Interesting thread. I just want to comment on my situation. My Instructor, who has been operating his dojo for 3.5 years or so now, and is about to complete his Nidan grading, still prefers to be called sempai. Often I have asked him weather we should refer to him as Sensei, along the lines that have been noted in this thread (teaching and instructing level, dojo operator etc), but he often says that he personally feels that he has not done the "hard, long yards" that define a Sensei. He has been training for about 14 years. To me this opitomizes the true qualities of a karateka who one day will be an awsome Sensei. Osu
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