In some karate dojo, you greet or respond to a question from your Sensei, your Senpai, your Kohai and fellow students with Osu ! (often pronounced Oss !).
The word Osu is taken from the saying “Osu no Seishin” which means to persevere while being pushed, to endure, etc. Osu is made up of two characters.The first character means to keep, or to maintain. The second character conveys the idea of Shinobu, patience. So Osu can mean to be patient. This fits the Japanese spirit of perseverance.
It is easy for most people stop when things get tough. However a karateka knows only that they must persevere even while pushed.
Through diligent training the karateka must face trials to make gains in strength and wisdom, preparing the mind and body to fight on in the face of seemingly overwhelming
odds.
Spirit of Osu is the means by which he or she can purify his/her character. by relying on natural talents, on education, or luck.
Even those people who do not pursue a Martial Art, can manifest the qualities of a warrior with the qualities of Osu, by being prepared to look trials squarely in the face and never bow to the weight of adversity and achieve greatness in life.
It is very easy to allow ourselves to lose patience and allow ourselves to treat others with disrespect. This is wrong, and we have to remind ourselves that we should not let this happen.
Patience applies to the correct concept of training, the one that we want all our students to follow. The purpose of karate training is to train the body – to make it strong and powerful. This is not approached in isolation. The body is trained by training the mind. When the mind and body are strong, this leads to a unification that produces a strong spirit, which is the real goal of karate training. A strong spirit produces a harmonious individual. Achieving this goal, through the right training, requires patience.
Be patient with yourself and others. Let yourself grow and develop, and allow your training to have time to take effect. Remind yourself of this constantly.
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