Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Kung Fu Moms!

Especially Shimu Greta, Simo Mary Beth, and Simu Rachel.

Shīmǔ (師母) in Mandarin means "teacher's wife", Shīzhàng (師丈) means teacher's husband. (The old fashioned Chinese titles are not great about including nonbinary people unfortunately.) "Simo" and "Simu" are Cantonese variations of the same word. The title is generally used for a teacher's spouse who does not practice Kung Fu. If they do train in Kung Fu, any rank they achieve their supercedes their status as the teacher's spouse. 

In our system, we use the title to recognize the person regardless of whether they train, because of their importance in the Kung Fu "family." There is no guan without the Shifu's spouse (regardless of gender.) The teacher supports the students and the teacher's spouse supports the teacher. They often also play an important role in "balancing" the teacher's personality, bringing a softer or harder touch to the school, as needed. In a male-dominated social sphere like martial arts, a feminine touch is strongly needed. It's an overlooked role and it's extremely important to the health of the guan and the student/teacher relationships.

I also want to take this opportunity to shout out all the Kung Fu moms who pay tuition for their kids, schlep the kids to class, and sometimes train alongside them. There is no Kung Fu school without the students' own familial and social support structure - all are so important to keeping the school and the students healthy and functional.

I know this can be a tough day for people who have lost their mothers or don't have a good relationship with them and I want to include those folks too. There's no replacing a mother but my hope is that the presence of so many strong, kind femmes at the guan can help heal those wounds at least a little.

Very grateful to all the Kung Fu moms out there in all their forms. I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you in class next week.

- Shifu