rachel
Purple Belt
What do you call your teacher? sensi? sir? or do you call him or her by their name? the kids call our teacher sir and the adults call him by name. some call him sir but most of the adults call him by name. just curious.
addressing your teacher
- Thread starter rachel
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Robbo
Purple Belt
Just 'Sir' as a quick acknowlegement.
Usually 'Mr' so and so.
I think that this was another of Mr. Parker's ways of westernizing the art. Is there any other systems out there that use 'Mr' when addressing and instructor?
Rob
Usually 'Mr' so and so.
I think that this was another of Mr. Parker's ways of westernizing the art. Is there any other systems out there that use 'Mr' when addressing and instructor?
Rob
G
gravity
Guest
different systems have different titles to address the instructor. Japanese styles use Sensei or Shihan depending on the rank of the instructor, chinese systems use Sifu, Sibak, Sigung or Sijo. At my kenpo school our instructor prefers his own name.
-LATER-
-LATER-
I hit "enter" by mistake and posted "nothing" so I had to come back and edit this post. Then I hit "reset" which is where "Preview" usually is so I lost my post again.
Short version is that Mr. Parker prescribes this in Infinite Insights into Kenpo Book 1 I think. You can get the book from Mr. Conatser.
I think if someone is teaching Ed Parker's material that they should follow his conventions and one of them is that your instructor is not "Sifu" or "Sensei" or "Shihan" or whatever, but Mr/Mrs/Ms and Sir/Ma'am. This may even apply to all adults. But it's in the book somewhere.
My current instructor was a "Sifu" in a sister system for some time and has held onto this title, but I never call him Sifu and if anyone asks me how to address him I tell them Mr/Sir. If he tells them differently later that is of course up to him.
:asian:
J
Jill666
Guest
We call our instructor Shihan in the dojo and by name outside (at dinners & such). Altho I find "yes Shihan" a mouthful when I'm concentrating on learning a new technique, and "yessir" usually suffices.
At my cousins' Ninjuitsu studio the students call him by name, and at the Kyoshu sessions on the weekends I attend, everyone is first-name basis, but it is an informal session between instructors. In their classes I'd call them Sensei unless told otherwise. :mst:
At my cousins' Ninjuitsu studio the students call him by name, and at the Kyoshu sessions on the weekends I attend, everyone is first-name basis, but it is an informal session between instructors. In their classes I'd call them Sensei unless told otherwise. :mst:
E
Elfan
Guest
Its okay to ask if your instructor hasn't specified what they want.
G
GouRonin
Guest
In fact the proper term for use of the word "Sensei" in japanese systems is to put it after the person's name.
So if you were to use my name for example it would not be "Sensei Gou" but instead it would be "Gou Sensei."
But like most things gone western it has now become Sensei first as in the west people have their titles before their name.
So if you were to use my name for example it would not be "Sensei Gou" but instead it would be "Gou Sensei."
But like most things gone western it has now become Sensei first as in the west people have their titles before their name.
Les
Brown Belt
At our Kenpo Academy the rule is that Instructors are called Mr. Mrs or Miss, depending on which they are.
Sometimes, students who have been with me for some time will slip up and call me Les, but they are usually very good, especially when 'newer' students are around and they need to set an example.
After training, when we go for a well earned beer, they tend to call me Les, which is fine, because in the pub we are all friends and equals.
The juniors only get to call their instructors by their last names, but as my name (Grihault) is difficult for the English to pronounce correctly they usually call me Mr G and their other instructor Mrs D.
Les
Sometimes, students who have been with me for some time will slip up and call me Les, but they are usually very good, especially when 'newer' students are around and they need to set an example.
After training, when we go for a well earned beer, they tend to call me Les, which is fine, because in the pub we are all friends and equals.
The juniors only get to call their instructors by their last names, but as my name (Grihault) is difficult for the English to pronounce correctly they usually call me Mr G and their other instructor Mrs D.
Les
R
RCastillo
Guest
By my first name, (if they are adults) Mr., if they are adolescents.
I address my higher ups by Mr. , and Master, as in Master Tracy when I've visited him.
Based on the way Kenpo is, I prefer not to use any terms such as Sifu, or whatever, however, the discipline remains within the class .:asian:
I address my higher ups by Mr. , and Master, as in Master Tracy when I've visited him.
Based on the way Kenpo is, I prefer not to use any terms such as Sifu, or whatever, however, the discipline remains within the class .:asian:
G
GouRonin
Guest
I will never refer to any man or woman as "Master."
R
RCastillo
Guest
Not even after a few cold ones?
G
GouRonin
Guest
Originally posted by RCastillo
Not even after a few cold ones?
Nope. I believe Ed Parker himself agreed with me on this one. Our reasoning might be different but I understand he said, "There is but one Master."
Smart guy that Ed Parker...
:asian:
K
Kenpomachine
Guest
I call them both by their names. One of them tolds the first day of class that he didn't want to be call "maestro" or any other way, just his name. The other has never say anything upon this subject.
The kids call them "profe", which is like instructor.
M
Mike
Guest
In my school we use Mr. (or Miss) and the instructor's first name, i.e. Mr. Steve, Mr. Ian.
R
rmcrobertson
Guest
I'm pretty much with the Gou, here. No way in hell I'm calling anybody, "Master," which is pretty much what, "Mister," means anyway. I suppose if I were high up in the mountains of Tibet, talking to some 214-year-old who was set in their ways....but otherwise, oh, hell no, not unless they've got a shotgun.
Frankly, I'd pretty much avoid training under anybody who wanted to be called, "master." Though I have good friends who are happy enough with it. I'd start giggling and be unable to stop. The terms just aren't appropriate outside their original cultural context and historical mileau.
An even better question: why the hell are Americans, with some very proud democratic traditions, so hell-bent on resurrecting feudalism? I mean, I liked "Star Wars," and "Lord of the Rings," but both are medium racist, clearly pretty patriarchal, and out-and-out royalist. (Please. Spare the arguments. Both emphasize that "blood will tell;" you're born into your place in life, rather than really earning it, though I do find 'Star Wars,' the bigger offender in this regard.)
I guess I got spoiled in college and graduate school. Every single one of my most famous, best known, best educated, most grown-up, most helpful teachers were more or less warm, friendly, polite folks whose only comments on titles were sentences like, "Hi. I'm Ed." Universally, too, the sign of phonyism, stupidity and mean-spiritedness was an insistence on titles--in my experience, putting, "PhD," after your name or insisting upon being called, "Doctor," were really the twin kisses of death. And that's academics, not known for being the most mature and decent of people.
Oh well. I guess I'm just more used to the down-home American brand of BS--you know, use my first name while I sell you a really lousy used car...
Frankly, I'd pretty much avoid training under anybody who wanted to be called, "master." Though I have good friends who are happy enough with it. I'd start giggling and be unable to stop. The terms just aren't appropriate outside their original cultural context and historical mileau.
An even better question: why the hell are Americans, with some very proud democratic traditions, so hell-bent on resurrecting feudalism? I mean, I liked "Star Wars," and "Lord of the Rings," but both are medium racist, clearly pretty patriarchal, and out-and-out royalist. (Please. Spare the arguments. Both emphasize that "blood will tell;" you're born into your place in life, rather than really earning it, though I do find 'Star Wars,' the bigger offender in this regard.)
I guess I got spoiled in college and graduate school. Every single one of my most famous, best known, best educated, most grown-up, most helpful teachers were more or less warm, friendly, polite folks whose only comments on titles were sentences like, "Hi. I'm Ed." Universally, too, the sign of phonyism, stupidity and mean-spiritedness was an insistence on titles--in my experience, putting, "PhD," after your name or insisting upon being called, "Doctor," were really the twin kisses of death. And that's academics, not known for being the most mature and decent of people.
Oh well. I guess I'm just more used to the down-home American brand of BS--you know, use my first name while I sell you a really lousy used car...
Sir, or Mr., Mrs., and their last name.
K
Kenpomachine
Guest
What has LOTR to do with americans? The books were written by a philology professor and medieval historian at Oxford when the UK had an imperium.
I'll spare you the rest of the argument
Les
Brown Belt
Originally posted by Kenpomachine
What has LOTR to do with americans? The books were written by a philology professor and medieval historian at Oxford when the UK had an imperium.
I'll spare you the rest of the argument
Hells Bells!
The book of the film is out ALREADY?
Only joking,
Happy New Year to you all
Les
R
RCastillo
Guest
Originally posted by Les
Hells Bells!
The book of the film is out ALREADY?
Only joking,
Happy New Year to you all
Les
Uh, what happened to the Trifle?
R
rmcrobertson
Guest
I had the trifle, Christmas Eve, and darn good it was too.
On "Lord of the Rings," yup. It has nothing to do with Americans. Why, if it had anything to do with the way Americans think, it would be some enormously-successful, kazillion-selling popular film, backed by giant ad campaigns and looked-for by millions of our fellows---oh wait....
That's my point, incidentally. Why is this stuff so popular? Well--and notwithstanding the fact that I enjoyed them too--maybe they have something to do with contemporary political attitudes in this country, while we have our own imperium of sorts to protect.
Part of those attitudes is a kind of medievalism; specifically, a return to feudalist notions about blood and one's place in life. Part is nostalgia; a longing for a time and place where things seemed better, even if this time and place never existed.
(Incidentally, I just started reading Sydney Anglo's "The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe," which should oughta be required for every martial artist. It begins by discussing a lot of topics--the moral character of martial artists as a problem; the lousy teaching by various fake, "masters," that caused various European states to start passing laws and licensing studios of arms at least as early as the fifteenth century...and then, chapter 6 covers unarmed combat, apparently widely taught...)
I probably overstated my original case. Still, there seems to be a real longing in some of martial arts to find a dad and master, not a teacher....perfectly understandable (Freud woulda got it), but not necessarily really something that has to do with respect.
Which is why, I suspect, that nobody so far has worried all that much about what to call a woman who's teaching.
Anyway, this is just to say that I agree. Looking for a master is as out of place in modern America (or Canada) as are the political ideals of, say, LOTR...so why's it happening?
Thanks, and a happy New Year to everybody.
On "Lord of the Rings," yup. It has nothing to do with Americans. Why, if it had anything to do with the way Americans think, it would be some enormously-successful, kazillion-selling popular film, backed by giant ad campaigns and looked-for by millions of our fellows---oh wait....
That's my point, incidentally. Why is this stuff so popular? Well--and notwithstanding the fact that I enjoyed them too--maybe they have something to do with contemporary political attitudes in this country, while we have our own imperium of sorts to protect.
Part of those attitudes is a kind of medievalism; specifically, a return to feudalist notions about blood and one's place in life. Part is nostalgia; a longing for a time and place where things seemed better, even if this time and place never existed.
(Incidentally, I just started reading Sydney Anglo's "The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe," which should oughta be required for every martial artist. It begins by discussing a lot of topics--the moral character of martial artists as a problem; the lousy teaching by various fake, "masters," that caused various European states to start passing laws and licensing studios of arms at least as early as the fifteenth century...and then, chapter 6 covers unarmed combat, apparently widely taught...)
I probably overstated my original case. Still, there seems to be a real longing in some of martial arts to find a dad and master, not a teacher....perfectly understandable (Freud woulda got it), but not necessarily really something that has to do with respect.
Which is why, I suspect, that nobody so far has worried all that much about what to call a woman who's teaching.
Anyway, this is just to say that I agree. Looking for a master is as out of place in modern America (or Canada) as are the political ideals of, say, LOTR...so why's it happening?
Thanks, and a happy New Year to everybody.
