How do you address your instructor?

[Vapour]

The same question was asked in E-Budo.

I always had a feeling that Japanese martial arts are more formal than Chinese one. However, it turned out that most people call their instructor by their first name and address their instructor sensei only in dojo.

Btw, I call my taijiquan instructor by his first name.

[yenhoi]

Indeed. My teacher's name is Dave. Thats how I address him.

:eek:

[NorthernMantis]

Well I always say sifu Shelly and that's about it. It takes nothing away from and I never get any looks in public. I don't see why some people have a hard time addressing their cma sifu as sifu in public. IMO Americans don't like someone with higher authority.

For example if sifu asks me to do something I'll do it, but I won't do it blindly.

[RedSkaNite]

Dao Si-hing. His son is Si-hing.

[shaolin kungfu]

Jeff, for that is his name.

[SifuAbel]

First I put his name, then his street addess,City, state, the zip code. That about does it.

As far what you call him. Call him whatever he wants you to call him.

[sn0w8lade]

I call my sifu, sifu. nothing else

[MasterKiller]

I call him Sifu, inside class and outside class.

[Becca]

I call him Sifu. It is a title of honor, and he earned it. You call your doctor "Doctor", yes?

[Xebsball]

i call my instructor by his name
i call my doctor by... "you"
for example: "and what you say that will that do to my neural system?"

im a vet student, and i call my teachers (who are doctors) by their first names, or "teacher"

[sn0w8lade]

Originally posted by Becca
I call him Sifu. It is a title of honor, and he earned it. You call your doctor "Doctor", yes?

Couldn't agree more!

I call him sifu out of respect for him ( ok an maybe a lil bit of fear:D )

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

hi jerry, what's up.

[Mr Punch]

Sifu Abel is on the money.

And he has shown impeccable taste by stealing my joke from another thread!:D

[Becca]

Originally posted by sn0w8lade


Couldn't agree more!

I call him sifu out of respect for him ( ok an maybe a lil bit of fear:D )

Of him, or the push ups, or what ever you'll get? :p

Have learned the hard way not to refere to certain extreme stretches as "Chinese Kamasutra"(Push-ups 'till he was tired)

Don't leave the windows to my truck down if it might rain. (100 push-ups for leaving the kwoon durring class)

Don't be late for class (50 push-ups for every 5 minutes)

No matter how silly Rob looks doing the duck walk exersize, don't lauph, even if everyone else thinks its funny, too. (My arms still have not recovered from that one)

And he does look funny doing that exersize. Not as silly as knife-edge walk, though. Everyone does that one silly, no dignified way to do that one.

[Shaolin Dude]

I just call him yao.

[Volcano Admim]

buttplug Merryprankster buttplug

[Surferdude]

Sensei !!!:D
O yea no sifu here!!!:D :p
First one to say sensei hahahaha

[joedoe]

My sifu does not want us to call him sifu. So we call him by his first name.

[kwaichang kaned]

Sifu in and around the school.
But Jack on the occassions that we go out into the world.

[Judge Pen]

Most of the time I call him Mike but I amke a point to call him sifu in open class. I don't think that he has a preference as I would not if I was teaching a class.

[apoweyn]

Guro

[Robinf]

Sifu in class. Mr. and last name or Sir outside of class. He's almost 20 years older than I, and I would feel uncomfortable and disrespectful calling him by his first name (respect to elders).

[GLW]

Abel,

how many stamps do you have to put on that Instructor so the Post Office will take him?

Will UPS handle him any better?

[BAI HE]

Morpheus.

[Budokan]

"Hey, Beeyotch, bow to your superior, the Great Budokan, Master of your gut-trembling fate. By the way, I want to poke your hot sister and make your momma scream like a racoon in heat."

Then he beats me into the canvas, cracking bones and smashing capillaries. It's our way.

[kwaichang kaned]

AWWWWW!
you guys sound close!
Thats sooo sweet!

[David]

My teachers don't like to be called sifu so first names are used.

-David

[Black Jack]

One guy just by his first name, the second either by his first name or by Cikgu (means teacher in Malay) followed by his name depending on the situation.

Nothing strict by any means.

[Stacey]

Dark Lord or Phallusmaster Rex.

[jun_erh]

Sea Food

[norther practitioner]

Sea Food
or sherrr foool... kind of in a Mr. T tone is what my friends jokingly refer to him as.
In class: shirfu
out of class: Christophe

[African Tiger]

I thought that was the point of calling your instructor "Sifu" simply, and not Sifu Dave, etc?

Sometimes we're allowed to call Carl Totten by his first name, but always Sifu in class. After a few of the brown belts dropped out, we dropped Si-Heng and Si-Jeng.

[Vash]

In class: Sensei, or Sensei Reece, Sir (when asked to do something)
Outside: Mr. Reece, Sensei, Sensei Reece, Sir.

He's about 32 years older than me, and I'm only 19. So, seems respectful.

[quiet man]

Sifu.

He's 19 years older than me, and he's my teacher.

[fa_jing]

Punitive pushups - stick me with that sh!t, without a daymn good reason and I will leave. Same goes for group punishment. I'm there to learn MA, not to learn discipline - save it for the kids.

PS I call my teacher Sifu or Sifu + first or last name.

[Black Jack]

I am with you on that one fa jing

Punitive pushups are often total bullcrap. Its ego masturbation for the teacher.

[rubthebuddha]

i agree on the pushup thing. i'm a student to learn martial arts. if i wanted a stronger chest, i'd hit the pec deck.

for my instructor, i call him sisok, and i do it with respect. he's definitely earned it.

[red5angel]

I like to try to punch my instructor in the throat just to keep him sharp.

[taijiquan_student]

Yeah, it's sucks that you're stuck with that, Becca. That's kind of ridiculous. But it sounds like you don't see anything strange about it, so more power to you.

[rubthebuddha]

just means she'll be able to do more pushups than the rest of us. :o

[Becca]

Sifu's actually pretty leniant. Usually someone needs to come right out and disrespect him or someone to get discipined. Joking around is allowed and encouraged. I just tend to carry it too far from time to time. The reason I get push-ups is partly due to Sifu's amusment at my having been a Jar-head and partially due to a kwoon joke about one of my ggod friends which I seem to have become a part of by association.:D

[African Tiger]

You and me both, Becca.

Sifu Totten keeps making fun of me saying **** like, "You WISH you had learned this in the Marines," as he neatly turns my 6'2" frame into an African Pretzel.....:eek:

[Becca]

:D

If I had a nickle for every time someone has come up to me saying something like, "Is that all the harder you Marines hit?!?" I wouldn't have to work any more.

That's about the time I tell them the Marines teach you not to fight with the fist when you have a perfectlly good M-16 and a full clip. :D

[fidon]

Well Sifu, is just that, Sifu. However with my instructors its just SiHeng (then their first name).

[Christopher M]

His name! Titles are for books.