The meaning of "ous"

[Martin h]

There are several different meanings and origins for Osu (often misspelled oss, uss, ous or any number of other ways).
The most commonly seen meaning of it isas a short/compressed version of the kanji for "Ohayo Gozaimasu" =good morning.
This originates from the Japanese army/navy. It more or less explains the use of "osu" as a greeting.

Another meaning sometimes seen is as short/compressed version of "Onegai shimasu" =I request/please (a polite way to ask for something). This may explain much of the other usages of the word.

In knockdown related styles of karate (like kyokushin which most descend from) Osu is short for "oshi shinobu".
Oshi = push; pressure. Shinobu=persevere; endure
So the meaning of osu is roughly to endure under pressure. To never give up. To hang in there.

Osu no seishin is the official kyokushin motto and consist of two words. Osu and seishin.
for osu, see above.
Seishin = mind; soul; heart; spirit; intention
so the meaning of osu no seishin is roughly the spirit to endure under pressure. The spirit/willpower to never give up. The spirit to persevere.

Im sure there are other origins/meanings asell.

Outside of karate and martial art, Osu is used in sport gyms and in gangs as a greeting (related to the "good morning" explanation). It has a macho sound and is not very polite. Kids may say it to each other to sound tough, but would not say it to their parents. It is basically the same as "Yo" in english slang. This has resulted in that many martial art styles has tried to stamp out the use aswell.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I have nothing to add to what has been said regarding the meaning of the word. However, on the I-phone app, Japanese Karate Words and Phrases, 'Ous' is listed in the terminology as a "Karate greeting."

Daniel

 

[Blade96]

who would say osu in a public place anyway?

and we spell it as 'oss' cause thats how its pronounced. (same with the word senpai, incidentally. we spell it how its pronounced 'sempai')

anyway

~ Oss! ~

 

[Chris Parker]

Okay, old one I know, but so you know Blade96, sempai is actually correct. The characters are different from sensei, so you are correct with your usage of sempai.

 

[Bruno@MT]

Okay, old one I know, but so you know Blade96, sempai is actually correct. The characters are different from sensei, so you are correct with your usage of sempai.

In case of osu, the fact that the u is silent is no real to spell it differently. Japanese is has quite a bit of silent 'u's and 'i's at the end of words.
In the words knock, knight and gnarly, the k and g are silent as well, but that is no reason to start writing nock, night or narly. Or even worse: nok, nite and narly.

In hiragana, senpai is written using the character for 'n'
せんぱい

So the use of senpai is also correct. I was told that this is one of the cases where n and m are sometimes interchangeable in Japanese. Or I could have misunderstood but I think in this case sempai and senpai are both correct.

 

[Blade96]

In case of osu, the fact that the u is silent is no real to spell it differently.

meh - i guess in some places both spelling ways are acceptable.

and thanks Chris. I already knew that but thats again for repeating it, because someone else might not know.

senpai pronounced sempai

 

[Touch Of Death]

Other than that Most Awesome movie "Kill Or Be Killed" the only time I ever heared the term was after getting blasted in class, my teacher would laugh and say "ous". So, to me, its just something you say to a guy that is layed out from a strike.
Sean

 

[Andrew Green]

It's like when Star Trek nerds run around yelling "Kapla!" constantly, except for karate nerds.

*Speedy exit*

 

[Touch Of Death]

It's like when Star Trek nerds run around yelling "Kapla!" constantly, except for karate nerds.

*Speedy exit*

As a Karate Nerd I resent being compared to Star Trek Nerds!:uhyeah:
Sean

 

[Saitama Steve]

Osu! 押忍! ( Push and persevere!/Endure and push on!/Give it your best!*) is an otoko-poi (Manly) greeting used by budoka, sportsmen, law enforcement officers, fire-fighters etc.

It is also a shortened version of certain greetings or requests. Ohayo Gozaimasu (Good Morning) or Onegai Shimasu (If you please.) This was mainly used by seniors to juniors.

It is said that this greeting originates from Saga-Ken and is mentioned in Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure. It is mentioned in the Hagakure that young bushi would greet each other with "Osu!" when travelling to school.

I have had first hand experience of this culturally in Japan as an educator in municipal schools and also as a student of budo. Senior teachers in the teachers room would use an informal "osu" as a way of saying "mornin'!"
When doing randori in judo, some (not all) students would say "osu" as a contracted way of saying "onegai shimasu". In the budo training case, it would be "let's go!"

It's merely a greeting and isn't used like a religious mantra as heard in some gendai budojo.

*Basic meanings of Osu.

 

[hussaf]

Ahh, Osu! Quite the controversial subject in some circles. I trained in the martial arts for over ten years before starting training in Yoshinkan aikido...where I first heard it being used. This makes sense as Yoshinkan aikido was originally taught to Japanese police, military, etc. I've heard it was common usage, at the time, as a military saying...similar to oohrah. It has also developed different meanings in different groups. "to push" and 'to persevere' are the common associations my group has with this term. For example...when beginning shinsa...a test...one bows and says Osu! as a reminder to push aside all outside concerns that may distract from focus and energy to be used during the testing process. Likewise, after the test, the student will bow with an Osu! to remind himself to push away all that happened, negative and positive, during the test..because it is over with and nothing can be gained by lingering over mistakes or gloating over accomplishments during the test. Push it aside and continue on. We also attach this meaning when training with a partner as we bow to them...same idea, like a palette cleanser for the spirit I suppose.

I understand this term...like many in the martial arts...is archaic or specialized language that many Japanese would not understand or be offended by. Hiriki (instead of hiji), for example, is probably not a commonly recognized word to non-martial artists in Japan. As a side note, our group practices etiquette outside the dojo...unless it is offensive to others around us.

Popular culture: I've seen 'osu' used on the Iron Chef show by Iron Chef Morimoto before a competition.

I think it was the movie Ran, by Akira Kurwasawa, there was a scene when retainers were being handed weapons before a battle (battle of Sekigahara maybe) and each time someone was handed a weapon from the armory, the armorer said osu!...it seemed from the body language/context he was ous'ing this guy to 'push off.'

Spelling. To my knowledge there were two english versions of Romanji developed after the West made contact with Japan in the mid 19th century. The English version and the American version. This could explain why some english versions of Japanese words are spelled differently (Prof. Goldsbury could probably shed more light on that if he is on this forum...I apologize if I spelled the name incorrectly). Anyway, Romanji is a specific way to spell Japanese in english....and its not done phonetically (not any more so than regular romance-language english words are).