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Sifu (師傅 or 師父; Pinyin: shīfu) is a Chinese term for a master or teacher. It is most commonly used in martial arts schools. The character 師 means “teacher”. The meaning of 傅 is “tutor” and of 父 “father”, both characters are read fu with the same tones in Cantonese and Mandarin, creating some ambiguity. Image File history File links Zhongwen. ... 漢字 / 汉字 Chinese character in Hànzì, Kanji, Hanja, Hán Tá»±. Red in Simplified Chinese. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin_method be merged into this article or section. ... A teachers room in a Japanese middle school, 2005. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Students in Rome, Italy. ... en:Cantonese (linguistics) ... Mandarin has a number of meanings: mandarin, a bureaucrat of Imperial China, and in the United Kingdom and Canada, by analogy, any government bureaucrat Mandarin, a group of dialects of spoken Chinese, or more specifically, its standardized dialect, Standard Mandarin Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of China Airlines mandarin duck, Aix...

Traditional meaning of Sifu

Traditionally, in Chinese martial arts, learning from a master does not make one his student automatically. The acceptance as a student is a very formal event, usually requires a ceremony called bai shi. One can always address a master as sifu as a courtesy in greetings, to acknowledge an elder. But one cannot say a certain master he or she learns from is his or her sifu without such a formal admission ceremony - only after a student is admitted formally will the sifu pass down all his knowledge. Only then can the student carry on the tradition to the next generation. Etiquette is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ... An elder can refer to various topics: Elder (administrative title) Elder (religious) Elder - person of knowledge or high degree Elderberry plant (Sambucus) Box-elder plant (maple) Box elder bug (Leptocoris trivittatus or Boisea trivittatus) Elderly person - see: Old age William Henry Elder bishop and Archbishop of Cincinnati Joycelyn Elders Elder...

In most martial arts schools, the sifu may quite often teach many informal students. However, only a "worthy few" are shown the school's entire syllabus and declared formally to carry the sifu's name forward. If a student misbehaves, the sifu can denounce the student and eliminate the student's name from the school. Look up syllabus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Usage of "Sifu" in the present

Presently, martial art schools are run as businesses. In such schools, informal students are numerous, and naturally, many will claim some famous masters are their sifu even though they have never been admitted formally nor received a significant portion of the master's knowledge. In the past, using the sifu's name without permission was forbidden and to do so was considered a disgrace: and even today, the issue of formal lineage becomes a very controversial topic. Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business. ...

In a martial arts school, the actual teaching of even a formal student is usually done by the more senior sihings. Only after the student has reached a certain level of skill, will the sifu start to get involved in more formal training. Sihing (師兄) means senior fellow students in a Chinese martial art school. ...

The term is also used to refer to house decorators, highly-ranked cooks, and many elders of old trades and arts, with a large amount of experience, such as paintings and calligraphy.

Slang

In mainland China, sifu is a respectful form to address drivers, monks or nuns, as well as cooks and feng shui tellers in Hong Kong. In recent years, the word has been applied to workers of many disciplines; people use the word so as to, superficially, build up a better guanxi with others, in particular those with whom they are not familiar. The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally The Chinese Massive Landmass or Continental China) is a geopolitical term which is usually synonymous with the area currently administered by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC... Driver may refer to: Driving a motor vehicle Vehicular_cycling or other Human_Powered_Vehicle Driver (sail), a kind of sail on a sailboat Driver (video game) Golf club (equipment), a type of club usually used for the first shot on a par 4 or 5 hole Device driver, in computing a Water... A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, the conditioning of mind and body in favor of the spirit. ... Nun in cloister, 1930; photograph by Doris Ulmann A nun is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. ... A cook is a person that prepares food for consumption. ... Fēng Shuǐ (風水 – literally, wind and water pronounced fung shuway), which may be more than 3000 years old, is the ancient practice of placement to achieve harmony with the environment. ... Guanxi (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: gÅ«anxi ), describes the basic dynamic in personalised networks of influence. ...

See also

• Face (social custom)
• Ganqing
• Sigung
• Sibak
• Sisok
• Siku (aunt)
• Sihing
• Sijia
• Sidai
• Simui