Wing Chun ASAP LTD Titles

Gung Fu has been a big part of Chinese culture for thousands of years. Over the centuries, many different styles of Gung Fu has emerged , developed and passed down from master to student. Traditionally upon being accepted as a disciple by the sifu(teacher) of a particular style, one becomes an immediate member of that gung fu family and part of a rich tradition which is full of meaningful rituals. Gung Fu styles has been taught in the manner of a family structure for thousands of years.

The table below outlines the basic family structure and proper terms/titles used within a Gung Fu family.

English Title	Cantonese Title - Male	Cantonese Title - Female
Founder Of System	Si-Jo	Si-Jo
Great Grandmaster	Si-Tai-Gung	Si-Tai-Poo
Grandmaster	Si-Gung	Si-Poo
Older Gung Fu Uncle	Si-Bak	Si-Doo-Goo
Younger GungFu Uncle	Si-Sook	Si-Goo-Mui
Teacher/Father	Si-Fu	Si-Fu
Teacher/Olther Brother	Si-Hing	Si-Je
Younger Brother/Sister	Si-Di	Si-Mui
Student/Follower	To-Di	To-DI
In Door Student	Yup Moon Dai Gee	Yup Moon Dai Gee
Close / Inner Chamber Disciple	Yup Sut Dai Gee	Yup Sut Dai Gee
Husband / Wife	Sing-San	Si-Mo

Before briefly explaining the the structure of a gung fu family, it must be mentioned that the Chinese culture with its tradition and customs is very different from the western culture. Due to the cultural differences many traditional practices and concepts within gung fu are usually either misunderstood or misinterpreted by many westerners. For example one of the most commonly misunderstood factor is how to address the members of a gung fu family. Like many other Asian countries, Chinese have a strict discipline on how to address people. According to the Chinese culture, calling ones elders by their first name is regarded very disrespectful. This also applies to the traditional gung fu schools. For example, if a student starts calling his teacher/sifu by his first name he/she is not only being very rude and disrespectful to the teacher but also not showing any respect towards the style, its ancestors and tradition. So the proper way to address the elders/seniors within a gung fu family is to use the appropriate titles which are shown above. For example the proper title for ones gung fu teacher would be Sifu. When referring or calling a senior member of the family such as the teacher or the grandmaster, one can use the family name or the full name followed by the appropriate title. For example Fong sigung or Pankhurst sifu. However when the title is put infront of the name 'Sifu Van Overbeek' you are addressing somone who is your teacher, or your teachers teacher. With the title behind the name, you aren't per say speaking about a practitioner above you, you are simply recognising that they have that title.

The Chinese(Cantonese) term/title Sifu is used to address a master/teacher. This title like all the others listed above is not only explicit to gung fu but the whole Chinese community. The title sifu, for example can be used to address a skilled chef or a poet. Sifu is more like a father figure, a mentor, a skilled person who is respected and admired within a community. A student must show upmost respect towards his/her sifu at all times. Your sifu will remain as your sifu doesn't matter how advance you may become.The titles Si-Mo (wife) and Sing-San(husband) are used to address your sifu's wife or husband respectively.

The title Sijo is used to address the founder of a system. For example in Hung Gar, Hung Hei Goon is credited as the founder of the system. In general the founder of the style (sijo) would be classified as the first generation of the particular style.

The title Sigung is used to address ones Grandmaster. For example my Granmaster is Fong Chi-Wing (sigung). In general or in a simpler term Sigung or the grandmaster is the person who taught your sifu. The grandmaster's(sigung's) master(sifu) would be known as Si-tai-gung or the Great Grandmaster. My Si-tai-gung would be/is Ho Kam Ming. Following in this order, each generation before would be known as Si-tai-tai-gung and Si-tai-tai-tai-gung and so on.

Si-bak is the title used to address your older gung fu uncle who is also your sifu's senior gung fu brother. In the same manner, Si-sook is the title used to address your younger gung fu uncle who is also your sifu's younger gung fu brother.

The gung fu family members of the same generation would address each other as Si-hing (older brother), Si-di (younger brother). The female members Si-je (older sister) and Si-Mui (younger sister). It is important to bare in mind that the seniority between the younger and older class mates within a gung fu family is usually marked by the date one joins the school, not by age, superiority of skill or neither by ones physical appearances. Another important point to mention here is that as I stated above these tiles are not exclusive to the gung fu community. The distinction between the titels used or the formality within a gung fu family depends on your sifu. The list of titles/terms used above is by no means complete.