Respect and Fear are separate ladders
Respect rewards successful parries, clashes and outnumbered wins. Fear comes from finishers, last swings, backstabs and weapon hits. You can build both axes, but progress on one does not substitute for points on the other. Family rank is a separate character concept and should not be confused with these reputation titles.
Use the action that fits your practice
A parry gives +2 Respect, a clash win +5 and an outnumbered win +10. Our advice for learning is to work on parry timing and the M1 string rather than intentionally seeking an outnumbered fight just because its reward is larger. The time and difficulty of an action matter alongside its point value.
Understand Fear gains
The listed Fear gains are +6 for a finisher, +3 for the last swing, and +1 for a backstab or weapon hit. The planner treats each action separately. It does not assume undocumented stacking or an unlimited farming rate. Use it to estimate counts, then account for the actual situations you encounter in the game.
Combined titles need both thresholds
Musha requires 700 Respect and 700 Fear. Goketsu requires 1,400 of each; Kishin 2,500; Onigashira 4,200; Oyabun 6,800; and Gokudo 10,800. If one side is far ahead, the weaker side determines the next combined title. Keeping an eye on both values prevents you from working on an already-complete requirement.
NPC memory is a different timer
NPCs remember interactions. The description says this memory resets after three days, with new actions refreshing the clock. It does not say that all Respect and Fear points reset on that schedule. Avoid planning around a reputation reset that the available rules do not describe.