Osu: what the word you hear in the dojo really means

01The short answer

02Two characters, one idea

The word is written with two kanji. The first, 押, is read “osu” and means to push, to press. The second, 忍, is read “shinobu” on its own: to endure, to bear, to hold on. In 押忍, only “osu” is pronounced. Read together in the spirit of Kyokushin, they say something like: keep moving forward when it is hard, without making a fuss about it.

That is why the word keeps coming up when training gets hard: the last set, the end of a round, a correction you did not want to hear. It does not mean “I am strong”. It means something closer to “understood, I am carrying on”.

03When it is said in the dojo

At our dojo, the word is part of the written etiquette. You say it:

• when entering and leaving the dojo, with the bow;
• when answering the Sensei’s explanations and instructions, as a sign of understanding and respect.

The Dojo Kun, the dojo’s principles, also ends with the word. In other Kyokushin dojos, you will also hear it before and after a partner drill, to greet a partner.

A beginner learns the word by hearing it. There is nothing to prepare before the first class: after a few sessions, it comes on its own.

04Where does the word come from? Several explanations

Kyokushin dojos explain the word through its two characters: the perseverance reading. Other explanations circulate: for some, “osu” may be a casual contraction of “ohayō gozaimasu”, the morning greeting, shortened in sports circles; for others, it is an abbreviation of a longer polite phrase. The expression has long been used in some Japanese sports and university circles, and it is found in the martial arts as well.

None of these explanations has been settled. Kyokushin, for its part, made it a central word, and the word followed the style to its dojos around the world.

05“Osu” or “Oss”?

It is the same word. “Osu” follows the Japanese transcription; “Oss” is closer to what you hear, because the final “u” is barely pronounced in Japanese. The spelling “Oss” is very common in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA, including in gyms a long way from Japan.

In our dojo’s etiquette and Dojo Kun, it is written in capitals: “OSU!”.

06When it is better not to say it

Outside the dojo, be careful. In Japan, “osu” is a casual, rather masculine greeting exchanged between friends or members of the same club; you do not say it to a stranger, to an older person or to a superior. Saying it to a waiter or to a Japanese colleague would be out of place: a simple hello works better.

Even in the dojo, the word is not something to shout at every turn. It answers, it greets, it thanks. Said at the right moment, it says a lot in few words; repeated constantly, it stops meaning anything.

07At the dojo on Nuns’ Island

You will hear it in the first minute. The dojo etiquette asks for it on entering, on leaving and in reply to the Sensei; the Dojo Kun ends with it. Classes are taught in French and in English, but everyone says this word in Japanese.

Children train from age 4 to 13, adults from age 14. The first class is a free trial, with nothing to buy beforehand.

Keep reading