Don't OSS me!

[Canadian77]

In my kyokushin Dojo we say OSU for nearly everything ... hi, thank you , OK , got it , ...... I love it and sometimes I use it with trainers in my local gym and they couldn't understand it feels funny but I got used to say it all the time

I hear you Safroot, ours is the same. I'm training myself to say it instead of 'yes' at the dojo, because it seems like the right response there, so I can definitely see saying it in the wrong place accidentally, lol.

[Safroot]

In my kyokushin Dojo we say OSU for nearly everything ... hi, thank you , OK , got it , ...... I love it and sometimes I use it with trainers in my local gym and they couldn't understand it feels funny but I got used to say it all the time

I hear you Safroot, ours is the same. I'm training myself to say it instead of 'yes' at the dojo, because it seems like the right response there, so I can definitely see saying it in the wrong place accidentally, lol.

You will find it hard at the beginning but then you won't be able to stop it

[wildbourgman]

I went to a Shotokan camp last weekend and people were "ossing" everywhere to everyone for everything. Even the Japanese hierarchy.

I don't remember this being customary in the late 1980's in United States dojos, but then again I don't know where I put my wallet just now or where I parked my car five munites after going into Walmart.

[Kanku65]

I don't know where I put my wallet just now or where I parked my car five munites after going into Walmart.

Off topic, but, second to misplacing the keys, these are the worst.

[Hawkmoon]

hmmm...

'Oss!' (spelt Osu) is one of the things I love about MA!

I cannot decide if its not got or rather if it does not hide a 'in house' joke that only a Japanese person would understand.

(aka a joke that pokes fun at westerners)

One attempt to explain 'Osu that I have come across says:

The word OSU is considered by many karateka, both Japanese and non-Japanese to be a crude word, not acceptable for use in the dojo. This is because it is interpreted as a contraction of “Ohayo gozaimasu”, and through its use in the docks and barracks it is therefore the Japanese equivalent of “Waazzup man!”.

The OSU! in Kyokushin however does not have the same origin. It comes for the expression “Oshi shinobu!” which means to push oneself to the limit of one's ability and yet to continue, to persevere under pressure, and to endure.

I like this as it does make use of descriptions and translations and so on that I've come across or read or had explained to me over the years!

Its origin is not to be found in the home of Karate (Okinawa blah, blah..) true, that single point comes up each and every time, what also comes up every time is the military and/or docks connection and origin.

The Kyokushin connection is mainly due to Sosai use of it in his training and teaching of Karate.

OSU - to push, to endure

 

The first kanji is the Japanese verb osu which means "push." It symbolizes the combat spirit, the importance of effort and the necessity to overcome all obstacles, push them aside and advance with a steady positive attitude. The second kanji is the Japanese verb shinobu which means "endure" or "hide." It refers to the notion of pain and expresses the idea of courage, the spirit of perseverance and the resistance to withdrawal.

The connection here is WWII, Sosai famously said in a television interview, "Itsumitemo Haran Banjyo" (Nihon Television),

"I lost many friends during the war- the very morning of their departure as Kamikaze pilots, we had breakfast together and in the evening their seats were empty. After the war ended, I was angry- so I fought as many U.S. military as I could, until my portrait was all over the police station."

Osu is common in MA, in as well as outside Japan, but even so it is still considered by some to be 'guttural' (harsh) less than perfect respect, and in Okinowa its association with the underworld persists even to this day!

[Safroot]

hmmm...

'Oss!' (spelt Osu) is one of the things I love about MA!

I cannot decide if its not got or rather if it does not hide a 'in house' joke that only a Japanese person would understand.

(aka a joke that pokes fun at westerners)

One attempt to explain 'Osu that I have come across says:

The word OSU is considered by many karateka, both Japanese and non-Japanese to be a crude word, not acceptable for use in the dojo. This is because it is interpreted as a contraction of “Ohayo gozaimasu”, and through its use in the docks and barracks it is therefore the Japanese equivalent of “Waazzup man!”.

The OSU! in Kyokushin however does not have the same origin. It comes for the expression “Oshi shinobu!” which means to push oneself to the limit of one's ability and yet to continue, to persevere under pressure, and to endure.

I like this as it does make use of descriptions and translations and so on that I've come across or read or had explained to me over the years!

Its origin is not to be found in the home of Karate (Okinawa blah, blah..) true, that single point comes up each and every time, what also comes up every time is the military and/or docks connection and origin.

The Kyokushin connection is mainly due to Sosai use of it in his training and teaching of Karate.

OSU - to push, to endure

 

The first kanji is the Japanese verb osu which means "push." It symbolizes the combat spirit, the importance of effort and the necessity to overcome all obstacles, push them aside and advance with a steady positive attitude. The second kanji is the Japanese verb shinobu which means "endure" or "hide." It refers to the notion of pain and expresses the idea of courage, the spirit of perseverance and the resistance to withdrawal.

The connection here is WWII, Sosai famously said in a television interview, "Itsumitemo Haran Banjyo" (Nihon Television),

"I lost many friends during the war- the very morning of their departure as Kamikaze pilots, we had breakfast together and in the evening their seats were empty. After the war ended, I was angry- so I fought as many U.S. military as I could, until my portrait was all over the police station."

Osu is common in MA, in as well as outside Japan, but even so it is still considered by some to be 'guttural' (harsh) less than perfect respect, and in Okinowa its association with the underworld persists even to this day!

[Nidan Melbourne]

I find it interesting how some will say osu when they are wanting it to mean 'yes'. The instructors that i've had over the years hate it when we use it that way. We use 'Hai' which is the actual term for yes, and if we don't know it we use the term no in japanese (can't remember the spelling for it)

[Safroot]

I find it interesting how some will say osu when they are wanting it to mean 'yes'. The instructors that i've had over the years hate it when we use it that way. We use 'Hai' which is the actual term for yes, and if we don't know it we use the term no in japanese (can't remember the spelling for it)

It's different in our dojo ... we say Osu yes, Hi , I got it, Bye, See you, ... but not for No

[Canadian77]

When we use it it isn't so much "yes" as "I understand". But we do use it similarly as well. Explaining it to people who aren't at all involved in martial arts, I sometimes equate it to the conventional use of the Italian "capisce", lol.

[CredoTe]

Nope, don't use it in our dojo. Osensei Nagamine didn't like it, either, so most Matsubayashi-Ryu dojos do not use it. I have been to some that do, though.