Some of my black belt students were innocently asking about the expression “osu” 押す/ おっす last week after our training. They had told me that they read on a blog and also seen it on a website of how the word was not found on Okinawa and was painted as an inappropriate term that declassifies an Okinawan style from a Japanese style. While I agree it can and has been overused by the West, it has nothing to do with making one’s style or it’s teacher misinformed.
My teacher used “osu” and it was a part of the spirit of his training and the way he lived his life every day. There is not a soul who knew him on Okinawa or outside that question his integrity, the love of his island people and his devotion to Okinawan Karate. I certainly don’t need to defend him, his use of ‘Osu” and how it made him any less the Okinawan Sensei that he was and will always be.
There are too many people out there trying to make a name for themselves as “professional Karate teachers/celebrities” using webpages, blogs and how knowledgeable they are about Okinawan Karate.(If I am wrong, let’s see them remove their name from any of the social media that they use and just promote Okinawan karate) You should only be concerned about the life your teacher has led, how they trained and continuing their spirit through your training.