Pronunciation

[clfsean]

Oh yeah Xue Sheng I was wondering if you could tell me the difference between 'Gong Fu' and 'Kung Fu'? Is one Mandarin and the other Cantonese or has 'Gong Fu' been converted to 'Kung Fu' as it was past from China to the Western World?

You got it...

Gong = Mandarin
Gung/Kung = Canto

 

[Zakky]

Ah sweet, just wanted to make sure. Thank you.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Does Toedai also mean student in Chinese? If so, do you know what dialect?

Yeah todai is student too... I've always heard it from the south so maybe Cantonese or something from the area. it may be from up North & just adapted down south... who knows....

You Southern stylist guys are always copying us Northern stylists

OK, I am not as flexible as I thought in this reading phonetic spellings

Mandarin it is tudi (toodee)

If you have a laoshi (teacher) you are a xue sheng (student)

If you have a sifu (teacher of a skill) you are a tudi (student)

But I did not use tudi when I got to MT because I was having an issue with my sifu and I did not think he considered me a student. Actually it was fairly recent that I found out he does in fact think of me as his student. So to him I am a tudi.

 

[clfsean]

You Southern stylist guys are always copying us Northern stylists

Pfah... you wish...

 

[Xue Sheng]

Pfah... you wish...

:lol:

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

I think Tudi translates as Disciple
徒弟 which makes sense in a martial art.

Xue Sheng translates as student like school or something.

Oh well Tudi fruity oh Rudy!
This is the orginal I have no idea what he is talking about *snicker*

A wop bop a loo mop, a good goddam!
Tutti Frutti, good booty If it don’t fit, don’t force it You can grease it, make it easy."

 

[Tensei85]

I think Tudi translates as Disciple
徒弟 which makes sense in a martial art.

Xue Sheng translates as student like school or something.

Oh well Tudi fruity oh Rudy!
This is the orginal I have no idea what he is talking about *snicker*

Actually in some styles of Lian Gong it would:

However in most common formats it would be Di Zi or in Canto Dai Ji. (Disciple)

To Di (tu di) Canto To Dai (Student) different than Xue Sheng

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

Oh you mean this Hanzi: 弟子

I think Di Zi means more like disciple/follower

were Tudi means more like apprentice/disciple

The Di means brother Tu means follower/disciple

I think Tu is used more in a religious manner.

So it makes sense using Di Zi but what do I know my Chinese is terrible.

 

[Tensei85]

Oh you mean this Hanzi: 弟子

I think Di Zi means more like disciple/follower

were Tudi means more like apprentice/disciple

The Di means brother Tu means follower/disciple

I think Tu is used more in a religious manner.

So it makes sense using Di Zi but what do I know my Chinese is terrible.

Yea, that's exactly it:

In Wu Gong terminology its acceptable to use either or, but the common usage of Di Zi over To Di. But I've seen either way.

Another thing depending on lineage sometimes the word Di Zi would not be used til one has Bai Si under their Shifu.

So To Di was a disciple/student but of a lesser status as one who has not sought Bai Si under a Shifu (so to say) But as with anything its open to interpretation.

So its the argument of Indoor/Outdoor Disciples or however its coined.

 

[Tensei85]

Also Di Zi not to be confused with the flute (lol)

 

[Xue Sheng]

So its the argument of Indoor/Outdoor Disciples or however its coined.

As my sifu said, of course they didn't teach everybody everything.... who has the time

 

[ggg214]

di zi is the same as Tu Di in the meaning.
but Di zi is seldomly used in a conversation. and nowaday, we more like to use Tu di.

 

[geezer]

You know this I always thought this Chinese custom of using family terms was kinda cool... reinforcing the sense of brotherhood between students and all, but as a person who does not speak Chinese (any dialect) and is tone-deaf to boot, it always makes me feel uneasy to know that I'm bound to butcher the language. Incidentally, I practice Wing Tsun, so we use Cantonese terms.

Another problem. After you've been in a system a while, you start needing to expand your vocabulary. And it's a b*tch. Here's what we use, if I remember correctly (we're pretty informal a lot of the time):

Si-jo: ancestor/ teacher of Si-gung
Si-gung: teacher of Sifu
Sifu: "teacher/father" or, with different characters, any teacher
Si-mo: teacher's wife (the possibility of a female teacher was apparently never considered! And in Wing Chun/Tsun!!!)
Si-pak: elder uncle, Sifu's Si-hing
Si-sok: younger uncle, Sifu's Si-dai.
Si-hing: elder brother (started before you)
Si-je: elder sister
Si-dai: younger brother
To-dai or to-suen: student
moon-pai(?) fellow practitioner of the same system (pai) or a chocolaty marshmallow treat.
Dai: "big" or "great" an honorific, as in "Dai Si-hing" meaning the top Si-hing.
Sifu (using the second meaning from above): Any teacher, so if your Sifu (teacher-father) invites his friends who are also martial arts teachers to visit, they may be addressed this way. For example, you could have Sifu Ho, Sify Leung, Sifu Tam, Sifu Ng and Sifu Billy-Bob all coming to dinner!

Well that's about it. If any of you speak Cantonese and can help with corrections, thanks in advance. Also, maybe you know what to say in the following situations:

My current instructor who is my Si-dei. Yes that's "younger brother". But he's better than I am, so he's my instructor. So far we deal with it by using first names except in front of students. Then we refer to each other using the term sifu together with our first names... in the second sense of the word (see above).

It gets worse.

How do I refer to my German Dai Si Hing's student ( my kung-fu nephew)? And does the fact that he is far better than I will ever be, ...a world class fighter who has founded his own organization, and who has also challenged and beat up some so called "Grandmasters" figure in? I don't know what the Chinese term for "SOB, but damn good" is. So to his face I'll forget whatever the term for "nephew" is and stick with the English word, "Sir".

BTW what is the term for nephew??? I do meet a lot of them in training.




Sometimes I think it would be easier to just do what my Eskrima teacher does. Use first names for everybody, but heaven help you if you are disrespectful to a senior.

 

[Tensei85]

BTW what is the term for nephew??? I do meet a lot of them in training.




Sometimes I think it would be easier to just do what my Eskrima teacher does. Use first names for everybody, but heaven help you if you are disrespectful to a senior.

-Si Juk-

 

[clfsean]

Don't forget Si Mui for little training sister & hingdai for all training bros/sis regardless of standing in the family tree. It (hingdai) can be used for all practitioners of your style as well, barring teachers.

 

[Tensei85]

And To Jia another derivative for nephew (CMA)

 

[geezer]

And To Jia another derivative for nephew (CMA)

Got it. nephew: Si-juk. Thanks Tensei.

And CLF Sean, thanks for reminding me. I forgot to list Si-mui.

Wait, I also forgot to ask about kung-fu "niece". My si-dei runs two schools and I know he has female students, so I need to get that straight too.