Sensei is the
Japanese form of the
Chinese concept rendered in
Mandarin as
shifu. The basic meaning is "
master," in the sense of one who has mastered a
skill. It does not necessarily imply a
teacher, though the
teaching connotations are stronger in Japanese than in Chinese. And it definitely doesn't imply a
martial arts teacher,
Mr. Miyagi notwithstanding.
The characters for "sensei" actually correspond to "xiansheng" in Mandarin--a fairly neutral title (
gentleman) that's more like "
mister" than "sensei."