Part 1: Raiders of the Lost Fellowship of A New Hope, The Phantom Menace
Everyone wants to be respected, but not everyone deserves respect.
I’m gonna have to go back and explain myself, for the martial artists reading this and getting their pitchforks ready. Why? Well…
For the beginner: You see, respect is incredibly vital to fight training, and at a good gym you’ll receive plenty of lessons on it, often through hard, physical contact. “Respect your training partner”, “respect your opponent”, “respect the knife”, “respect your sensei”, “respect the dojo”, etc…
Two of the most important life lessons that fight training offers people is how to show respect and who deserves it.
For the advanced student: Unfortunately, respect is such an important topic in martial arts that it often gets misused by 1: high-ranking martial art egomaniacs who don’t like being questioned (cue Cartman from South Park, “YOU WILL RESPECT MA AUTHORITAH!”), and 2: martial art confidence men who target gullible parents and want to expound on the teachings of the mysterious far east in their sales pitch. (“Asian martial arts are all about respect! Give me $3,000 and I’ll teach your six-year-old all about it by yelling at them for not saying ‘yes, sir!’ to me. I’ll also give him a black belt in three years.”)
Back to the basics
Everyone born into society is guaranteed a certain level of “respect”. Outside of the martial arts, people call this basic level of respect “basic human decency” and “human rights”. The words are different but they really are the same thing.
As you grow, you can gain and lose respect, and that impacts how people interact with you. If you do something “good”, like save a baby from a burning building or write an amazing song, people who respect those things will respect you more and treat you better. Saving a baby is one of those things that gets you free drinks at a bar and the seat of honor at your next Nintendo game night.
If you do something “bad”, like punt that baby through a goalpost or write a Nickleback song, those same people will lose respect for you at a much faster rate.
This is the same in the world of martial arts, but now you’re dealing with people who like to hurt each other for fun. It’s not a good idea to make fun of your instructor’s haircut when he’s tying you up like a pretzel and explaining how to break your arms in the process, is what I’m saying.
Part 2: Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Wrath of Khan and the Two Towers Strike Back, Electric Boogaloo
Those who came before us deserve respect. It’s a hard world and they’ve survived so far. But when taken to an extreme, the martial art expression of respect becomes something akin to cult worship. This can most easily be seen by watching students of no-touch knockout masters who don’t want their instructor to look bad in public, and blindly trust them to the point of self-deception and delusion.
To see how deeply traditional martial artists care about giving the “appropriate” amount of respect to instructors, take a look at any internet conversation regarding rank and titles in the martial arts.
This article you're reading now comes from the Kajukenbo perspective, so let’s take a look at the titles used in Kajukenbo. How does it compare in this world of martial artists who worship their instructors like Elvis Presley back from the dead?
At first, Kajukenbo used English titles (and one Japanese phrase) to denote an instructor’s rank. Simple enough.
According to Kajukenbo Grandmaster John Bishop: at 5th degree black belt a Kajukenbo practitioner was given the title “Chief Instructor” and was given permission to operate their own school independent of their instructor. This was later shortened to “Chief”. There was one “professor”: Adriano Emperado. The title for black belts under 5th degree was the Japanese word “sensei”. “Sensei” was used pretty universally by martial artists in the west.
At the time, “martial artists in the west” largely meant people who served in the military, in Okinawa, in World War II. Also, those living in Hawaii, who had access to Japanese martial arts.
On a side note connected to all martial arts, not just Kajukenbo, an unconfirmed rumor has it the title of “professor” first showed up in the martial arts world when the founder of Judo, Kano Jigoro, was introduced as a professor. Everyone assumed it was a new martial arts title, not realizing Kano had a PhD and was actually a university professor. It then stuck.
True? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t think it’s true. But it’s definitely believable as people obsess over titles.
In the 1960s, the Chinese martial arts were getting popular, so in an effort to keep up with the times and evolve as Kajukenbo was made to do, emphasis on the Chinese fighting arts was increased. This also brought in the Chinese titles for certain ranks: Sifu, Sigung, Sibak, Sijo…
“Professor” was kept for 9th degree black belts, 8th degree black belts were called “Assistant Professor” for a short time, and Senior Grandmaster was given to one person at a time. Different ranks had different Chinese titles.
Keep in mind this was the general thing. At one point James Juarez was a “sifu” while Charles Gaylord was called “Chief”.
For anyone with a sharp eye and a knowledge of Asian culture, you may notice that by assigning rank to these titles, Kajukenbo is using the Asian words incorrectly: as “rank” rather than a simple way to address someone respectfully. It’s a pet peeve of mine, and I’ll get back to that, but for now just keep in mind that Kajukenbo is such a mishmash of cultures already that frankly and respectfully…most people don’t care.
For those Kajukenbo practitioners who don’t care about the names, just remember that if you come to Japan, don’t tell people that you do “karate”. They will look up the list of karate schools lineages, not find your instructor, and will then falsely think you are a fraud.
This has happened to another instructor already.
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it does.”
If your social media profile includes the word “sensei” (or “sifu” for that matter) I highly recommend you change your social media profile name. In Japan, when using this Japanese word, “sensei” (先生), you never address yourself as “sensei”. My impression in life so far is that “sifu” works the same way.
“Sensei” does not mean “teacher”. Outside of joking with friends, it’s only used for professional doctors, teachers (classroom, martial art, and otherwise), and lawyers. Not as a “teacher” title, but as a simple form of respectful address for those specific occupations.
"Sifu” is also used to address taxi drivers and head chefs.
Calling yourself “sensei” or "sifu” is as laughable as the Chinese and Japanese tattoos westerners get that make asians laugh at them. If you have any respect for the roots of your martial art…please stop.
Titles, titles, titles
In different martial arts you’ll find many different titles beyond the ones I’ve mentioned. Hanshi, Simo, Sabonim, Guru, Shihan, Kru…
I really like that last one, “Kru”. When I hear someone say “the Kru is coming”, I imagine “the Crüe is coming”, as in Mötley Crüe, one of the best bands of 1981-1989. That makes me happy. Then I remember that their lead singer now looks like the yeti from the claymation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and sounds like Bob Dylan running a marathon and trying to sing his discography at the same time. That depresses me.
So, when exactly did Mötley Crüe’s singer, Vince Neil, start losing people’s respect? When he committed vehicular manslaughter? When he lost his singing skill? How people treat you is tied to their level of respect, and that respect is volatile.
In the martial arts, what is the exact worth of these titles and how much respect are you supposed to give them? How many Sabonims equal one Guru? How many Krus equal one Grandmaster? How many Vince Neils with a beer belly equal one Tom Araya?
Part 3: Revenge of the Return of the Last Crusade Samurai Cop: Revengeance
“I have as much authority as the pope. I just don’t have as many people who believe it.”
- George Carlin
John Hackleman, Kajukenbo legend and coach for the likes of Chuck Liddell and Glover Teixera, told me (and plenty others) that he doesn’t like the Chinese titles. The impression I had was that to him they’re too distant and too flowery. Using them is like putting your instructor on a god-like pedestal, and in the end we’re all human. I found this interesting because my instructors prefer “sifu” to “grandmaster” for the exact same reason.
It took me years to realize that Hackleman is coming from the idea of these words being a title, and my instructors are coming from the idea that they’re not titles.
The Chinese characters for “sifu/shifu” vary. While one writing (师傅) can be translated to “skilled person” (like “sensei”) or “master”, the other writing has a familial nuance to it: “師父”. “師” means “teacher” or “master”, but “父” means “father”. Some have told me that in some dialects of Chinese this word is also used to address your literal father.
When you call someone your “sifu”, it literally means you have chosen to learn everything you can from them, and have therefore chosen them as your “fatherly teacher”.
At which point calling yourself “sifu” is like asking someone “WHO’S YOUR DADDY?”
“Sigung” or “Sigong”, meanwhile, is “grandfather”. Your teacher’s teacher. This is why I call Great Grandmaster Juarez “Sigung”. I call Ron Esteller “Sifu” and my students call him “Sigung”.
I don’t respect my instructor, Ron Esteller, because he’s a 9th degree black belt. I don’t respect him because he was given the title “Grandmaster”. I don’t respect him because he has a dojo.
I respect Ron Esteller because of how much he knows about the art of Kajukenbo. I respect him because he’s got a mean right hand. I respect him because he taught me how to stand up for myself, physically and mentally. I respect him because the murder of a family member in 1979 spurred him to focus on children’s self defense. I respect him because he taught in the school system and his students there have used what they learned to defend themselves in real situations. I respect him because he offered scholarship programs to students with single parents.
I respect him because he’s the exact opposite of a businessman and this allows him to teach a pure martial art.
I respect him because he took me and my students under his wing and gave us a chance to become something better, and he continues to keep the doors open for anyone willing to put the work in.
I respect him because he’s always been about keeping it real.
Ron Esteller deserves his rank, 9th degree black belt, Grandmaster. I’m honored to call him my instructor. But those titles don’t demand respect. His actions demand respect, and those titles are just a result of the character beneath.
That’s why I call him “sifu” outside of formal introductions...he’s not a god or superhero. He’s my martial arts father and one I respect for who he is - not for the cloth around his waist.
As martial artists who talk about “respect”, maybe we should focus a little less on “how to show respect” and more on how to be someone worthy of respect. Be polite, but stand up for what’s right. The snakes will swim with the snakes, and the people who respect your actions will respect you more.
Don’t claim respect. Work to be respected by the kinds of people you respect.
If you enjoyed this article, check out more writings like it in my recent book, "Blood, Sweat, and Bone: The Kajukenbo Philosophy".
American Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sweat-Bone-Kajukenbo-Philosophy
Japanese Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.jp/Blood-Sweat-Bone-Kajukenbo-Philosophy-ebook/dp/B0BMZVK5PT