Sifu – or the all new family

You might have wondered why we call our Tai Chi instructor ‘Sifu’, or ‘Sifu John’.
Sifu is not a expression used by a strange religion, sect, or occult group as you would not have frightfully assumed. No, Sifu is widely used in all different kinds and forms of martial arts and is merely a title, meaning ‘teacher’, ‘tutor’ and/or ‘father’. It is coming from chinese language more precisely Cantonese, but also Mandarin.
So, generally speaking, Sifu John is our Tai Chi father. And you might be surprised, there is actually a family title system, in at least some martial arts. In chinese Gung Fu, for instance, your Sifu’s teacher is called Si-Gung. This makes him, of course, your grandfather (or grandmother). So, by joining a martial arts school, you automatically gain a new family. Or two. Or three. Just depending on how many martial arts you are learning.
Within your family, you will have older sisters and brothers. Your older siblings can be addresse as Si-Je or Si-Hing for sisters and brothers, respectively. Again that is valid for Gung Fu.
Anyway, we don’t stress about that whole terminology, and the ‘seniors’ will definitely not be fuzzy about how being addressed. If you want to show respect to your teacher and Tai Chi father, you may very well make use of the title Sifu.
So, enjoy being a (new) member of your martial arts family! But don’t be afraid, you don’t have to buy a christmas present for your Tai Chi father.

Cheers,
see you at class!

sven
Monash Tai Chi Club, Melbourne