You should not be so concerned about ‘blowing it’. Most sifus (I do not know your sifu however) are pretty relaxed about things like that, and are pretty understanding of the fact that a new student may not fully know the proper forms. Just be polite and show respect, and you should be fine.
Sifu
Joedoe is correct.
Don’t worry, if you do something wrong, you will be told all about it! We all have been. That is what students do, that is why we are still students.
I remembered one other thing we should never do, we shouldn’t point at or gesture to Sifu Eddie (or anyone whose butt we aren’t about to kick) with our fingers. Like the common palm up moving the index finger to say “come here” gesture. I saw someone do that once (who should have known better) and Sifu said something to them about it in no uncertain terms.
Shawn, how do you treat your girlfriend? Do you open car door for her and treat her to movies because you love her, or because that is the socially accepted practice for a man taking out a woman?
I call my master “master” in the training hall, in the reception area, going down the stairs together, in the restuarant when we go to get dim sum. I know this kind of thing can be uncomfortable for some people but what do I call a man like this? “Hey David, can you pass the salt.” It doesn’t even sound right typing it in jest.
Build your relationship with you teacher and act naturally. Behave in a manner appropriate to your relationship. Can’t believe I just typed that too, because I’m not a fan of Confucious, but …
My girlfriend is different than my Sifu. I don’t get that analogy, but thats fine.
As for the Sifu relationship, common sense tells me that he’s always my Sifu. In that, I will refer to him as Sifu. I guess its the more subtle information I’m looking for. Sifu “Wu” vs. Sifu “Eddie”. Wu seems more correct to me, yet Scholar refers to him as Sifu Eddie (same Sifu, by the way). Subtle gestures are more difficult to get a handle on than the big do’s and don’ts. Those I can do - the little stuff, that’s different.
Thanks for the info everyone. Awesome, as usual.
shawn
Originally posted by EvolutionFist
[B]Shawn, how do you treat your girlfriend? Do you open car door for her and treat her to movies because you love her, or because that is the socially accepted practice for a man taking out a woman?
I call my master “master” in the training hall, in the reception area, going down the stairs together, in the restuarant when we go to get dim sum. I know this kind of thing can be uncomfortable for some people but what do I call a man like this? “Hey David, can you pass the salt.” It doesn’t even sound right typing it in jest.
Build your relationship with you teacher and act naturally. Behave in a manner appropriate to your relationship. Can’t believe I just typed that too, because I’m not a fan of Confucious, but … [/B]
It is funny you say that. I currently have the opposite problem. For 18 years I have called my sifu by his first name, but recently the students made a collective decision to start addressing him as sifu. I am struggling with it not because I do not want to, but because old habits die hard 
Well, apparently I’ve “gone and done it now!” hahaha
I raised these same questions with “Dempsey Sifu” last week in the training hall. It got around that we were discussing it, and I guess “Wu Sifu” heard about our discussion and thought it would be easiest and prefered that we use formal Sifu, Sihing and Sijae in the training hall.
Well, at least I know the proper etiquette now.
I kill me! hahaha 
Sifu Who?
Just so you know, I would never call him Sifu Eddie to his face! “Sifu,” that’s it. There are other sifus in the system, Detroit, London and Fredricton among others, whom you would call Sifu (Name) if you were in their class. The sifu of the Shanghai or Singapore school you would call “Sigung” because he is from an earlier generation than Sifu Eddie. Sifu Eddie’s sister Cynthia’s title is “Siku” which means “Aunt.”
how do you pronounce Laoshi?
Almost like “Lousy”, right?
It’s okay to question or even argue with your master about some point in private, but never in public. This is considered extremely rude and could be grounds for dismissal as a student.
Who? Me? I could be tossed from my school for asking a question about general etiquette on a forum?
Uh… thats disconcerting.
That’s not what he said.
Honestly, this whole topic is pretty silly. Just be yourself. You’re training to be a fighter, right? Or more accurately, a beater of men, correct?
Well, quite often these sort of people don’t cross all their "T"s or dot all of their "i"s but as a martial artist you should have respect for your teacher and classmates AND fellow martial artists. If you have all of those, or at least respect for your teacher, everything else will fall into place.
Originally posted by Ray Pina
That’s not what he said.
Ok, but after reading the rest of the posts to see if I missed something, it seemed like DB was, in fact, saying so. If not, my mistake.
Of course, general politeness and respect are the orders of the day. I get that.
shawn
My point was in relation to the original question and within the context of traditional Chinese Gong fu family culture.
It’s not BS, it’s just how the Chinese cultural traditions influence martial arts training. Too many Americans think that it is useless and gets in the way of learning to fight and therefore should be ridiculed and done away with, which is wrong in my opinion. Actually, in traditional Chinese martial arts, it more important that you become a good , moral person first. Fighting skill is second to that. In fact, if you develop a bad reputation and are rude, you will be dismissed from the group no matter what your skill level. This is tradition.
Thanks for clearing that up delibandit. I’m only a little paranoid … really.:rolleyes:
shawn
I’ve seen people with lots of ability either get kicked out right or just get the cold shoulder – but in a classy way – for being d!cks.
Who wants to help an a$$hole?
You know what amuses me is when people who were originally seduced by the exotic nature of the T.V. show Kung Fu and by countless Kung Fu movies to seek out Kung Fu training and are lucky enough to find the real thing want to change the traditions and methods to fit their western ideals and tastes.
I was lucky enough to find the real deal of a teacher and a real traditional gong fu family. I have gained a lot of respect for the traditions and think that it really adds to the experience of learning and developing gong fu. And I also believe that those who cannot abide by the traditions and have respect for that which has gone before should indeed be left out of the circle. Just my opinion. (:
I view it in even more simplified terms … my master willingly shares his treasure with me. How do you thank someone properly for that?
This is not simply a coach/player relationship.
Teachers…
I couldn’t agree with you guys more. The sacrifices that our teachers have made in their lives to preserve and transmit the arts to us undeserving codswallops are staggering. When my Sifu (being the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son in the lineage) had to stay indoors and train, other kids his age were playing cowboys and indians outside, having fun, having friends. They started him when he was 6 and that is all that he was allowed to do, in the family tradition, until his late teens. That is the way Chinese culture was for thousands of years, but if you were to treat a a kid that way today, you’d go to jail. He was literally kicked around every day, until he started to get things nailed perfectly, at least according to his family.
It breaks my heart to see people giving him a hard time and disrespecting him (and other traditional teachers). To belittle such a sacrifice (the way modern martial artists like to do) is incredibly disrespectful and used to be somewhat dangerous. When he was younger, serious challengers would get their bones broken, run of the mill smarta$$es would just get kicked in the 'nads for their trouble, but Sifu has mellowed, now he just walks away shaking his head.
You should avoid questions which may seem like challenges. Chinese Confucian culture has strict rules about the etiquette in these situations, designed to save face (avoid unnecessary trouble) and Westerners screw this up all the time, IME. He is an understanding guy, he has said that he knows Westerners don’t realise that their questions are inappropriate for the most part. That is why it is good to leave them in the realm of the technical, keep your own judgements out of them. A question that starts with: “It seems to me…” is going to get you into trouble. A good template is “Sifu, how does the forearm turn in this form?” or “Sifu, why does the elbow have to stay down?” Straight questions, no convolutions or philosophising.
I am lucky in that I have a Chinese teacher who stated recently that he encourages his students to challenge him about what he teaches so that we can be sure that he is right, so that we can know for ourselves that the principles he is teaching are sound. He clearly distinguished this kind of challenge from acts of disrespect though. And actually, several of his students and disciples have come to him first as polite challegers that he beat when they asked if they could try against him.
In addition, I think that too many “modern martial artists” have been influenced by the words and teachings of Bruce Lee. Bruce was not the greatest martial artist in the world, just a well known one. There were masters in China at the height of his career that would easily beat him hard. But, his disdain for tradition has been a license for westerners to ridicule and ignore the traditions of Chinese martial arts. He harmed CMA at the same time that he helped it gain noteriety. I once worshiped Bruce Lee, but as I’ve gone deeper into real gongfu and it’s traditions, I’ve come to see him in another light. And I don’t really admire him that much anymore.