Sensei is the Japanese word for teacher. Many styles of Karate will refer to their instructors as sensei. However, lower graded black belts who instruct may be referred to as senpai, meaning senior student, and highly graded or senior black belts will be referred to as Shihan/hanshi meaning master or expert. Some of these senior grades may choose to be referred to as sensei, as a way of being less removed from his/her students
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