Traditionally there is a great deal of respect and protocol that goes along with titles amongst the martial arts family. Family is the best term actually, as the hierarchical terms are based on traditional Chinese family structure. One character used for Shifu is in fact, father. Fellow classmates are referred to as younger or older brothers and sisters depending on whether they have trained longer or shorter than yourself. Your Shifu’s classmates are referred to as younger or older aunts and uncles and in return they will use niece and nephew. Likewise your Shifu’s teacher/s become known as Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster. See list below for some of the more commonly used titles and their meaning.
Traditional Kung Fu Family Titles
Founder
Mandarin (Pinyin): Zu Shi
Great Great Grandmaster
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Zu
Great Grandmaster
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Tai Gong
Grandmaster
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Gong
Teacher of Tradition
Mandarin (Pinyin): Zong Shi
Teacher/Master
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Fu
Si Mou – Master’s Wife
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Mu
Senior Kungfu Brother
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Xiong
Senior Kungfu Sister
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Jie
Junior Kungfu Brother
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Di
Junior Kungfu Sister
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Mei
Student
Mandarin (Pinyin): Tu Di
Grandstudent (Male)
Mandarin (Pinyin): Tu Sun
Grandstudent (Female)
Mandarin (Pinyin): Tu Sun Nu
Senior Kungfu Uncle
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Bo
Senior Kungfu Aunt
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Gu Ma
Junior Kungfu Uncle
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Shu
Junior Kungfu Aunt
Mandarin (Pinyin): Shi Gu Jie
Kungfu Nephew
Mandarin (Pinyin): Si Zhi
Kungfu Niece
Mandarin (Pinyin): Si Zhi Nu
As you can see a single person may be referred to by 4, 5 or even more titles depending on who is speaking to them. To simplify matters in BKF we have adopted a simplified approach. Chief Instructor is referred to as Shi Gong, Instructors are referred to as Shifu, advanced students/assistant instructors are referred to as Shi Xiong (or Shi Jie if female) and students simply called by name. This takes care of the bulk of our interactions but as we grow and interact more with our kung fu grandmasters, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. we may adopt more and more titles as needed.