This term is used when, following Japanese aesthetic patterns (minimalism, appreciation of nature, emptiness, contrast...), we develop single-rope ties in which beauty comes first.
Breakdown of the kanji
- 壱 (ichi): old or formal form of “one”.
- 本 (hon): counter for long objects, such as a rope; after 壱 it is read pon, hence ippon, “one rope” or “a single tie”.
- 縛 (baku): “to tie”, “tied”.
- 妙 (myo): “subtle beauty”.
This term adds a nuance of aesthetic purpose that other expressions for single-rope ties, such as ippon or ippon nawa, do not specify.
The term ichinawa (一縄) is another way of naming a single rope: ippon (壱本) is used to count ropes, “one rope”, whereas ichinawa is the name by which, above all in the West, techniques that use a single rope are known. In a sense, both terms are synonyms.
Ichinawa is also the name of Ichinawa-kai (一縄会), the school of Hajime Kinoko, with a play on words in how it is read: the kanji 一 is read ichi, “one”, but also hajime, like its founder.
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