The origin of these titles is thought to lie in the fact that the title of seirensho was given to those who practiced very hard in budo, which supposedly led to the entitlement of renshi, and it came into existence as the title of kendo as well as the titles such as tatsushi (later, kyoshi) and hanshi during the Meiji period.
これらの称号の起源は明治期において、大日本武徳会が武道に精励した者に対して精錬証を授けたことが後に錬士の称号制定につながっているとされ、達士（後に教士）、範士の称号とともに剣道の称号として成立したことによる。