LEXICON OF JAPANESE TERMINOLOGY: SHIHAN

    
         
    Shihan (師範) is a Japanese title, often used in budo. The word means teacher..    
         
    Its primary definition is "One who brings water", explaining where the title came from.    
         
    Various budo arts and organizations have different requirements for the usage of the title, but in general it is a high title that takes many years to achieve. It is sometimes associated with certain rights, such as the right to give out dan ranks in the name of the organization.    
         
    While westerners want to know specifically what makes a person into a shihan, the process of becoming a shihan can be rather abstruse in Japan. For instance, within the Bujinkan it has been said that you become a shihan when the other shihan start calling you a shihan. However, it is often common to call all teachers with at least sixth dan Shihan but it was long unclear whether westerners with the same rank also held the title.    
         
    In some styles of karate the title of shihan denotes an individual who has earned 5th dan. The title stays in place for 9th and 10th dan.    
         
         
 

 
     
 

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