A Brief History of Hokkon-ho Budo
Hokkon-ho Budo (発根法武道) means rooting method of martial arts. Hokkon (発根) is the Japanese word for rooting, a figurative translation of the concept cheng ba (撐拔) from Tai Chi Chuan. Cheng ba means support and is sometimes used to mean cane, though in its idiomatic usage in Tai Chi Chuan practice it refers to the body’s connection to the ground. And every action and reaction depend upon the one immovable object we all have access to—the Earth. More on that later.
I was first introduced to cheng ba while training Tai Chi Chuan in Taiwan. At the time I had already studied martial arts for 30 years, starting with Okinawan Karate when I was a teenager and then delving into Aikido 13 years later. I had also studied Tai Chi Chuan for six years under a Chinese teacher (Wei Kuang Tao), who trained kung fu at Shaolin Monastery before fleeing to Taiwan during the Cultural Revolution and then immigrating to America. All of these experiences informed my understanding—or lack thereof—of cheng ba.
My martial arts journey began in a small Karate dojo in Laurens, South Carolina. My first sensei, Jeff Linville, was the high school physics teacher and a formidable man. I signed up the same month he opened his dojo on the town square. Sensei Linville the science teacher instilled the proper scientific attitude and basic martial skills I needed to progress as far as I have. His teacher was Ridgely Abele, chief instructor for Robert Trias and the sensei who awarded me my first black belt. Among his many accomplishments, Mr. Abele wrote a book called Karate: Art – Sport – Science.
Years later I would stumble across Roy Suenaka, student of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba and Shorin-ryu Karatedo teacher Hohan Soken, among others. I had read his book, Complete Aikido, and though after an earlier experience with Aikido I had no intention of learning the art, Sensei Suenaka’s life and experiences convinced me otherwise. I studied Aikido and Shorin-ryu Karatedo with Sensei Suenaka until his death in 2020. I loved Sensei like a father, and he continues to be an enormous influence on my practice and my studies.
In 2017 I moved to Taiwan and shortly thereafter met Dong Zhengxiong (董正雄), my second Tai Chi Chuan teacher. Shifu Dong’s instructor was Gan Xiaozhou (干嘯洲), a student of the celebrated Zheng Manqing (鄭曼青). Shifu Dong was also a student of White Crane Kung Fu (白鶴功夫), so his martial applications often resembled the Hakutsuru Karatedo that I had learned from Sensei Suenaka. When Shifu would demonstrate a White Crane technique for the first time, I would repeat it perfectly, and my classmates would respond with a chorus of wows. Shifu would shake his head and laugh knowing I had likely practiced the exact technique many times.
Though cheng ba sparked a revolutionary change in my understanding of martial arts, what Shifu Dong taught me in Taiwan only ever complemented the skills and knowledge I gleaned from Sensei Linville, Master Wei, Sensei Suenaka, and others. I often describe the pedagogical styles of my two principle teachers in this way: Sensei Suenaka would teach things that Shifu Dong would do but not teach, and Shifu Dong would teach things that Sensei Suenaka would do but not teach. It was like seeing both sides of the same coin at once.
After several years of training Shifu Dong said to me, “One day you will teach Karate and Aikido using the Tai Chi Chuan method,” which is exactly what I intended to do. Hokkon-ho is a method, not a style. Hokkon-ho is a way to understand and improve all martial arts, a methodology developed from and scrutinized through Karatedo, Aikido, and Tai Chi Chuan.
So what are Karatedo, Aikido, and Tai Chi Chuan? Click on the links below for more information.