1.
bare-handed; empty-handed; without tools or weapons
Using only one's hands without any implements, weapons, or equipment. Frequently used in martial arts and physical training contexts, as well as figuratively to describe undertaking something without resources.
徒手で戦う訓練をする。
To train in bare-handed combat.
徒手体操は道具を使わない運動だ。
Calisthenics are exercises that do not use equipment.
武器を持たず徒手で敵に立ち向かう勇気が必要だった。
It took courage to face the enemy bare-handed without weapons.
Composed of 徒 (on foot, bare, empty) and 手 (hand). Often used as a modifier with の or in compound words. The character 徒 carries a sense of being unequipped or unaccompanied, as in 徒歩 (on foot).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 徒手空拳: bare-handed and without weapons (four-character compound)
- 徒手体操: calisthenics, free exercises
- 徒手で戦う: to fight bare-handed
- 徒手格闘: unarmed combat
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 素手: bare hands — the everyday, native Japanese word for using one's hands without gloves or tools
- 手ぶら: empty-handed — casual term meaning carrying nothing, often used in social contexts like visiting someone without a gift