The way a sifu presents himself

[The Xia]

I was curious as to what opinions are on this topic. What are the dos and dont's that a Sifu should follow on how he presents himself.



I'll start out with a major don't. I notice that there are some non-Chinese that try to beat Chinese people at being Chinese. All sorts of strange haircuts (including Queues) and outfits that look like they've been stolen from a Shaw Brothers set are common with these types. In my opinion, presenting yourself in this manner is a major don't. I think it looks really bad.

[yutyeesam]

Depends if that Sifu wants to have a commercial school or not. If they want a commerical school, then Kung-Fu outfit during class, biz-casual when at the school but not teaching.

People have to take you seriously.
One challenge I know new school owners face is showing kindness without it getting mistaken for weakness. And on the flip side, showing strength without arrogance.

-123

[BoulderDawg]

I could really care less what my teacher wears, how long his hair is or, frankly, whether or not he takes a bath every day! All I care about is whether or not he knows his stuff and is able to convey (or teach) it to others.

I like a teacher who is hands on. In other words he's out working with lower level students instead of depending on his instructors or higher level students to do this.

My own pet peeves are rather small and doesn't effect my training. They include a lot of traditional crap. I'm not a big fan of all the bowing or calling the teacher "master" or "Sifu". Also at our school you have to take off your shoes before you can enter the training or school area....I thought this was more Japanese instead of Chinese but at our school it's a rule.

[David Jamieson]

be yourself and know your shit. putting on airs is fake.

[David Jamieson]

I could really care less what my teacher wears, how long his hair is or, frankly, whether or not he takes a bath every day! All I care about is whether or not he knows his stuff and is able to convey (or teach) it to others.

I like a teacher who is hands on. In other words he's out working with lower level students instead of depending on his instructors or higher level students to do this.

My own pet peeves are rather small and doesn't effect my training. They include a lot of traditional crap. I'm not a big fan of all the bowing or calling the teacher "master" or "Sifu". Also at our school you have to take off your shoes before you can enter the training or school area....I thought this was more Japanese instead of Chinese but at our school it's a rule.

taking off your shoes has a very practical reason. not wearing yoru street shoes in class does as well.

a) it keeps any crap off the floor that you train on that you may drag in with your shoes.

b) training in street shoes also brings a chance taht hard objects or sharp objects are in your shoe and could cut your sparring partner.

its a chinese thing too to take your shoes off at the door of the training hall. It's a western thing too in a lot of gyms. IE no street shoes on a b-ball court and so on.

[The Xia]

There is no need to train barefoot. There are plenty of great martial arts shoes on the market. Not to mention, it is a Japanese custom to remove shoes indoors. I have not heard of or seen this custom in any traditional Chinese environment David. What custom are you referring too?

[David Jamieson]

never mind customs. It's not a custom, it's a practocal thing to keep crap off the floor by not wearing street shoes on the tarining hall floor.

no tradition about it, just common sense.

[MasterKiller]

Street shoes on mats = Staph infections.

[The Xia]

You can always wipe your street shoes off at a doormat or something. You can also wear another pair of shoes to train in. Putting in training time in street shoes (and clothes) isn't a bad idea. After all, if you have a street encounter it is highly unlikely you'll be wearing the clothes and shoes you train in (unless you always train in street attire). I don't see barefoot training as a necessity but hey if that's what you like, go nuts!

[MasterKiller]

Wiping your shoes does not remove bacteria or fungus.

I have no problem with people having a dedicated pair of shoes ONLY worn on the mats, but sparring should be done barefooted.

[David Jamieson]

Im not talking about training barefoot, Im talking about taking off the shoes that you wear on the street.

wearing shoes is fine so long as they are as mk put it a dedicated pair for training.
They can even be mirror of what you normally wear on your feet depending on what's allowed. IE steel toe boots in a tkd school is just plain stupid. lol

[EarthDragon]

Bolder dawg
Actually taking off shoes worn outside is a strict custom in every other part of the world except here, they do it in italy, france, spain, china and japan.
I have been to all these places at different dwellings and everyone takes off thier shoes as respect for the living quaters as opposed to the enviroment , if you walk through the fish market in jinpa would you not take off your shoes before you walked on your rugs when you got home?

As far as practical as everyone else said crap on your shoes would never touch my tatami mats. Nor would as DJ said boots be worn to kick.

Hell if its OK to go bowling and follow thier rules about shoes why wouldnt you do the same for the place you get your life lessonal education from? does that also not teach you respect for others property?
Im confused about students respect out there, whats wrogn with these schools and thier teachings? i tell my students to say yes sir and no sir when talking to elders at school or out of school this is just simple respect and politeness.................

[The Xia]

When I talked about using street shoes while training I wasn't talking about sparring on mats. There are many aspects of Kung Fu training that can be done with your street shoes. Do you think your Kung Fu anscesters wore fancy uniforms?

As for the "Yes sir" "No sir" aspect of many martial arts schools. It has a bigger presence in Japanese martial arts (most likely due to the nation's past militarism) then it does in Chinese. I never agreed with that kind of teaching methodology. A sifu isn’t a drill instructor.

[jigahus]

When I talked about using street shoes while training I wasn't talking about sparring on mats. There are many aspects of Kung Fu training that can be done with your street shoes. Do you think your Kung Fu anscesters wore fancy uniforms?

As for the "Yes sir" "No sir" aspect of many martial arts schools. It has a bigger presence in Japanese martial arts (most likely due to the nation's past militarism) then it does in Chinese. I never agreed with that kind of teaching methodology. A sifu isn’t a drill instructor.

The yes sir, no sir part I tend to agree with. But they say it's a sign of respect.

[BoulderDawg]

At our school any kind of shoes are forbidden on the training floor. I guess the reasons are based in grounding.....I don't really know. I don't believe it has anything to do with disease or bacteria. I do know I sling a ton of sweat on the floor that's soaked up by the carpet. As does everyone else so I'm sure it's teaming with germs!

I was just wondering how you handle the "respect" aspect at your school. Are "elders" at your school people that are older than you or do they include people of higher rank or longer training? I find all this bowing and elaborate ceremony as unnecessary. I show common courtesy to all at the school but I really fail to see the need to go through some big ritual. I know I don't need MA training to learn respect or honor. I learned that growing up.