Sifu comes last

[Phenix_Eye]

In cantonese, the word Sifu comes after the name. mainly because they speak the opposite way. e.g 'Wong Sifu'

So how would you say it for Yip Man, Yip Chun etc?

[Ish]

When i met ip chun everyone i heard speak to him called him sifu or sigung not ip chun sifu or sifu ip chun.

[dezhen2001]

i think that if you are speaking to them in person, it would just be Sifu, Sigong, or even Tai Sigong... if it's not to them, then you would put the family name in front eg. Ip Tai Sigong

david

[Alpha Dog]

I think that, when speaking to your Shi Fu, it is best to refer to him by that title only. For example, if he is surnamed Wang, you could call him Wang Shi Fu, but to me that implies the obvious reality that he is not the only Shi Fu. It may be true, but maybe not the most courteous way to talk to him.

[reneritchie]

If they're your personal teacher, you call them Sifu (teacher/father), if they're your personal teacher's teacher, you call them Sigung (teacher/grandfather), if they're your personal teacher's teacher's teacher, you call them Sijo (teacher/ancestor) or Sitaigung (teacher/great grandfather). Likewise, if they're you're personal teacher's sihing (teacher/elder brother) you call them Sibak (teacher/elder uncle) or sidai (teacher/younger brother) you call them Sisuk (teacher/younger brother). For Sigung's Sihing or Sidai, you can use Sibakgung and Sisukgung. This is similar to how you'd call your father, grandfather, uncle, great uncle simply by those names.

If they're not in your direct ancestory, or are far enough removed from it, you can use their family name followed by the generic honorific Sifu (teacher/teacher - different second character from the previous Sifu). Eg, Yip Sifu, Wong Sifu, etc. This is similar to how you might call a Catholic priest Father, even though he's not your biological sire.

Hope this helps,

Rgds,

RR

[Phenix_Eye]

thanks for the info