empty-handed; bare hands
Refers to having nothing in one's hands, or fighting without weapons. Often used in set phrases like 徒手空拳.
He confronted the robber bare-handed.
He started a new business with nothing but his bare hands.
He came to Tokyo penniless and achieved success.
calisthenics without apparatus; free-standing exercises
empty-handed; with nothing but one's bare hands · penniless; without capital
Composed of 徒 (bare, empty) and 手 (hand). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the compound is used in classical and modern Japanese to mean 'without anything in hand'.