Post by kensei on Feb 18, 2011 17:30:59 GMT
About 10 years ago I wrote a article for my instructor and found it looking through some old paperwork the other day, Someone had been bugging me to post something in this area so I figured I would throw this one up to bend a few ears and minds and get you all ready for a few more "Sciency" ones I will post.
Alot of this stuff is not as accurate as I would like but it gets to the point of about the only issues I have in Karate today...ego, Rank and making yourself seem more important using titles...>Hope you like it....advice, get a coffee and get comfy!
Japanese Honorifics and their modern use.
Introduction
I have been calling someone Sensei or Sempai as long as I can remember! Most of the time, I would just use the title thinking that it was a person's name or not realizing the meaning behind it. And most of the time, I was using it wrong! When I first started in Karate we had one Sensei in our organization, and the rest of the teachers were Sempai to me. I was lucky enough to train at the local head quarters and even instructors at other clubs were Sempai when they came to the club to work out with my instructors.
Over time we started using the term Sensei for anyone that taught at a club, and of course the instructors that came in to teach us and do our testing. But even then we use the term Sensei for our instructor and called the visiting instructors Sensei, but we knew we meant "master" when we used that term..and when we announced a senior instructor was coming for testing we called them "master" as well.
Then we had a shift in use of the term in Canada and every senior that taught in a Dojo were called Sensei by pretty much anyone with a black belt could be called Sensei and it seemed that anyone 4th Dan or higher was Sensei.in fact you could not walk into a class without running into two or three Senseis that were in the club on a regular basis.
All this go so out of hand that we started seeing local people advertising as Kyoshi, or Renshi or Shidoin and no one seemed to know what the heck any of this meant.but it sure sounded good. I however thought it was horrible! I felt it was a smack in the face to all traditional hearted Karate people for Ranks and titles to be given out like candy and people who had no business using the title Sensei or others to adopt them as if it was "Sir" or "Mr." and the perception that someone being called Sensei should automatically be afforded a overstuffed amount of respect.and often they demanded it.was starting to not sit well with me.
So, I researched Shogo or martial honorifics and found out what we were doing wrong and hopefully this paper will help you figure out for yourself how to use the Shogo and what it really means!
What is a honorific
Honorifics are terms or titles used to address a person, describe a person or address the position a person uses. These are not to be confused with job terms or titles like Major in the military or a medical doctor. Some jobs also come with their own sets of honorifics that may confuse people. For instance Chiropractors use the term Doctor when describing themselves and as a profession have created a doctor of chiropractic or DDC, but they do not often stipulate this when talking to others.
In the west we normally use the Honorific title as a prefix or place the title before the person's name, such as calling someone "Doctor Smith" or "Major Smith". However in Japan they use the Honorific in a Suffix position or after the name, Such as "Smith-Toryo" To indicate they have reached a level of mastery in carpentry. Or "Smith Rikugun Shôsa" to show that Smith is a major in the Japanese military. Japanese culture has a penchant for using Honorifics in everyday life, the west does not normally address people using honorifics unless it is job related, however in Japan it is not uncommon for people to use honorifics to show position in relation to the person they are addressing.
In this paper I am going to address what exactly a Honorific is and how to properly use the honorific, as well as some of the follies we have seen in the use of these titles and some of the damage they have done in the west. Honorifics were simply used by the Japanese, and many other cultures, to denote positions and to be respectful of others. Also some were used to "beautify" language and make it seem more flowery!
Basically a Shogo, or marital title is used to denote a person's job, relationship to the person using the Shogo or as a title to denote specific contributions to the arts. However, many of them are misused and misunderstood in the west.
Common titles and honorifics
Common honorifics
The Japanese use many Honorifics and some are used in everyday language as a way of expressing position in relation between two people addressing each other. This is more common than the use of Shogo, because obviously even in Japan only a small amount of people practice martial arts. Shocking I know, in the west we think EVERYONE in Japan straps on a Karate, Kendo, Judo or Sumo outfit and goes at it in a Dojo.not true. In the last census in Japan only 8% of the population was currently enrolled in a traditional martial art, and the majority of those were in university or school and did this for credits towards there gym time.
When people address each other in Japanese you may hear a suffix like "Chan", "San" or "kun" such as "James-Chan" or "James-San" and wonder what these mean. San is a suffix similar to the west's "Sir" or "Mr." it shows respect and denotes a tone of respect. One would use this when talking to a stranger and trying to demonstrate respect and courtesy. San is used for both sexes and can also be used to demonstrate respect for other companies by when referring to a competitor or company that is near them. For instance Pepsi in Japan may refer to a Coke company outlet as the Competition Coke-San, or a car dealership may refer to a tire store by their name and adding the suffix of San!.
"Chan" is a diminutive Honorific showing that you are speaking to someone that is lower in the cultural food chain, such as an older person speaking to a younger person or a parent speaking to a younger child. However the use of the term Chan also means that the speaker finds the person endearing or has a personal relationship with the person. Using the term "Chan" after a superiors name would be condescending and rude! However, Close friends, Lovers/those dating and young children can all be called by name and use the term "Chan" after. However, in Japan it is also culturally significant if an adult uses the "San" after a boys name because they should appear to be above the Diminutive honorific of Chan as a Macho throw back!
The Suffix Kun is not often heard in the west but it is equally important in the Japanese culture as it is the Honorific used by a person of senior status addressing or referring to someone of junior stats with respect. This is also used to address male children or teenagers, to again separate them from the less Macho "Chan". It can also be used by a female when addressing their male spouse or a male they are in a relationship with.
A much more respect filled title used as a honorific in Japan is Sama! This is a Honorific used towards someone of Much higher rank or place in society than yourself and denotes a great deal of respect for that person. This can also be used towards someone that one greatly admires. But to use it towards yourself is a show of great arrogance, such as saying Ore-sama ("my esteemed self"). However, Sama can also be used in phrases to emphasise the feeling of empathy for a situation or to emphasise a feeling, Like when someone says "Sorry to keep you waiting and wants to show they actually feel that emotion they would say O-Michido sama.
So, as you can see the use of Honorifics is not unique to the Martial arts, even different jobs in Japan come with built in titles of honor or descriptive titles, such as a Monk will be called by their name and add Hoshi after to show his job and position. The use of these Honorifics can also be used in a negative way but they are often just simply an add on or used to describe peoples position. They are not abused often and when they are it is seen as bad form, arrogance and silliness, and those that abuse them are often made fun off in private!
Common Martial Honorifics "Shogo" or Martial degres, titles.
Martial arts have borrowed heavily from everyday Society to come up with some of the more common Shogo or martial titles. The titles Sempai, Kohai, Sensei and even Deshi are all common Japanese Honorifics that have nothing to do with martial arts.
The term Sensei literally means "Former-born" and can be translated as "the one that came before". This term is used for teachers, Doctors, Politicians and other authority figures in Japan. This term can also be applied to novelists, poets, painters and other artists. However, in the martial arts, "Sensei" typically refers to someone who is the head of a Dojo, Sensei can be used as a suffix or as a standalone title and often is. So, someone may be referred to as Smith-Sensei or simply Sensei.where as it would be unusual to hear of someone referred to as CHAN only! To call someone Sensei in the martial arts is to express a specific respect and relationship. It means that the person that is being referred to has a special teacher student relationship with the person speaking. It is not normally used for any senior in a club or any person that is of higher rank. Normally, the junior would use the term Sempai to show respect for a senior, not Sensei, which means the teacher of the club.
The term Sensei is pretty cut and dry in Japan, if you are the head teacher or a teacher in that club then you can be called Sensei by the students and visitors to the club, if you are not the head instructor or a junior instructor then you are not called Sensei. Very cut and dry..however then we have the term Sempai or Senpai! That is far more complicated. Sempai / Senpai is used to address ones senior colleagues in school, Sports and at work. In Karate and martial arts, students that are higher grades that oneself are often called Senpai, Students of the same or lower grades are not, nor are al teachers called Sensei in Martial arts. In martial arts it is more accepted to refer to ones direct mentor that is not your instructor as Sempai. So, it is more and expression of a relationship over a title.
Kohai is the opposite of Sempai , however it is not normally used in every day conversation as a honorific. It is normally a standalone title and used to describe the direct relationship to a junior when a senior is addressing them. So, it would be acceptable to introduce someone as "your Kohai" but not "Kohai to me". In Japan only a direct mentor may address a individual student as Kohai if they are their Junior and they are mentoring them. Similarly the Japanese students may state that someone is senior to them in Karate but not that they are "their Senpai".
In Japan some Honorifics are used to denote specific levels or as a way of addressing skill and grade, but they are not used in reference to someone specific. Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi are titles used to denote a persons level of mastery but not used in combination with their name by way of introduction. So, someone may be a Kyoshi..but they are not refered to as being Kyoshi! Renshi means instructor, but it is an instructor of 6th Dan or higher. It denotes a complete instructor. Someone who has a skill for teaching and has mastered the marital art they are teaching. This comes after they reach the level of Shihan, which simply means they have mastered the art, now they may move on to be a Renshi and be seen as someone who can truly pass on the art. All of these titles come from licences that were given out to martial arts instructors by the Japanese budo-Kai or warrior spirit society as a way of monitoring skills of the instructors of specific arts, mostly fighting arts from feudal Japan like Kenjutsu and Yarajitsu. However they were adopted by Karate and other martial arts as "Grades" incorrectly and altered their meaning.
After you have reached Renshi and are ready to grade for 7th Dan you will be called Kyoshi, which referes to the holder of this Menkyo or licence as a advanced teacher. Past that you move to 8th Dan and receive the Hanshi Menkyo, which means you are a teacher of teachers. Often the Hanshi is called "Grand master" and no further Menkyo are offered past this point.
So, what is a Menkyo really and what significance does Hanshi, Kyoshi and Renshi mean in Karate.well a Menkyo was a paper licence that instructors in Japan used to denote skill and rank of instructors in feudal Japan so the students could asses the skills and see how much they wanted to pay for the services of the instructor. It is not like today were we use the terms a "steps of respect and reverence" which are not accurate at all! These Menkyo were awarded by a group of people that felt a persons knowledge was at a specific level to receive the Menkyo. Keep in mind that they did not have Dan and Kyu levels back then as those are a relatively new development in martial arts, say a few hundred years old.
Interestingly, the use of Kyoshi is a more modest term for Sensei. It would seem that students that are being introduced to a instructor for the first time may find the instructor calling himself Kyoshi and not Sensei when first introducing themselves. Rank in Japan is a lot more even flow than it is in the west. The perception in the west is that children should not get black belts, however in Japan it is very common place to find a large contingent of junior children with Dan level ranks. And it is uncommon in the west to find people under the age of 50 with a 6th Dan, however in most Japanese martial arts, in Japan, it is more common to see 40 year old 7th Dans than it is to see 40 year old nidans. This is why Titles are used more often as Suffixes than referring to ones rank.
Other terms that are used to denote position in a Dojo would be Shihan, Shidoin and Shisho. Shihan simply means instructor, as a rule in the west this is seen as a lofty title, but it is simply an alternative to Sensei or Kyoshi. Shidoin is a term for a intermediate or assistant instructor and is completely unrelated to rank. I have actually seen instructors in the west, mostly south Africa and Australia, that use this term and think it sounds great, but they are actually making themselves look like a lower level instructor than they want to be viewed as. Shidoin simply means intermediate instructor and normally is used for those that are teaching for a head instructor in his club. Shisho means instructor as well, but is normally used for new instructors and is more of a familure term. Those that use are of equal or higher ranking in the club may refer to the newer instructors by this term to denote they are higher socially or rank wise but don't teach or are not teaching in that particular club.
The other two martial arts Shogo that are used are vastly under used and less understood by the west. Deshi and Uchi-Deshi. Mean students, the degree of relationship are different but basically they are ways of saying you are someone's student. A Deshi is simply a student that participates in class and moves through the ranks with little or regular interactions with a instructor. The relationship is fairly standard and often used to describe transient relationships like in a school when a student has a teacher for a year or so then moves on. In martial arts it is the standard student teacher relationship and one that is merely one of a person seeking to train in martial arts at a normal level. A Uchi-Deshi or "Live in student/apprentice" is a person who trains under a instructor full time and actually lives in a program that teaches strictly the deepest aspect of the art. This system exists in many societies and practices including Aikido, Karate, Sumo and other modern and older martial arts as well as other activities.
We often hear about students that serve the instructor by teaching classes, doing cleaning duties or secretarial work as being called Uchi Deshi, however the more correct term would be Soto-Deshi if the student does not live in the Dojo or with the instructor. Soto-Deshi literally means outside student, but denotes the special role the student has. In more modern times the term Tsukibito is also used for Soto-Deshi. The term Tsukibito means "attached person" and basically means they are attached to the instructor and do basic duties for that person. Some terms used that are similar may be Senhusei or Kenshusei, which literally mean Trainee, However these are not Shogo but more definitions of who a person is in the organization.
Proper use of honorifics
So, now that we know what Honorifics (Keigo) or Martial titles (Shogo) are, I think we should look at why and how they are used by the people that use them properly. Keiko, or general honorifics are often broken down into different categories or parts of speech to show respect, as mandatory in specific social situations, to emphasize social distance or disparity in rank and status or to emphasize social and personal intimacy or similarity in rank.
The system of Keigo in Japanese and Chinese culture are very extensive, intricate and specific. The system includes various levels of respectful, humbling and polite speech and used by many Asian languages such as Chinese and Korean languages. Honorifics are generally broken down into Respectful language, Humble language, Polite and beautification language use.
Sonkeigo " Respectful language" Sonkeigo, or respectful language uses alternate words when talking about superiors or customers. It is not used to talk about oneself. Honorifics in this case are used to show respect for seniors, instructors and people of special position in an organization. The use of the title Sensei, Senpai and others that denote greater position than the speaker can all fall into this category. This kind of Keigo is used to show respect for someone that is higher rank than you and or a instructor, but it is very formal and not to be confused with language used between people that have a personal relationship like a student that is very close to their instructor or Senpai.
Kenjogo "Humble Language or Modest language" Kenjogo or Humble/ Modest language is used in general when describing ones actions or the actions of a person in a group. For Honorifics the use of Kenjogo would be viewed as a person using a title that denotes they are there to serve someone or the actions they do are to serve someone. Such as when a person refers to themselves as some ones Sempai or Kohai, each of these terms show that they work for each other to grow in the martial arts. I would suggest that the Keigo for Senpai denotes a commitment for the senior to help a specific junior along the Karate path, not that the Senpai has no commitment and the Kohai must serve them. The relationship is actually the opposite and the Senpai should show modesty and be humble that a junior has selected them to be their Senpai. The Kenjogo is never spoken however, so a person introducing themselves and their group would drop the suffix and it is an assumed Keigo. For instance a person introducing themselves and their Junior may say "My name is James, and this is Tom" At no time does "James " say "I am James Sempai and this is Tom Kohai!". That would be seen as arrogant and silly.
Teineigo "polite Language" Teichogo " Polite word use" Teineigo is polite language or words and most titles in Karate or martial arts are used as a sign of being polite, the Japanese culture is based on being polite to each other even in times when you do not feel like you should be. This is very foreign to western thinking but most Keigo are based on Teineigo, other than very personal Keigo.
Examples of Teichogo or Teineigo would be using "San" after a persons name, or using proper Shogo in the dojo, a senior visiting a club may refer to the instructor of that club as "Sensei" to show proper respect and to be polite to that instructor.
Bikago "word Beautification" Bikago Shogo are kind of funny. The term Beautifcation or Elegant speech is used to add refinement to ones manner of speech. This is used in combination with polite speech and terms that show respect but in such a way that it shows a great deal of reverence for a person. The term O-Sensei can be seen as a Bikago term. O-Sensei means great or venerable instructor. The "o" is an add on that can be seen as a type of Bikago. It is not an official title but refers to a specific person in such a way that they are singled out by the speaker and the Bikago is used to elegantly show they are more than just a normal instructor. Other Bikago can be Kyoshi, Renshi and Hanshi, depending on the situation.
Misuse of honorifics
Honorifics have been misused horribly over the last few generations since the Martial arts hit the West. We tend to think of the Honorifics as a rank or something that denotes a higher position in a organizations structure. While some Honorifics are meant to denote status of a person, they are not used as a way of addressing someone like a job title, Doctor or Mayor! We tend to see a lot of senior instructors in the west using titles like Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi like they are some kind of mantle they can apply to their name.
I have seen and heard of people that refer to themselves using the titles and not realizing how egomaniacal it makes them sound. And the arrogance they are portraying is counter to the true spirit of Karate and martial arts in general. Possibly the most famous person to have the title O-Sensei used for them was M. Ushiba, the founder and innovator of Aikido…but he never called himself by this title and as far as I have been told he never told others to use this title for him!
Jigaro Kano never “Told” anyone to call him “Sensei” But he did ask that they call him Proffessor and Doctor….but maybe that’s because he was a university professor that had a Ph.D? The thing is we often here of people saying “ I am Sensei Smith” and insisting people call them by that title, and in some cases even if they are not their students. I know of one gent that insists that they be called this by the parents of students, family members that don’t do Karate, and they sign everything as “Sensei smith”….in fact his cheques all say this! Granted we all pretty much laugh at him!
Honorifics are titles that OTHERS use to add a descriptive for the person, not a way to pad your ego and force others to feel as if you are more worthy of their adoration. In fact we should not be using those terms to describe ourselves.
The use of Honorifics has gotten out of control! One instructor in Canada, and thankfully one that I have had little interaction with, started off using the term “Sensei” even though he taught a “Chinese” art of Kenpo/Kempo! Then he moved up to dropping the Japanese and going for the English “MASTER”! Now I hate the term master, especially when someone FORCES you to use that name. Well, after some time this instructor felt that Master was not lofty enough, so he moved to GRAND MASTER! And forced everyone to use this title to refer to him. Shortly after his stint as master he felt that mystical side of the martial arts calling and his classes became more about Chi/Ki/ Prana and the like and he became the Grand Dragon…see were I am going with this? Then the Grand White Dragon!.....and from their in short order he became the Grand White Wizard…and had the honor of knowing he was the only Karate instructor ever….to be sued by the KKK!
This kind of silliness and the use of terms like “Sensei” (the one born before) For 20 year old instructors teaching people 20 years their senior…well the use of Honorifics has gotten about as out of hand as ranking has. Seems like everyone is getting to be 7th Dans and 8th Dans with political strings being pulled and getting rank based on money amounts brought into groups ext and so on!
Ego or explanation?
Much like the issues in Ranking, Honorific titles have become a form of feeding some egos, and the emphasis of Karate has moved to what you get back…from what you put into it. So many instructors I know accept lofty titles or Ranks and forget why they started in Karate in the first place. I know of one instructor who met a contingent of Indian instructors at a camp and then was handed the title of “Chief instructor of Indian” and did not live in India! The sad part about this story is the guy lives here in Canada and will maybe make a trip a year to India NOW that he is the Chief instructor, paid for by the Indian students he is visiting and he does not speak any of the languages that they speak in India, and worse yet….I can see about four of my friends in India that were passed over for this title by a Canadian that got the title simply to feed his own ego!
Titles, Honorifics and Rank have all become more and more about feeding Ego and less about showing your skill and understanding of the martial arts. Granted some arts make it rather easy to get to a higher rank, but the perception of rank in those styles is also adjusted as well. For instance to get a Shodan in Kendo takes relatively little time compared to say Judo or Some Karate styles, but the perception is that they have taken the first step to get to know the basics and now they can start training. Were as in some Karate styles once a person spends a year training they are handed a black belt and some of them can even teach!
Karate itself is about the struggles of the individual and the process that one goes through to adapt and learn skills. The seeking of perfection of character, not reaching the perfection of character! This is a basic component of all Dojo Kun I have ever seen, The fact that we say this at the end of all of our classes, well I would think that people get that one of the basic tenants of Karate practice is the attempt to be better personally, the fact that we don’t need our egos fed or the fact that Karate is about the process, not the trophies that we get or the ribbons, titles or ranks. I often think that we should do away with tournament trophies and just say that everyone that participates is a winner, some just have come a bit farther in their quest for better Karate! And we should rethink the whole rank and title situation. Maybe we need to say its is better to be a Nidan for 5 years than a Nidan for 2..and that you need to be DEAD to get a 10th Dan! I understand honoring people with Titles when they have done something great, or calling a teacher by a title that denotes a higher level of demonstrated respect, but seeking titles and looking for excuses to advance yourself with rank…well that seems counter to the whole meaning of Karate…the training and process of becoming a better person. I rarely meet someone who has trained for less than 30 years and who has a title like Renshi tagged on to their name that is a “better person”….in fact they tend to be more “broken” than others.
Honorifics and titles started out as ways to address people and inform those listening of the relationship the speaker had to the object person, Titles began as legal license so the buy knew the level of skill that a person had, Ranks in Martial arts were pretty much the same thing as Titles after Jigaro Kano found a need for the levels to demonstrate mastery over a martial arts skill set. But slowly it became something different. It became a system of ego building and forming a subservient relationship between those that had “Sometimes” trained in a skill set longer than others. It became a way of feeding the ego of people that had delicate psyches and a way for some to lord over others.
Instead of the intended use, the use of Rank and titles has swung greatly away from explaining relationships, denoting special individuals in a style and license or Menkyo and become a far different thing in many cases. Not to say that all people that use the title “Sensei” have ego issues, and the vast majority are not having issues understanding the use of titles. But for those rare few that use Rank as a way to make themselves appear more important and feed their ego, it has gotten out of control!
How to correct the use of honorifics
I don’t pretend to have the answers to the West’s issues with Rank, Honorifics and title..But I can offer a few ideas for students that are starting out and those looking at moving into teaching Karate or any other martial arts.
Students that are starting out should talk to the instructors. Find out what the instructors thoughts are on titles. The use of the Term Sensei is to be used specifically for your own instructor, Guest instructors and your instructors instructor…not for anyone wearing a black belt. Often a instructor will refer to someone as “Sensei” when they are in fact their students…he is simply implying they are instructors as well. The term Sensei does not mean you must cow down to the person and scrape and grovel, it is simply a term for teacher like a school teacher. For all new students and those that are wondering about the use of these terms, they don’t make the person anymore special than you are as a student! In fact, without you…they would not be a “Sensei”! Keep that in mind.
We need, as a community, to stop feeding the egos of those that prance around or stomp through Dojos with silly attitude! We need to acknowledge their issues with them and inform them they are misusing the term and their attitude is not approved by those of us that want to train in the traditional arts. For those that put rank and title above training, they need to be reminded that their rank does not make them a better instructor than someone who stopped testing at Shodan, but continued to grow and learn! They need to be told by students that they will NOT be doing chores for them outside the dojo because the instructor says he is a Renshi, and they need to be told that the old system of Menkyo is Dead! The Dan system is flawed but it will do for now, as long as we all keep in mind that we are not defined by rank, but we define the rank we are!
For those of us that have been given special titles and know they are superfluous and mean much less than being nice decorative labels to throw on a wall, don’t use them! Throw them in the closet and hang a picture of a instructor you like in its place, or better yet, a picture of your family! Simply, show your ability to toss aside ego and don’t use them, don’t let anyone else use them and stick to Sensei IN THE CLUB only.
Let those that are not mature enough to control their own ego, or those that have bruised psyches adopt the incorrect use of the titles and feel bad for them when they do, because as a person that has the maturity to acknowledge titles have a place and time and most of them should be thrown in the trash, you will find much more success in your training.
Conclusion
The use of titles and propping up of people with rank has been something that has bothered me personally for years. Rank tends to have much more to do with the politics of an organization than skill set of the practitioner once you get past Nidan. I had come up through Karate thinking politics were secondary and a necessary evil, but as it turns out my seniors often forget this point.
I realize that one article on rank and Honorifics, as informative and fun as I tried to make it, wont clear up this issue, but hopefully those that read it realize that some of us feel the mis-users of Honorifics are silly and require a wide path when dealing with them. We also can not correct people that have large egos, except in small ways and normally on the dojo floor or by showing them that they are missing the point in some way. But hopefully my students and those that train in the same dojos as me get the point that titles are to be used as descriptive, not as a way of cowing down and was never meant to be more than it is, a term of respect and great fullness for the person teaching you.
Lastly, I think this boils down to respect! Respect for me is very important, to those that give it to me and those I give it back two. First off Resects can only be earned, not demanded! If you demand respect what you get back is fear and often loathing! If you give respect and earn it then it is true respect! Putting a fancy Gi on, a nice belt and a lofty title do not earn you respect, especially if it comes with a unspoken demand for it! As an instructor the most important thing to do is give as much respect, knowledge and heart to your students as you can. If they choose to respect you back, that is a blessing. Tagging a title and rank onto your name will not help get you any more true respect!
Alot of this stuff is not as accurate as I would like but it gets to the point of about the only issues I have in Karate today...ego, Rank and making yourself seem more important using titles...>Hope you like it....advice, get a coffee and get comfy!
Japanese Honorifics and their modern use.
Introduction
I have been calling someone Sensei or Sempai as long as I can remember! Most of the time, I would just use the title thinking that it was a person's name or not realizing the meaning behind it. And most of the time, I was using it wrong! When I first started in Karate we had one Sensei in our organization, and the rest of the teachers were Sempai to me. I was lucky enough to train at the local head quarters and even instructors at other clubs were Sempai when they came to the club to work out with my instructors.
Over time we started using the term Sensei for anyone that taught at a club, and of course the instructors that came in to teach us and do our testing. But even then we use the term Sensei for our instructor and called the visiting instructors Sensei, but we knew we meant "master" when we used that term..and when we announced a senior instructor was coming for testing we called them "master" as well.
Then we had a shift in use of the term in Canada and every senior that taught in a Dojo were called Sensei by pretty much anyone with a black belt could be called Sensei and it seemed that anyone 4th Dan or higher was Sensei.in fact you could not walk into a class without running into two or three Senseis that were in the club on a regular basis.
All this go so out of hand that we started seeing local people advertising as Kyoshi, or Renshi or Shidoin and no one seemed to know what the heck any of this meant.but it sure sounded good. I however thought it was horrible! I felt it was a smack in the face to all traditional hearted Karate people for Ranks and titles to be given out like candy and people who had no business using the title Sensei or others to adopt them as if it was "Sir" or "Mr." and the perception that someone being called Sensei should automatically be afforded a overstuffed amount of respect.and often they demanded it.was starting to not sit well with me.
So, I researched Shogo or martial honorifics and found out what we were doing wrong and hopefully this paper will help you figure out for yourself how to use the Shogo and what it really means!
What is a honorific
Honorifics are terms or titles used to address a person, describe a person or address the position a person uses. These are not to be confused with job terms or titles like Major in the military or a medical doctor. Some jobs also come with their own sets of honorifics that may confuse people. For instance Chiropractors use the term Doctor when describing themselves and as a profession have created a doctor of chiropractic or DDC, but they do not often stipulate this when talking to others.
In the west we normally use the Honorific title as a prefix or place the title before the person's name, such as calling someone "Doctor Smith" or "Major Smith". However in Japan they use the Honorific in a Suffix position or after the name, Such as "Smith-Toryo" To indicate they have reached a level of mastery in carpentry. Or "Smith Rikugun Shôsa" to show that Smith is a major in the Japanese military. Japanese culture has a penchant for using Honorifics in everyday life, the west does not normally address people using honorifics unless it is job related, however in Japan it is not uncommon for people to use honorifics to show position in relation to the person they are addressing.
In this paper I am going to address what exactly a Honorific is and how to properly use the honorific, as well as some of the follies we have seen in the use of these titles and some of the damage they have done in the west. Honorifics were simply used by the Japanese, and many other cultures, to denote positions and to be respectful of others. Also some were used to "beautify" language and make it seem more flowery!
Basically a Shogo, or marital title is used to denote a person's job, relationship to the person using the Shogo or as a title to denote specific contributions to the arts. However, many of them are misused and misunderstood in the west.
Common titles and honorifics
Common honorifics
The Japanese use many Honorifics and some are used in everyday language as a way of expressing position in relation between two people addressing each other. This is more common than the use of Shogo, because obviously even in Japan only a small amount of people practice martial arts. Shocking I know, in the west we think EVERYONE in Japan straps on a Karate, Kendo, Judo or Sumo outfit and goes at it in a Dojo.not true. In the last census in Japan only 8% of the population was currently enrolled in a traditional martial art, and the majority of those were in university or school and did this for credits towards there gym time.
When people address each other in Japanese you may hear a suffix like "Chan", "San" or "kun" such as "James-Chan" or "James-San" and wonder what these mean. San is a suffix similar to the west's "Sir" or "Mr." it shows respect and denotes a tone of respect. One would use this when talking to a stranger and trying to demonstrate respect and courtesy. San is used for both sexes and can also be used to demonstrate respect for other companies by when referring to a competitor or company that is near them. For instance Pepsi in Japan may refer to a Coke company outlet as the Competition Coke-San, or a car dealership may refer to a tire store by their name and adding the suffix of San!.
"Chan" is a diminutive Honorific showing that you are speaking to someone that is lower in the cultural food chain, such as an older person speaking to a younger person or a parent speaking to a younger child. However the use of the term Chan also means that the speaker finds the person endearing or has a personal relationship with the person. Using the term "Chan" after a superiors name would be condescending and rude! However, Close friends, Lovers/those dating and young children can all be called by name and use the term "Chan" after. However, in Japan it is also culturally significant if an adult uses the "San" after a boys name because they should appear to be above the Diminutive honorific of Chan as a Macho throw back!
The Suffix Kun is not often heard in the west but it is equally important in the Japanese culture as it is the Honorific used by a person of senior status addressing or referring to someone of junior stats with respect. This is also used to address male children or teenagers, to again separate them from the less Macho "Chan". It can also be used by a female when addressing their male spouse or a male they are in a relationship with.
A much more respect filled title used as a honorific in Japan is Sama! This is a Honorific used towards someone of Much higher rank or place in society than yourself and denotes a great deal of respect for that person. This can also be used towards someone that one greatly admires. But to use it towards yourself is a show of great arrogance, such as saying Ore-sama ("my esteemed self"). However, Sama can also be used in phrases to emphasise the feeling of empathy for a situation or to emphasise a feeling, Like when someone says "Sorry to keep you waiting and wants to show they actually feel that emotion they would say O-Michido sama.
So, as you can see the use of Honorifics is not unique to the Martial arts, even different jobs in Japan come with built in titles of honor or descriptive titles, such as a Monk will be called by their name and add Hoshi after to show his job and position. The use of these Honorifics can also be used in a negative way but they are often just simply an add on or used to describe peoples position. They are not abused often and when they are it is seen as bad form, arrogance and silliness, and those that abuse them are often made fun off in private!
Common Martial Honorifics "Shogo" or Martial degres, titles.
Martial arts have borrowed heavily from everyday Society to come up with some of the more common Shogo or martial titles. The titles Sempai, Kohai, Sensei and even Deshi are all common Japanese Honorifics that have nothing to do with martial arts.
The term Sensei literally means "Former-born" and can be translated as "the one that came before". This term is used for teachers, Doctors, Politicians and other authority figures in Japan. This term can also be applied to novelists, poets, painters and other artists. However, in the martial arts, "Sensei" typically refers to someone who is the head of a Dojo, Sensei can be used as a suffix or as a standalone title and often is. So, someone may be referred to as Smith-Sensei or simply Sensei.where as it would be unusual to hear of someone referred to as CHAN only! To call someone Sensei in the martial arts is to express a specific respect and relationship. It means that the person that is being referred to has a special teacher student relationship with the person speaking. It is not normally used for any senior in a club or any person that is of higher rank. Normally, the junior would use the term Sempai to show respect for a senior, not Sensei, which means the teacher of the club.
The term Sensei is pretty cut and dry in Japan, if you are the head teacher or a teacher in that club then you can be called Sensei by the students and visitors to the club, if you are not the head instructor or a junior instructor then you are not called Sensei. Very cut and dry..however then we have the term Sempai or Senpai! That is far more complicated. Sempai / Senpai is used to address ones senior colleagues in school, Sports and at work. In Karate and martial arts, students that are higher grades that oneself are often called Senpai, Students of the same or lower grades are not, nor are al teachers called Sensei in Martial arts. In martial arts it is more accepted to refer to ones direct mentor that is not your instructor as Sempai. So, it is more and expression of a relationship over a title.
Kohai is the opposite of Sempai , however it is not normally used in every day conversation as a honorific. It is normally a standalone title and used to describe the direct relationship to a junior when a senior is addressing them. So, it would be acceptable to introduce someone as "your Kohai" but not "Kohai to me". In Japan only a direct mentor may address a individual student as Kohai if they are their Junior and they are mentoring them. Similarly the Japanese students may state that someone is senior to them in Karate but not that they are "their Senpai".
In Japan some Honorifics are used to denote specific levels or as a way of addressing skill and grade, but they are not used in reference to someone specific. Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi are titles used to denote a persons level of mastery but not used in combination with their name by way of introduction. So, someone may be a Kyoshi..but they are not refered to as being Kyoshi! Renshi means instructor, but it is an instructor of 6th Dan or higher. It denotes a complete instructor. Someone who has a skill for teaching and has mastered the marital art they are teaching. This comes after they reach the level of Shihan, which simply means they have mastered the art, now they may move on to be a Renshi and be seen as someone who can truly pass on the art. All of these titles come from licences that were given out to martial arts instructors by the Japanese budo-Kai or warrior spirit society as a way of monitoring skills of the instructors of specific arts, mostly fighting arts from feudal Japan like Kenjutsu and Yarajitsu. However they were adopted by Karate and other martial arts as "Grades" incorrectly and altered their meaning.
After you have reached Renshi and are ready to grade for 7th Dan you will be called Kyoshi, which referes to the holder of this Menkyo or licence as a advanced teacher. Past that you move to 8th Dan and receive the Hanshi Menkyo, which means you are a teacher of teachers. Often the Hanshi is called "Grand master" and no further Menkyo are offered past this point.
So, what is a Menkyo really and what significance does Hanshi, Kyoshi and Renshi mean in Karate.well a Menkyo was a paper licence that instructors in Japan used to denote skill and rank of instructors in feudal Japan so the students could asses the skills and see how much they wanted to pay for the services of the instructor. It is not like today were we use the terms a "steps of respect and reverence" which are not accurate at all! These Menkyo were awarded by a group of people that felt a persons knowledge was at a specific level to receive the Menkyo. Keep in mind that they did not have Dan and Kyu levels back then as those are a relatively new development in martial arts, say a few hundred years old.
Interestingly, the use of Kyoshi is a more modest term for Sensei. It would seem that students that are being introduced to a instructor for the first time may find the instructor calling himself Kyoshi and not Sensei when first introducing themselves. Rank in Japan is a lot more even flow than it is in the west. The perception in the west is that children should not get black belts, however in Japan it is very common place to find a large contingent of junior children with Dan level ranks. And it is uncommon in the west to find people under the age of 50 with a 6th Dan, however in most Japanese martial arts, in Japan, it is more common to see 40 year old 7th Dans than it is to see 40 year old nidans. This is why Titles are used more often as Suffixes than referring to ones rank.
Other terms that are used to denote position in a Dojo would be Shihan, Shidoin and Shisho. Shihan simply means instructor, as a rule in the west this is seen as a lofty title, but it is simply an alternative to Sensei or Kyoshi. Shidoin is a term for a intermediate or assistant instructor and is completely unrelated to rank. I have actually seen instructors in the west, mostly south Africa and Australia, that use this term and think it sounds great, but they are actually making themselves look like a lower level instructor than they want to be viewed as. Shidoin simply means intermediate instructor and normally is used for those that are teaching for a head instructor in his club. Shisho means instructor as well, but is normally used for new instructors and is more of a familure term. Those that use are of equal or higher ranking in the club may refer to the newer instructors by this term to denote they are higher socially or rank wise but don't teach or are not teaching in that particular club.
The other two martial arts Shogo that are used are vastly under used and less understood by the west. Deshi and Uchi-Deshi. Mean students, the degree of relationship are different but basically they are ways of saying you are someone's student. A Deshi is simply a student that participates in class and moves through the ranks with little or regular interactions with a instructor. The relationship is fairly standard and often used to describe transient relationships like in a school when a student has a teacher for a year or so then moves on. In martial arts it is the standard student teacher relationship and one that is merely one of a person seeking to train in martial arts at a normal level. A Uchi-Deshi or "Live in student/apprentice" is a person who trains under a instructor full time and actually lives in a program that teaches strictly the deepest aspect of the art. This system exists in many societies and practices including Aikido, Karate, Sumo and other modern and older martial arts as well as other activities.
We often hear about students that serve the instructor by teaching classes, doing cleaning duties or secretarial work as being called Uchi Deshi, however the more correct term would be Soto-Deshi if the student does not live in the Dojo or with the instructor. Soto-Deshi literally means outside student, but denotes the special role the student has. In more modern times the term Tsukibito is also used for Soto-Deshi. The term Tsukibito means "attached person" and basically means they are attached to the instructor and do basic duties for that person. Some terms used that are similar may be Senhusei or Kenshusei, which literally mean Trainee, However these are not Shogo but more definitions of who a person is in the organization.
Proper use of honorifics
So, now that we know what Honorifics (Keigo) or Martial titles (Shogo) are, I think we should look at why and how they are used by the people that use them properly. Keiko, or general honorifics are often broken down into different categories or parts of speech to show respect, as mandatory in specific social situations, to emphasize social distance or disparity in rank and status or to emphasize social and personal intimacy or similarity in rank.
The system of Keigo in Japanese and Chinese culture are very extensive, intricate and specific. The system includes various levels of respectful, humbling and polite speech and used by many Asian languages such as Chinese and Korean languages. Honorifics are generally broken down into Respectful language, Humble language, Polite and beautification language use.
Sonkeigo " Respectful language" Sonkeigo, or respectful language uses alternate words when talking about superiors or customers. It is not used to talk about oneself. Honorifics in this case are used to show respect for seniors, instructors and people of special position in an organization. The use of the title Sensei, Senpai and others that denote greater position than the speaker can all fall into this category. This kind of Keigo is used to show respect for someone that is higher rank than you and or a instructor, but it is very formal and not to be confused with language used between people that have a personal relationship like a student that is very close to their instructor or Senpai.
Kenjogo "Humble Language or Modest language" Kenjogo or Humble/ Modest language is used in general when describing ones actions or the actions of a person in a group. For Honorifics the use of Kenjogo would be viewed as a person using a title that denotes they are there to serve someone or the actions they do are to serve someone. Such as when a person refers to themselves as some ones Sempai or Kohai, each of these terms show that they work for each other to grow in the martial arts. I would suggest that the Keigo for Senpai denotes a commitment for the senior to help a specific junior along the Karate path, not that the Senpai has no commitment and the Kohai must serve them. The relationship is actually the opposite and the Senpai should show modesty and be humble that a junior has selected them to be their Senpai. The Kenjogo is never spoken however, so a person introducing themselves and their group would drop the suffix and it is an assumed Keigo. For instance a person introducing themselves and their Junior may say "My name is James, and this is Tom" At no time does "James " say "I am James Sempai and this is Tom Kohai!". That would be seen as arrogant and silly.
Teineigo "polite Language" Teichogo " Polite word use" Teineigo is polite language or words and most titles in Karate or martial arts are used as a sign of being polite, the Japanese culture is based on being polite to each other even in times when you do not feel like you should be. This is very foreign to western thinking but most Keigo are based on Teineigo, other than very personal Keigo.
Examples of Teichogo or Teineigo would be using "San" after a persons name, or using proper Shogo in the dojo, a senior visiting a club may refer to the instructor of that club as "Sensei" to show proper respect and to be polite to that instructor.
Bikago "word Beautification" Bikago Shogo are kind of funny. The term Beautifcation or Elegant speech is used to add refinement to ones manner of speech. This is used in combination with polite speech and terms that show respect but in such a way that it shows a great deal of reverence for a person. The term O-Sensei can be seen as a Bikago term. O-Sensei means great or venerable instructor. The "o" is an add on that can be seen as a type of Bikago. It is not an official title but refers to a specific person in such a way that they are singled out by the speaker and the Bikago is used to elegantly show they are more than just a normal instructor. Other Bikago can be Kyoshi, Renshi and Hanshi, depending on the situation.
Misuse of honorifics
Honorifics have been misused horribly over the last few generations since the Martial arts hit the West. We tend to think of the Honorifics as a rank or something that denotes a higher position in a organizations structure. While some Honorifics are meant to denote status of a person, they are not used as a way of addressing someone like a job title, Doctor or Mayor! We tend to see a lot of senior instructors in the west using titles like Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi like they are some kind of mantle they can apply to their name.
I have seen and heard of people that refer to themselves using the titles and not realizing how egomaniacal it makes them sound. And the arrogance they are portraying is counter to the true spirit of Karate and martial arts in general. Possibly the most famous person to have the title O-Sensei used for them was M. Ushiba, the founder and innovator of Aikido…but he never called himself by this title and as far as I have been told he never told others to use this title for him!
Jigaro Kano never “Told” anyone to call him “Sensei” But he did ask that they call him Proffessor and Doctor….but maybe that’s because he was a university professor that had a Ph.D? The thing is we often here of people saying “ I am Sensei Smith” and insisting people call them by that title, and in some cases even if they are not their students. I know of one gent that insists that they be called this by the parents of students, family members that don’t do Karate, and they sign everything as “Sensei smith”….in fact his cheques all say this! Granted we all pretty much laugh at him!
Honorifics are titles that OTHERS use to add a descriptive for the person, not a way to pad your ego and force others to feel as if you are more worthy of their adoration. In fact we should not be using those terms to describe ourselves.
The use of Honorifics has gotten out of control! One instructor in Canada, and thankfully one that I have had little interaction with, started off using the term “Sensei” even though he taught a “Chinese” art of Kenpo/Kempo! Then he moved up to dropping the Japanese and going for the English “MASTER”! Now I hate the term master, especially when someone FORCES you to use that name. Well, after some time this instructor felt that Master was not lofty enough, so he moved to GRAND MASTER! And forced everyone to use this title to refer to him. Shortly after his stint as master he felt that mystical side of the martial arts calling and his classes became more about Chi/Ki/ Prana and the like and he became the Grand Dragon…see were I am going with this? Then the Grand White Dragon!.....and from their in short order he became the Grand White Wizard…and had the honor of knowing he was the only Karate instructor ever….to be sued by the KKK!
This kind of silliness and the use of terms like “Sensei” (the one born before) For 20 year old instructors teaching people 20 years their senior…well the use of Honorifics has gotten about as out of hand as ranking has. Seems like everyone is getting to be 7th Dans and 8th Dans with political strings being pulled and getting rank based on money amounts brought into groups ext and so on!
Ego or explanation?
Much like the issues in Ranking, Honorific titles have become a form of feeding some egos, and the emphasis of Karate has moved to what you get back…from what you put into it. So many instructors I know accept lofty titles or Ranks and forget why they started in Karate in the first place. I know of one instructor who met a contingent of Indian instructors at a camp and then was handed the title of “Chief instructor of Indian” and did not live in India! The sad part about this story is the guy lives here in Canada and will maybe make a trip a year to India NOW that he is the Chief instructor, paid for by the Indian students he is visiting and he does not speak any of the languages that they speak in India, and worse yet….I can see about four of my friends in India that were passed over for this title by a Canadian that got the title simply to feed his own ego!
Titles, Honorifics and Rank have all become more and more about feeding Ego and less about showing your skill and understanding of the martial arts. Granted some arts make it rather easy to get to a higher rank, but the perception of rank in those styles is also adjusted as well. For instance to get a Shodan in Kendo takes relatively little time compared to say Judo or Some Karate styles, but the perception is that they have taken the first step to get to know the basics and now they can start training. Were as in some Karate styles once a person spends a year training they are handed a black belt and some of them can even teach!
Karate itself is about the struggles of the individual and the process that one goes through to adapt and learn skills. The seeking of perfection of character, not reaching the perfection of character! This is a basic component of all Dojo Kun I have ever seen, The fact that we say this at the end of all of our classes, well I would think that people get that one of the basic tenants of Karate practice is the attempt to be better personally, the fact that we don’t need our egos fed or the fact that Karate is about the process, not the trophies that we get or the ribbons, titles or ranks. I often think that we should do away with tournament trophies and just say that everyone that participates is a winner, some just have come a bit farther in their quest for better Karate! And we should rethink the whole rank and title situation. Maybe we need to say its is better to be a Nidan for 5 years than a Nidan for 2..and that you need to be DEAD to get a 10th Dan! I understand honoring people with Titles when they have done something great, or calling a teacher by a title that denotes a higher level of demonstrated respect, but seeking titles and looking for excuses to advance yourself with rank…well that seems counter to the whole meaning of Karate…the training and process of becoming a better person. I rarely meet someone who has trained for less than 30 years and who has a title like Renshi tagged on to their name that is a “better person”….in fact they tend to be more “broken” than others.
Honorifics and titles started out as ways to address people and inform those listening of the relationship the speaker had to the object person, Titles began as legal license so the buy knew the level of skill that a person had, Ranks in Martial arts were pretty much the same thing as Titles after Jigaro Kano found a need for the levels to demonstrate mastery over a martial arts skill set. But slowly it became something different. It became a system of ego building and forming a subservient relationship between those that had “Sometimes” trained in a skill set longer than others. It became a way of feeding the ego of people that had delicate psyches and a way for some to lord over others.
Instead of the intended use, the use of Rank and titles has swung greatly away from explaining relationships, denoting special individuals in a style and license or Menkyo and become a far different thing in many cases. Not to say that all people that use the title “Sensei” have ego issues, and the vast majority are not having issues understanding the use of titles. But for those rare few that use Rank as a way to make themselves appear more important and feed their ego, it has gotten out of control!
How to correct the use of honorifics
I don’t pretend to have the answers to the West’s issues with Rank, Honorifics and title..But I can offer a few ideas for students that are starting out and those looking at moving into teaching Karate or any other martial arts.
Students that are starting out should talk to the instructors. Find out what the instructors thoughts are on titles. The use of the Term Sensei is to be used specifically for your own instructor, Guest instructors and your instructors instructor…not for anyone wearing a black belt. Often a instructor will refer to someone as “Sensei” when they are in fact their students…he is simply implying they are instructors as well. The term Sensei does not mean you must cow down to the person and scrape and grovel, it is simply a term for teacher like a school teacher. For all new students and those that are wondering about the use of these terms, they don’t make the person anymore special than you are as a student! In fact, without you…they would not be a “Sensei”! Keep that in mind.
We need, as a community, to stop feeding the egos of those that prance around or stomp through Dojos with silly attitude! We need to acknowledge their issues with them and inform them they are misusing the term and their attitude is not approved by those of us that want to train in the traditional arts. For those that put rank and title above training, they need to be reminded that their rank does not make them a better instructor than someone who stopped testing at Shodan, but continued to grow and learn! They need to be told by students that they will NOT be doing chores for them outside the dojo because the instructor says he is a Renshi, and they need to be told that the old system of Menkyo is Dead! The Dan system is flawed but it will do for now, as long as we all keep in mind that we are not defined by rank, but we define the rank we are!
For those of us that have been given special titles and know they are superfluous and mean much less than being nice decorative labels to throw on a wall, don’t use them! Throw them in the closet and hang a picture of a instructor you like in its place, or better yet, a picture of your family! Simply, show your ability to toss aside ego and don’t use them, don’t let anyone else use them and stick to Sensei IN THE CLUB only.
Let those that are not mature enough to control their own ego, or those that have bruised psyches adopt the incorrect use of the titles and feel bad for them when they do, because as a person that has the maturity to acknowledge titles have a place and time and most of them should be thrown in the trash, you will find much more success in your training.
Conclusion
The use of titles and propping up of people with rank has been something that has bothered me personally for years. Rank tends to have much more to do with the politics of an organization than skill set of the practitioner once you get past Nidan. I had come up through Karate thinking politics were secondary and a necessary evil, but as it turns out my seniors often forget this point.
I realize that one article on rank and Honorifics, as informative and fun as I tried to make it, wont clear up this issue, but hopefully those that read it realize that some of us feel the mis-users of Honorifics are silly and require a wide path when dealing with them. We also can not correct people that have large egos, except in small ways and normally on the dojo floor or by showing them that they are missing the point in some way. But hopefully my students and those that train in the same dojos as me get the point that titles are to be used as descriptive, not as a way of cowing down and was never meant to be more than it is, a term of respect and great fullness for the person teaching you.
Lastly, I think this boils down to respect! Respect for me is very important, to those that give it to me and those I give it back two. First off Resects can only be earned, not demanded! If you demand respect what you get back is fear and often loathing! If you give respect and earn it then it is true respect! Putting a fancy Gi on, a nice belt and a lofty title do not earn you respect, especially if it comes with a unspoken demand for it! As an instructor the most important thing to do is give as much respect, knowledge and heart to your students as you can. If they choose to respect you back, that is a blessing. Tagging a title and rank onto your name will not help get you any more true respect!