The right Name to use

[dippedappe]

In my chosen style(northern shaolin longfist). The best teacher(theres many names) is called Shifu. But in wing chun and some other kung fu or wushu styles I have heard the name Sifu...So I asked my teacher if theres a name called Sifu, and he said no. Whats the difference betwine the two names, and why is it that its in some styles and not in other styles?(I heard in the old drunken master movie with Jackie Chan, the name Shifu...atleast I think it was, although it sounded more like Shifa).

 

Is it because that Shifu is madarin and sifu is cantonice or what?

[White Warlock]

Toe-may-toe, Toe-mah-toe

[dippedappe]

Toe-may-toe, Toe-mah-toe

 

Say what????

[Budderfly]

There's a few accented ways to say many words.

 

Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to

[dippedappe]

but what does those words "Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to" mean? And why isnt it called sifu in my kung fu school?

[WC-Strayder]

Hey Dippedappe. It means the same. "Po-tay-to = Po-tah-to", both means potatoo, kartoffel, potet, jordert,... LOL . Same stuff, different wraping. Shifu = Sifu Sifu = shifu, you see??

 

In wing chun we say Sifu, in karate they say Sensei, in BJJ they say BOSS..., no just kidding with the last there, i dunno what they say in BJJ. Ahh, they say Guru in silat, that I know.

 

Have fun!

[xiong chuan]

I was under the immpression that:

 

Catonese = sifu

 

Mandarin = shifu

[aefibird]

Po-tay-to and po-tah-to are both ways of pronouncing potato, just as Shifu and Sifu are different ways of pronouncing what is essentially the same thing.

[dippedappe]

When I say Sifu at my klub, Im concettered a looney.

 

Or maybe its because it called sifu in southern styles, and shifu in northen.

 

Is it called sifu in Hung Gar? I wish it was called Sifu in my style...it just sounds cooler.

[Drunken Monkey]

"So I asked my teacher if theres a name called Sifu"

 

this line bothers me some what.

 

i find it hard to believe that the person teaching you couldn't answer this question....

 

 

anyway.

 

yes.

 

it's all the same.

 

just a regional variation of how it is read and pronounced.

 

the characters involved are the same.