Osae a.k.a "Pressing"

[Shorin Ryuu]

Obviously that's not what he's talking about...nor is what he is talking about a specific technique (like stuffing a jab or a press block or other ones mentioned).

[kotegashiNeo]

that sounds awesome I will incorperate that into my karate right away and any more details regarding it would be greatly appriciated

[cross]

that sounds awesome I will incorperate that into my karate right away and any more details regarding it would be greatly appriciated

I would be very surprised if the concept of osae isnt already apart of almost all martial arts. Forward momentum and projecting your "intent" forward seem to be a fairly common idea in most peoples training. I guess some have not been shown this though.

[Skeptic 2004]

So by this, do you mean that powerfull ki rays are being transmitted from your hara to your limbs and then through thin air to your opponent ?

No.

I've been trying to think of a simple experiment everyone can do because osae is just one of those things that you can't really describe in so many words, but if demonstrated you get it; that is, you get the concept. Applying is another story...and I still have trouble with it. However, the probability of experiment error is very high (i.e., chances of you doing it wrong are pretty great). I'll try anyway so you'll at least grasp the concept a little bit.

There are two VERY important things for osae: posture and hara. Try this experiment standing in a natural stance. You must NEVER break posture during this experiment or you'll lose the osae. Imagine being suspended by a string by the crown (top) of your head. Imagine a pole being shoved up your rear and coming out of the crown of your head: that is your posture. Chin up and in slightly (kinda as if "pulling chins"...uggh...can't believe I said that), shoulders relaxed, back "straight" (there's a big debate on this in another forum, hence the quotes), open/flare your chest (but if your arms end up dangling behind you like an ape, you're doing it wrong).

Now, project your hara forward; that is, project your center forward. If you just jut your pelvis out like you're humping the air, you're doing it wrong. If you do not move the hara forward, you will not osae. If you have no concept of hara/tanden/diantien, think of how a pregnant woman walks and how she projects her middle forward in order to take the strain off her back, but doesn't jut her pelvis forward like she's air humping. Walk "naturally" - that is, if you're projecting your hara forward, in order to move forward you'll have to walk with your toes pointing out. Parallel or toes in will feel like you're lifting your center up and over your leg...mostly because walking that way you are lifting your center up and over your leg. Hara must move forward. Don't just think about your legs, but imagine moving your body being a brick wall and that you're moving it forward.

You should feel as if you're falling forward or something is pulling you forward. You are walking forward with osae. If you're into the whole imaginary center of gravity idea, osae I guess is a special case. You can also move backwards with osae.

Grab a partner and have him punch. Block in any manner pleasing to you except, as you block, angle off (never, never, never, just stand there with your body square to him and block; you should always angle your body off) and move in on him with osae. If he strikes again, block, angle off, and move in on him with osae. I say this sequentially, but it all happens simultaneously. Remember posture and hara. NEVER BREAK POSTURE, or you'll lose the osae. HARA MUST COME FORWARD, or you will not osae.

Make your blocks "sticky"; that is, don't just swing a limb out there, make contact with his limb, and pull it back. Be "sticky". Maintain contact with him. Notice I say "sticky" not "stupid". If you understand strategy and body mechanics (or cheat and just say "no grappling"), you'll be able to maintain contact with him without exposing your limbs to the threat of grappling or pressure point strikes (if he's knowledgable enough to exploit those). When you maintain contact with him and move in on him with osae, he must yield ground to you or be run over.

It's like in the adventure movies when person falls in a pit, and the wall starts coming forward to crush them to death. Moving forward with osae is like being that wall, moving into crush your opponent. This is along the same lines of what I mean when I say osae extends to your limbs when striking, blocking, kicking or grappling. You can also move away from your opponent with osae. Even in retreat, you are constantly projecting your presence forward, and in essence being a wall.

I hope this helps...though I'm not sure if I really answered anyone's question. I apologize for anything being unclear as osae is something I'm still struggling to adapt, but I just wanted to know if others were struggling with me.

[Sauzin]

I think I understand the jest of what you are saying there. This defiantly exists in other martial arts though I think there are different approaches to it. Stating things like a wall moving forward seems to indicate a connected and properly aligned body while performing techniques that offer no wasted motion except that which advances forward or toward your target. Visualizing your hara in front of you seems to project intent that is past or transitions past a technique to the one following it. This may also cause the shifting of your weight to be timed slightly ahead of the stance that supports it causing your weight to drop into techniques. Other styles might point out these aspects more individually yet arrive at a similar result. Still I think this offers a very interesting way of describing and visualizing these things as a single concept.

[Skeptic 2004]

Sauzin: I think you're pretty correct on this. The only exception I take to it is that projection of your hara is not just something you visualize; it is something that you actually physically do. When your body is in alignment in the posture that I've tried to describe, your hara will come forward. You lead with your hara when you move and execute various techniques.

My instructor didn't like Arakaki's Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques, but it's ironic that osae embodies a special case of the whole imaginary center of gravity concept Arakaki talks about (which Sauzin concisely summarized as "the shifting of your weight [timed] slightly ahead of the stance that supports it causing your weight to drop into techniques"). I think maybe my instructor takes exception to the book because in many of the still shots Arakaki's posture is terrible (he breaks posture very frequently).

The hardest part of applying osae is the fact that you MUST NOT break posture. Once you do, you lose the osae.

[Shorin Ryuu]

My instructor didn't like Arakaki's Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques, but it's ironic that osae embodies a special case of the whole imaginary center of gravity concept Arakaki talks about (which Sauzin concisely summarized as "the shifting of your weight [timed] slightly ahead of the stance that supports it causing your weight to drop into techniques"). I think maybe my instructor takes exception to the book because in many of the still shots Arakaki's posture is terrible (he breaks posture very frequently).

I was going to bring that book up and ICG as sounding somewhat similar to what you're describing...