Elderly martial arts master Elderly martial arts master The elderly martial arts master is a mentor/teacher stock character in fiction, especially "Wuxia", "Chanbara", and other martial arts films. Typically an East Asian male, he is a near-invincible master of the martial arts, despite being advanced in age and presumably having a decrease in physical strength. Often he possesses the rank of Sensei (or teacher) and is referred to as such by his student. The elderly master most often teaches either generic kung fu or an exotic style specific to the fictional period (see List of fictional martial arts). During the films, the master often
Aiki (martial arts principle) the best word or phrase available to them. In this way, there may be a divergence of the meaning between arts or schools within the same art. The characters "ai" and "ki" have translations to many different English words. Historically, the principle of aiki would be primarily transmitted orally, as such teachings were often a closely guarded secret. In modern times, the description of the concept varies from the physical to vague and open-ended, or more concerned with spiritual aspects. Aiki lends its name to various Japanese martial arts most notably aikido and its parent art, Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu. These arts