Osu means honor, confidence, respect and courage. Osu is a powerful, positive response used in training and everyday life.
In order for one to develop a strong body, mind and spirit you must undergo very demanding and difficult training. You push yourself to what you believe is your limit, often times wanting to give up, to stop. You must learn to be patient and you must continue to push ahead on your path of improvement. This is Osu.
The reason you subject yourself to hard training is because you care about yourself, and to care about yourself is to honor and respect yourself. This honor and respect evolves and expands to become honor and respect for your family, guardians, teachers, instructors, fellow students, your community and your country. This is Osu.
When you enter or leave the dojo you bow and say Osu. This means you honor and respect your dojo and the time you spend training there, developing a strong body, mind and spirit. This enables you to improve your personal confidence and courage which helps you deal with all of life's negatives and positives. This is Osu.
Thus, Osu is very important to the Tao as it signifies a powerful, positive response and appreciation. This is why we always use the word Osu, to remind ourselves of these must have qualities.
