Don't OSS me!

[Hawkmoon]

hehehe ... see to me there is an oddity here, and hence the 'private joke' comment I made earlier.

This 'osu' word/sound when spoken in the Martial arts sense is like a little piece of Japan and Japanese culture alive and living in the hall down the road!

As a Westerner I hear that word and romantic images of Japan come to mind, warriors standing firm at sunrise against impossible odds, quiet, confident no question in them about there assured victory this day!

The polite, humble peaceful homes and people nestled against the valley wall and so on and so on ....

When we watch movies, see TV dramas and so on we hear that word (also pronounced incorrectly in many examples) and we all see and maybe 'feel' some Japanese culture wash over us!

'Osu!' the word we all hear, the word we all understand (... and some of us pronounce it wrong) but no matter what its the one word we accept as 'correct' in a dojo.

Now watch a documentary about Japan or Tokyo, and we see this person or that person when addressed bow and say '"Hai!"

...we don't bat an eye lid the person didn't say 'Osu!'

Its like the Audi advert and there slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik", it roughly translates to "Advancement through technology", yet needs to be said correctly according to some Germans I work with else its just a meaningless collection of words and sounds!