Opening the door of a Traditional Karate Dojo for the first time will be an assault on your senses. The novice of Karate will see, smell, feel, and hear strange and exciting things on that first trip through the gate of Karate. If the novice “finds something” in that first visit, day’s will turn into weeks, weeks into month’s, and month’s into year’s. As time passes the sensations that we first felt upon entering a Traditional Karate Dojo will become commonplace. In this normality often times we overlook the simple more subtle things that the curious eyes of a beginner will not miss. The Japanese expression Osu, is used in varying situations in and out of the Karate Dojo. So interwoven into regular Karate training, that curiously most practitioners only have a cursory knowledge of its meaning.
“Yes“, “I understand“, “hello“, “goodbye“, and “I will do my best” are all normal answers to the question of what the expression Osu means. All of these answers are inaccurate.
To meet the objective of this posting, I will concentrate on the second of two kanji symbols, that make up the expression Osu. A detailed explanation is listed below:
Nin derives from two Kanji symbols, and they are defined as follows:
1. Ha- blade, sword, dagger, or knife.
2. Shin- heart, mind, or feelings.
Traditional Karate training creates an indomitable fighting spirit, that prepares the practitioner for any physical or mental attack. Coping with the stress of finances, business, family, peer pressure, drugs, and self image is crippling our society both young and old. Nin translated from Japanese means “even if a blade pierces my heart, I will continue“.
Infiltrating the mentality of “Osu” into our lives can have alot of positive affects both physically and mentally.
Doryoku,
Scott
