Cultural History of the Phoenix:

In both ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology, the phoenix is a mythical bird and thought to be the servant of the sun god. It lives in Arabia, close to a cool well. Each morning at dawn, it would bathe in the water and sing such a beautiful song that the sun god stops his chariot to listen. There only exists one phoenix at a time. When it felt it's death approaching (every 500 or 1461) years, it would build a nest, set it on fire, and be consumed by flames. When it was burned, a new phoenix sprang forth from the pyre. It then embalmed the ashes of it's predecessor in an egg of myrrh and flew with it to the City of the Sun. There it would deposit the egg on the altar of the sun god. In Egypt is was usually depicted as a heron, but in the classic literature as a peacock or an eagle. The phoenix symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death. In that aspect it was often placed on sarcophagi. It is associated with the Egyptian Benoe, the Garuda of the Hindus and the Chinese Feng.
Information taken from The Will Rice Homepage

The Association's Logo:

The Phoenix Legend was designed in 1981 by Kham Pham, nidan, by request of Dan Soller. The triangle which surrounds the legend symbolizes the three facets of karatedo, the mental, physical, and spiritual. The circle, and the colors black and white represent the concepts of yin and yang, and the balance of the karateka. The five stars represent one's continuing pursuit of perfection, the ultimate goal of karate. The legend centers around the phoenix- a mythological bird which lived 1000 years, then immolated itself, only to rise again whole from its own ashes. The phoenix represents the will of the karateka; despite obstacles and strife, the karateka must always rise up again to overcome these seemingly impossible odds. The phoenix and the stars both represent the concept of OSU, and are red to symbolize the eternal flame of the karateka's will.

Context of the Phoenix in the Association:

"Phoenix," in our budo context, translates to "will" or "rising will". The immediate concept behind this is the development of a discipled will that leads to the non-quitting spirit. "Seeing the Phoenix" implies taking someone past the easy road; past the physical a bit as to when their talent and skill are depleted and when most have that voice saying "give up". When we push on - in the true spirit of osu - then we hope to "see the Phoenix" and dig in, rise to the occasion and go forward. Our testing procedures and much of our curriculum are designed to provide the discipline that "feeds the Phoenix". This concept is really the capstone of the organization.
The above is how we would describe it in the karate sense. Seeing the Phoenix also has its place outside the dojo in our everyday lives. Those times of crisis, big and small, are also times of "seeing the Phoenix".