Hojoundo

[selfdefense@opt]

How many of you regularly do hojoundo. Do you use

chi'ishi
nigiri game
tan
sashi-ishi
kongo ken
jari bako
makiwara
testu geta
tou

[cakegirl]

What is hojoundo?

[Tom Yum]

What is hojoundo?

Allow me to explain. I made a wager with a drinking lady friend that men have greater dexterity than women. The lady friend says, "Prove it"

I appeared to tap her on the back really quickly.

"Hah!" She said.

"How's thisss a show of dexterity?"

She stopped, face blushing, with an ravaging smile and said...

"Hojoundo my bra?"

[selfdefense@opt]

What is hojoundo

Hojoundo means supplementary exercises. Though they are not truely secondary they are an important part of exercises used in developing the body for karate. They are done after stretching and limbering up exercises and before sticky hands drills, kata, and sparing.

The chi'ishi is used to develop punching and blocking speed and power. Along the way it helps with gripping power.

The nigiri game develops centering and balance

The kongo ken develops resistance to impact and arm and leg strength

The jari bako develops finger strength for spear hand strikes

Tan is used for impact resistance and strength and flexibility of the back.

Makiwara is for striking: punch, kick, etc.

Tou is a bundle of bamboo into which one thrusts the fingers. It is analogous to delivering a spear hand to the ribs.

I hope that this helps

[Kimpatsu]

The term "hojo undo" (note that the this is better parsed as two separate words in English) refers to any supplementary exercise taken in addition to, and in support of, main training. For example, I am a Shorinji Kenshi, but I also go to the gym where I run on the track to improve stamina, use rep weights to improve muscle tone and condition, and stretch to improve flexibility. As such, the term does not refer specifically to the training aids selfdefense@opt mentions, nor even to MA in particular. Baseball players, for example, also lift weights to prepare themselves better for the game; this too is hojo undo.
HTH.

[selfdefense@opt]

hojoundo usage

I do not argue the literal meaning of hojoundo. But is must be pointed out that it is quite common for words to have context specific meanings. The word "cool" is an obvious one, as in

"It is cool today; I wore a sweater."
"He was quite cool toward her."
"He was really cool, way cool."

"Horse" has diverse contextual meanings
- the animal, sometimes specifically the male horse
- a frame on legs to support something
- in mining it is a mass of earth or rock in a vein of ore

The usage within karate area, especially in goju-ryu, is to refer to the set of exercise tools and their use for developing speed and power as well as centering and balance. Thus we come back to the original list of tools in the first post.

As for the writing of hojoundo I accept the correction. A Google seach returned 73 with the words combined and 942 with the words split, sometimes hyphenated. But of more importance the split allows distinction of hojo undo from Junbi Undo. I will correct it in the next version of my manual.

[Kimpatsu]

I do not argue the literal meaning of hojoundo. But is must be pointed out that it is quite common for words to have context specific meanings. The word "cool" is an obvious one, as in

"It is cool today; I wore a sweater."
"He was quite cool toward her."
"He was really cool, way cool."

"Horse" has diverse contextual meanings
- the animal, sometimes specifically the male horse
- a frame on legs to support something
- in mining it is a mass of earth or rock in a vein of ore

These are not the same word; they are homonyms. FWIW, if hojo undo is being used to mean a specific set of exercises in goju-ryu, then you really should clarify that at the outset (to avoid confusing the rest of us, especially people like me ).
BTW, as we all know, Japanese doesn't lend itself well to Romanisation, and is written without any word breaks itself. I used to think hyphenation between paired words was the answer, but here I think it's better to write the term as two separate words, as that is what they are; "undo" is a noun ("movement") that can also be used metaphorically, as in "the Socialist Movement" or the movement (=deployment) of troops on the battlefield. (See, a homonym again! ), whereas "hojo" ("supplement") is both a verbal noun (e.g., "hojo-suru", "to supplement") and an adjective (e.g., "hojokin", "supplementary benefit"). The analogy would be to terms such as "Nippon taishikan" ("Japanese embassy") or "Eikoku renmei" ("British federation"), where the adjectival nature of the first word is immediately apparent.
HTH.

[EmptyneSs]

Allow me to explain. I made a wager with a drinking lady friend that men have greater dexterity than women. The lady friend says, "Prove it"

I appeared to tap her on the back really quickly.

"Hah!" She said.

"How's thisss a show of dexterity?"

She stopped, face blushing, with an ravaging smile and said...

"Hojoundo my bra?"

aright, that one wasnt too bad. lol

[selfdefense@opt]

It is unfortunate the Master Doshin So did not pickup the exercises constituting Okinawa hojo undo when he was traveling in China learning the Shaolin arts constituting the basis of Shorinji Kempo. But I understand the China was a very difficult place at the time and the martial arts had been severly impacted by the earlier Boxer Rebellion.
Your comments do make it clear that not all, even in the Japanese/Okinawan martial arts world understand the use and application of the hojo undo series of exercises.

[Kimpatsu]

It is unfortunate the Master Doshin So did not pickup the exercises constituting Okinawa hojo undo when he was traveling in China learning the Shaolin arts constituting the basis of Shorinji Kempo. But I understand the China was a very difficult place at the time and the martial arts had been severly impacted by the earlier Boxer Rebellion.
Your comments do make it clear that not all, even in the Japanese/Okinawan martial arts world understand the use and application of the hojo undo series of exercises.

As I said, the term "hojo undo" is generic, and can apply to any range of supplementary activities. Taking extra tuition in addition to your maths classes is also "hojo undo".
BTW, Kaiso never trained in Okinawa; only China and Japan.

[selfdefense@opt]

hojoundo

ok (and the rest of this is because they require 10 characters)

[Kimpatsu]

ok (and the rest of this is because they require 10 characters)

Sorry; you've lost me with the part in parentheses. Could you explain?
TIA,

[selfdefense@opt]

In Fuzhou, China - the source of the much of the karate on Okinawa - martial artists still train with the implements of Okinawa hojo undo. It seems that Okinawa masters brought them to Okinawa after training in Fuzhou. Master Doshin So did not encounter such training or perhaps he found other conditioning that he thought better.
Also it maybe that the people he encountered did not use it.

There is nothing positive or negative about either alternative. I can infer nothing from it. I gather that Shorinji Kempo is based on Northern Shaolin Giwamon Fist. It may be quite different from the Shaolin of Fuzhou, China. Do you have kata in your system?

[Kimpatsu]

In Fuzhou, China - the source of the much of the karate on Okinawa - martial artists still train with the implements of Okinawa hojo undo. It seems that Okinawa masters brought them to Okinawa after training in Fuzhou. Master Doshin So did not encounter such training or perhaps he found other conditioning that he thought better.
Also it maybe that the people he encountered did not use it.

There is nothing positive or negative about either alternative. I can infer nothing from it. I gather that Shorinji Kempo is based on Northern Shaolin Giwamon Fist. It may be quite different from the Shaolin of Fuzhou, China. Do you have kata in your system?

Yes, we have kata (tan'en and sotai undo), but it's not strictly accurate to describe Shorinji Kempo as based upon Giwamonken as if that were the sole, or even, main source. Giwamonken was taught entirely through embu, for example, and the style itself no longer exists today. Rather, Shorinji Kempo is derived from many sources, but is unique in both its inception and execution.
HTH,