WHAT'S IN A NAME - Ben Stone

ASK AN EXPERT WITH BEN STONE

The question: “I understand from reading Blitz that there are a number of different titles given to martial artists: soke, hanshi, shihan, sensei, sifu, shifu, kyoshi, etc. Firstly, what do they mean and are particular martial styles given particular titles? Secondly, why do some advanced practitioners retain the title ‘sensei’ and others use ‘shihan’, ‘kyoshi’, etc.?

As an example, I note that Joe Thambu, 7th Dan, is ‘Shihan’ whereas Mike Clarke, 7th Dan, is ‘Sensei’. Finally, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu many of the leading practitioners have the title of ‘professor’. Is this unique to the BJJ style?”



THE EXPERTS

Ben Stone has been the editor of Blitz magazine for over six years and in that time has written and read extensively about countless martial arts systems and cultures, and spoken with many teachers and masters of these arts. To answer this question as thoroughly as possible, Stone has enlisted the help of several experts: Dana Wong, master of Wing Chun kung fu; Randy Bennett, master of Jow Ga kung fu; Mike Clarke, master of Goju-ryu karate and a regular Blitz writer on all things karate; Joe Thambu, master of Yoshinkan aikido; and Guro David Foggie, instructor of Filipino martial arts (FMA).

We also thank Guro Viko Perrine of kali Ilustrisimo, Grandmaster Kelly Worden of Natural Spirit International (a student of Professor Remy Presas) and Datu Halford Jones for their assistance regarding FMA titles.

THE ANSWER

As well as the Dan ranks issued in karate (Dan meaning step or position), there are other titles such as renshi, kyoshi and hanshi. These titles come with age and time requirements attached, and are by no means bestowed automatically on karateka who achieve a high Dan rank. Instead, these titles are meant to indicate the bearer’s exemplary character, or some exceptional achievement above and beyond the accomplishment of rank.

Traditionally, the first title, renshi, can only be awarded to karateka who are at least 35 years old who have held the rank of 5th Dan for at least two years. The second title, kyoshi, requires 10 years to pass after the renshi title was given, and a minimum age of 40 years. Finally, the title of hanshi can only be awarded legitimately to karateka aged 55 years or older, who have held the kyoshi title for a minimum if 15 years. Sho-go is the masters’ title system — involving senior titles like renshi, kyoshi and hanshi — that was originally set up by the Dai-Nippon Butoku-kai, a Japanese umbrella organisation for traditional martial arts.

Like most words in the Japanese language, these titles can vary quite a bit in meaning and usage. When discussing sho-go, it must be remembered that all titles are specifi c in their use and meaning to the ryu or style using them. Besides these titles, there are also other lesser titles used by many karate groups and some other Japanese systems. Perhaps the most common of these is shihan, which literally translated means ‘model teacher’ and is used widely these days when people reach the 4th or 5th Dan rank. Another common interpretation is that of ‘master teacher’ or ‘teacher of teachers’.

According to Joe Thambu, it’s meant to refer to “someone who is representative of the art in terms of technique and that of character, and who is a model for others.” The characters that make up hanshi are not a reversal of the characters that make up shihan. The han is the same but the shi here means gentleman, samurai/ warrior or scholar. Some styles use ‘shihan’ and others ‘hanshi’. “In ryu that use both, it is my understanding that ‘shihan’ is taken to be someone who has produced many sensei and ‘hanshi’ is one who has produced shihans,” Joe Thambu explains. “Where people use the shihan title for the intermediate ranks of 4th and 5th Dan, they usually employ the title of shidoin, instructor for the lower Dan ranks, 1st Dan through to 3rd Dan,” reveals Mike Clarke. “I have never experienced an Okinawan karate group using the shihan or shidoin titles, nor the lesser-known derivative tesshi-shihan, meaning ‘exceptional master teacher’.”

A senior shihan is often called shuseki shihan. This usually denotes the person responsible for the art’s technical direction and teaching methodology. As for renshi, ren means ‘polished’ or ‘tempered’ and shi means ‘person’, so this title can be taken to mean a ‘polished instructor’ or expert. “Kyoshi as a title can be the most difficult to deal with. In some ryu it is awarded as the penultimate title and in others it is below that of shihan,” Thambu says. “In Japanese, kyo can mean professor, philosophy or gentleman. So it could be one who is able to teach the philosophy of the art. “Many years ago, I heard a different definition of kyoshi. The title meant one who was technically proficient or one who had mastered the technique — even perhaps a ‘technical wizard’.

Hence in some ryu it became the penultimate title and in others it was someone who had mastered the technical aspect but had yet to fully mature as a teacher, upon which the title of shihan was granted.” Kancho literally means ‘head of building’. In budo terms it is the head of a dojo, but is often used to mean the headmaster of a style. The person in charge of a dojo is the dojo-cho. This can be an administrative position or a teaching position, or both. In some styles, the titles and dan-i (ranking system) are synonymous — i.e. when you achieve a certain level, the title automatically follows — but in many others they are separate and not automatically assigned with rank or seniority. Titles can be based on a teacher’s knowledge, skill, teaching ability, character and contribution to their martial art.

However, many Western schools that use these titles do not adhere to traditional Japanese guidelines, so it can’t be assumed that an instructor carrying one of these titles today has earned it by fulfi lling those conditions outlined above. Thambu also notes that most Japanese teachers will not refer to themselves as shihan or kyoshi, nor do they insist on being called by these titles. “The founder of Yoshinkan aikido would introduce himself with “Shioda desu”(I am Shioda) and we only ever called him sensei, even though he was widely regarded as a meigin (grandmaster).

Indeed, this is the norm in traditional dojos.” Mike Clarke agrees. “In karate, these titles are honorific and awarded in recognition of a person’s commitment to their training and to the overall tradition of karate. They are titles use in reference to another, but should not be used by the person holding the title themselves. It would be a mistake to introduce yourself to someone as shihan or renshi, although it’s okay to sign off with it or introduce yourself that way in writing. It’s a bit like Western people writing a letter: we might begin with ‘Dear Jim’, but if you met Jim in the street you would not greet him using the word ‘dear’. “In spite of the various titles and other honours bestowed on the men who have taught me karate over the past 36 years, none have ever expected to be addressed as anything other than sensei — ‘teacher’,” Clarke adds. “Although I was awarded the title of kyoshi in 2004, I would be completely undeserving of it if I asked people to use it. [The title] ‘sensei’ was always good enough for my teachers…” Sensei literally means ‘born before’, suggesting that with this title comes the obligation to lead and guide those who come after. “Outside the dojo it is also used as an honorific  to address teachers, professors, lawyers, clergymen and also accomplished musicians, novelists and artists,” Thambu explains.

The terms sifu and shifu are different pronunciations of the same word and are the Chinese equivalents of ‘sensei’. The latter, less common phrasing is Mandarin, from central/northern China, while ‘sifu’ comes from the southern Cantonese dialects from China’s southern regions and Hong Kong — the source of many kung fu systems that have made it to the West. Sifu or shifu means your teacher, male or female. It can also be used with a different character to mean ‘master’ of any skill or endeavour, not just martial arts.

Other (Cantonese) terms used are as follows:

• Sigung – grandmaster or, literally, your teacher’s teacher

• Sijo – the founder of a style

• Sibak – kung fu uncle; your sifu’s ‘brother’

• Sisook – kung fu uncle, your sifu’s younger ‘brother’

• Sihing – elder ‘brother’ or classmate (this usually refers to elder in the sense of being at the school longer)

• Sidai – younger ‘brother’, meaning one who came to the school after you

• Sijie – elder ‘sister’ or female classmate

• Simui – younger ‘sister’ or female classmate

• Simo – your sifu’s wife Da shi is a title also used in kung fu but isn’t common — the literal Mandarin translation being ‘great master’.

Dai before any title means ‘head’ or ‘older generation’, as in dai sigung (great grandfather/ great grandmaster) or dai sihing (oldest kung fu brother, or the one closest to sifu) and dai sibak (great uncle). In fact, the order can be switched as well, so dai comes after the title, as in sibak dai (great uncle — although the more common term for this is sibak gung).

Moving on to the last part of the question, ‘professor’ is not unique to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu style, but seems to be used among styles with a Spanish or Portuguese infl uence. It is not only common among BJJ practitioners (Brazil having been once a conquered land of Portugal), but teachers of the Filipino martial arts (FMA), the Philippines of course being a former Spanish territory.

Interestingly, instructors of the Brazilian-born art of capoeira, developed among African slaves at a time when the country was a hub of this horrible trade, often call themselves maestro or maestre, as do some Filipino martial arts teachers. ‘Professor’ is a title widely used among BJJ instructors, but not among FMA teachers. The most famous of the maestros who used the term was the late Professor Remy A. Presas, world-renowned founder of Modern Arnis. Regarding when Presas started to use the term, Datu (Master) Halford Jones, who lived in the Philippines throughout the 1960s and 1970s, says: “I can’t give you an exact date for this but can tell you that he probably started, as did many others in martial arts, using the title after he began teaching in the many schools and universities in Manila…

You also have to realise that such a title as ‘professor’ is bestowed by the many students taught as a sign of respect, not for certifi cates.” A good example of this use of titles to show respect or seniority is the word for teacher, guro or gura (for females) used in Filipino public schools. “These terms have been appropriated for use as ranks and grades in some cases,” says Jones.

According to David Foggie, this makes sense, as Professor Presas had earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and after setting up a gym in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, he started teaching physical education at De La Salle College, then later the University of Negros Occidental Recoletos. Arnis was a part of Professor Presas’ classes. Professor Remy relocated to Manila in 1969 and from then until he left the Philippines in the mid/late 1970s, he was teaching arnis in colleges and universities in Manila, as well as having some of his students teaching in high schools.

Grandmaster Porferio S. Lanada (founder of Arnis Lanada) held classes at the Lyceum and also used the title ‘professor’. In the USA, Vee Arnis Jitsu founder Florendo Visitacion (1910–1999) also used the term. The term guro (or guru, as sometimes used in other countries) simply means ‘teacher’ in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines. It is used in schools when referring to teachers, not just in martial arts. The Tagalog term punong guro means ‘principal teacher’. This term is used in schools when referring to a principal who is in charge of all departments. In the Filipino martial arts, it usually refers to a chief instructor who has students that have attained the rank of guro. □

Blitz Martial Arts Magazine, JANUARY 2010 VOL. 24 ISSUE 01