How do you address your instructor?

[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.

[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.

[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.....

[Becca]

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.

[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.