The Very Definition of 'Osu!' 押忍！

A couple of days ago a very high ranking, important Black Belt in Japan posted a video on Facebook showing his students’ fine performances at a Tokyo tournament. They did extremely well, but barely missed taking runner-up. He lamented that this was because of lack of practice due to COVID shutdowns. He further commented that he, too, could not practice as he wanted. He is a national tournament champion, and feels that his inability to train as he did previously has exacerbated his back pains. It is upsetting to not work his kata more than a few times before the pain becomes intense.

The last thing this wonderful Karate master needs is advice from lowly little me, but that didn’t stop me from commenting on his post. I thanked him for posting the video of his students’ excellent competition. I then brashly added the following:

We knew an American competitor, Jim Smith. If he did not make at least runner-up he would say, “The answers are back in the dojo”. This is difficult when pandemic has closed your dojo. Stay strong, COVID will end soon. I, too, have back pain (and knees, and hips, and shoulder). Keep a strong positive attitude; it does help. I believe the correct phrase for pushing forward against great adversity is: Osu! 押忍！