What does the term SIFU mean?

Question

I once heard Brue Lee referred to as Master SIFU Lee. What does SIFU mean?

Answer 1

Sifu "See-Foo" (Cantonese) or Shifu "Shure-Foo" (Mandarin) is made up of two Chinese characters. In Mandarin Shi (1st tone) = Teacher and Fu (4th tone) = Father.

This is the traditional title for a classical teacher/master. It shows great respect and is gender specific and should only be used towards a man. For women in the same position you would say, Shimu (Mu = Mother).

Two other important aspects of this title are:

1) It isn't just used for martial arts teachers. It is generally reserved for anyone who is considered a teacher/master of any great art form, whether it be music, cooking, painting etc...

2) Some Chinese who were born and raised during the Communist "Cultural Revolution" era will find the term Shifu offensive. They prefer the more gender neutral and less "arrogant" term Laoshi which simply means "teacher". This lacks the sense of elevating the teacher to master and thus above anyone else.

But in recent times Shifu has become more accepted by most to be the term for teacher/master/mentor in classical arts such as martial arts, and Laoshi is used more for teachers that teach math, science, language, etc...

Hope that helps?
Darth

Answer 2

Sifu Definition

Answer 3

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What does the term SIFU mean?
I once heard Brue Lee referred to as Master SIFU Lee. What does SIFU mean?

Answer 4

Sifu is a Chinese term for a master or teacher. 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. A similar term often used in the Mandarin north is 老師 lǎo shī (Cantonese lou5 si1), "elder teacher".

Answer 5

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In the Tagalog regions in Luzon, the term "Guro" is used to refer to a teacher or someone who has mastered a craft or skill enough to teach it. It's from the Hindu term Guru(yes the Hindi also have influenced Filipino culture). In the Visayas and Mindanao regions, the term used for teacher is "Maestro"(from the Spanish word for master). Although there are some arts that use the term "Tuhon". Another bisayan term for teacher which is not as commonly used is "Mangtutudlo", meaning, someone who points or guides, but it's usually used only in formal speeches by the older people and isn't used at all in the FMA. But colloquially, unless their instructors prefer a particular term, most Filipino MA students call their instructors by the English term "Master" which is more common.

Answer 6

sifu is teacher

Answer 7

its master in cantonese.
bruce lee is from hk my home land and they speak canto there.

mandarin is shifu. same thing but with an extra h in it.

Answer 8

it means teacher or instructor

Answer 9

father-teacher.