What's in a name? sensei, shihan, etc.

Particularly in aikido, I've increasingly noticed that when trying to speak to a teacher with respect, one may refer to him or her as "shihan" (or, "soke," "shinan," "shisho", to give a few more examples). It occurs in Japan, too, and some teachers seem to expect it. But it's not really correct.

Shihan is a license, a diploma, more than a term of address. One doesn't get, on the other hand, a "sensei license." Calling someone shihan would be somewhat like calling your university professor, "diplomate emeritus."

One thing that people may not get is that within the formality of the dojo, there is also, hopefully, some ease. Referring to one's instructor by an awkward locution would make things "stiff," if not odd. And those teachers who expect or demand it, therefore, tend to create a brittle, rigid relationship with their students.

So I'd recommend the use of the term "sensei" - it gives respect, but defines you, within the context of the relationship you have with your instructor, as having your own integrity. As most surely know, sensei means "lived before" - implicit in that is "I intend to catch up to you."

BTW - Kancho (like Shioda Gozo) or Dojocho (like lots of people) is a common term - kind of "formal/informal" - sort of like "boss"

Best
Ellis Amdur

Kinda thought that way... "Allow me to introduce ____, the Shihan in our area" but "Excuse me, sensei, I don't understand this movement"... addressed to the same person..
Shihan starts a seminar - "Sensei ni rei." not "Shihan ni rei."
Although I ain't likely to catch up to no shihan...

Cheers,
W

Ellis Amdur wrote: Particularly in aikido, I've increasingly noticed that when trying to speak to a teacher with respect, one may refer to him or her as "shihan" (or, "soke," "shinan," "shisho", to give a few more examples). It occurs in Japan, too, and some teachers seem to expect it. But it's not really correct. Shihan is a license, a diploma, more than a term of address. One doesn't get, on the other hand, a "sensei license." Calling someone shihan would be somewhat like calling your university professor, "diplomate emeritus." One thing that people may not get is that within the formality of the dojo, there is also, hopefully, some ease. Referring to one's instructor by an awkward locution would make things "stiff," if not odd. And those teachers who expect or demand it, therefore, tend to create a brittle, rigid relationship with their students. So I'd recommend the use of the term "sensei" - it gives respect, but defines you, within the context of the relationship you have with your instructor, as having your own integrity. As most surely know, sensei means "lived before" - implicit in that is "I intend to catch up to you." BTW - Kancho (like Shioda Gozo) or Dojocho (like lots of people) is a common term - kind of "formal/informal" - sort of like "boss" Best Ellis Amdur

It seems to me that when I started everybody was "sensei" - but there seems to have been title inflation since then...

OTOH, when speaking to Mitsuteru Ueshiba, who was generally fairly formal, I noticed that he was quite careful about referring to people as "such and such Shihan". Of course, that may be because he's aware of the naming conventions in use now and doesn't want to make waves.

Best,

Chris

Chris - question: Referring "to" or referring "about?"

Even <about> is a little discordant, but less so than <to>.

Another nuance is "distance" If I refer about someone as Kanai shihan, for example, it does not imply the personal relationship between us as Kanai sensei.

Ellis Amdur

Ellis Amdur wrote: Chris - question: Referring "to" or referring "about?" Even <about> is a little discordant, but less so than <to>. Another nuance is "distance" If I refer about someone as Kanai shihan, for example, it does not imply the personal relationship between us as Kanai sensei. Ellis Amdur

"Referring to" as in "talking about". Yes, part of it (and this is also just my impression) is that he is still very conscious of the distance in the relationships between himself and the old guard.

Best,

Chris

Makes sense. I used to see the same thing with Nidai Doshu. On the one hand, Kuroiwa sensei would tell me how Doshu, then "Waka sensei," would get drunk and try to grab the butts of the bar maids, and they'd carry him home singing. With that background, establishing a little formality and distance would be essential.

And on the other hand, he referred to Tomiki sensei as Tomiki-san, stating that he shouldn't call what he did "aikido."

Ellis Amdur

Christopher Li wrote: It seems to me that when I started everybody was "sensei" - but there seems to have been title inflation since then... OTOH, when speaking to Mitsuteru Ueshiba, who was generally fairly formal, I noticed that he was quite careful about referring to people as "such and such Shihan". Of course, that may be because he's aware of the naming conventions in use now and doesn't want to make waves. Best, Chris

When I first started aikido, in the UK, none of my teachers was ever called 'Sensei'. I regularly heard the term later, however, always applied to K Chiba. The English equivalent of this term was thought to be 'Professor' and I regularly saw letters addressed to 'Prof. K Chiba.'

I do not know when the Hombu practice of titles solidified into the present unwieldy system, but I believe that the instructors who first taught overseas were 派遣師範 (haken shihan) and in the USA they established the 師範会 (shihankai). There might have been some title inflation then, for I am certain that when he first came to the UK, Chiba-shi was not 6th dan, which is the rank commonly recognized here in Japan as equivalent to shihan.

In Hiroshima University all the teachers without exception are called 'Sensei', regardless of whether they are lecturers, associate professors or full professors. There is none of the intellectual contortion involved in trying to attribute a deep meaning to the term, such as 'living/lived before'.

Best wishes,

PAG

I agree that there seems to have been title inflation over the years.
However this seems to come more from students than teachers. Some students think that being a student of so-and-so Shihan gives them more status than being Joe Bloggs student.

This was brought home to me when someone tried to suggest that me calling my father Dad rather than Smith Shihan in the dojo was somehow disrespectful! (we both put him right when we'd stopped laughing).

I've actually never called any of my teachers Shihan only Sensei.

I think things catch on depending on what one hears... if a teacher starts using something all his or her students will soon use the same word and it will sound natural to those people's ears. Likewise junior students in a dojo will listen to what the students senior to them say and copy that.

I've never heard 'Shihan' used as a title or honourific (e.g. as part of a name), so it would never occur to me to use it that way. I've only ever heard it used as a description ( X Sensei is a Shihan, there's always at least one Shihan teaching at Y seminar, etc). E.g., at seminars or when people come back from seminars and talk about the classes they took, the instructors are initially introduced as 'FirstName LastName Sensei' then referred to as 'LastName Sensei,' or if one is being more informal, I sometimes hear 'FirstName Sensei.' Or in situations where there's no ambiguity about which person is being spoken of, just 'Sensei'. And those options are what I'm used to hearing... And come to think of it, 99% of the time if someone is addressing the person directly (rather than speaking about them), they say 'Sensei' without including the name.

However I do occasionally notice when visiting another dojo that in some dojos they will sometimes put Sensei before the name rather than after, which to me sounds really odd and wrong, simply because it's not what I'm used to. But it's a much more common construction in english so maybe it's not surprising that in some dojos it's common. Maybe in a few generations it'll be the norm. Or not, I don't know.

I think the thing is, language evolves independently of its original roots. In english speaking environments, 'sensei' doesn't have the same meaning as it does to someone who speaks japanese, so the use of the word will likely evolve over time without reference to its original meaning. I imagine the same goes for shihan.

So yeah, some of it might be title inflation but in an english-speaking environment I wouldn't discount random drift as well.