniques, knots used by fishermen, climbers and Ninjas, which includes dredging, climbing and many more.’

The South West Rope Dojo is probably the only hojojutus school in the South West and is headed by kickboxer Steve Lilley, who trains under fifth Dan Taran McCarnun of Kokusai Hojojutus Kenkyukai.