The Quest for a Qualified Transmission by Nathan de Assis

 

Text by Nathan de Assis

(To Dai of Master Pereira and member of the Basic Level of the Safeguard Programme)

About a year ago, I was to accompany my Si Fu to an interview with someone interested in practising the Ving Tsun System at our Access Hub located in the Méier neighbourhood. At that time, I was still a participant in the Ving Tsun Experience Programme and had not yet joined the Kung Fu Family.

We arranged to meet at Si Fu’s (Thiago Pereira’s) favourite café in the centre of Rio, where the interview would take place. However, it never actually happened, as the interested person was unable to attend.

While we were still waiting, Si Fu took the opportunity to talk to me about my journey. At one point, the subject turned to Tutoring within the Ving Tsun Experience Programme. I remember having mentioned on previous occasions my desire to become a tutor one day — greatly inspired by the example of my Si Hing, the qualified tutor Daniel Eustáquio, who at that time (and up to the moment I write this article) is the youngest tutor in Latin America.

The high standard with which Si Hing Daniel carries out his tutoring work has always deeply inspired me to follow the same path. However, my understanding of what tutoring truly was remained quite limited, and I wanted to gain a clearer insight into this role. Si Fu, with his characteristic patience, shared with me, in the best way he could, what “tutoring” means within this Programme and how I could begin to walk that path.

(Master Pereira draws my attention to details in the support material.)

That day, I still had no idea what awaited me — yet a new stage in my life as a practitioner was beginning right there.

Over the course of the year, several tutoring seminars were held, corresponding to each level of the Ving Tsun Experience Programme. All were organised by my Si Fu and uniquely conducted by Grandmaster Leo Imamura. Between online and in-person meetings, each seminar proved to be extremely enriching — not only because of the contributions from the panellists, but also through the exchanges with participants from different levels of the Programme, as well as those already working within the Safeguard Programme, the Traditional System.

At the end of each ongoing event, I would leave with the feeling that I was still far from what I believed was necessary to achieve the qualification of tutor. On the other hand, that very feeling also revealed that many things were becoming clearer: my understanding of the intentionality behind the associated components had matured, and the natures began to manifest more distinctly in the way I approached each task in which I took part.

(Early Saturday evening with my Si Fu at the Rio de Janeiro Access Centre)

A few months passed, and I was able to take part in immersion classes with other practitioners of the Ving Tsun Experience Programme at our Centre in the Méier neighbourhood — sometimes to consolidate what I had learnt in the seminars, and at other times to identify gaps that had previously gone unnoticed. It seemed almost magical how certain pieces began to fit together, how my body gained awareness, or how I could so quickly realise that I was still capable of doing better, even though I already possessed the necessary resources. My journey was, indeed, beginning to take shape.

At the beginning of this October, close to his birthday, Si Fu decided to hold a few regulation classes with members of the Family. In my case, the goal was to review Levels 1 to 3 of the Ving Tsun Experience Programme. I believe Si Fu had noticed that I still needed to polish certain aspects in order to consolidate all the preparation from the past months and, in this way, become ready for tutoring.

On a Saturday, after the morning activities — in which I always try to take part —, we had lunch and coffee, which served as a kind of pre-event to the reviews. I was focused on doing a good job, but I also knew that this was the moment to bring everything I had to the surface: my resources, my doubts, and my limitations, so that I could refine whatever was necessary.

We then headed to the Mo Gun, where I had already prepared the material provided by Si Fu. We began with some reflections on how he approached immersion classes — with practical examples of how he presented and carried out the proposed tasks, always in a personalised way. I noticed that paying attention to the student was one of the most important points: providing a martial experience coherent with the nature of the level being worked on. I focused as much as I could on listening to each word and observing every gesture, aware that I was witnessing a unique opportunity — to watch my Si Fu conduct an immersion at an extremely high level.

Following the most recent reference framework for each level, we worked carefully through every associated component. At that moment, there was no time, no other commitments — only the work itself. I was completely immersed. There were moments when my performance was far from ideal, but that couldn’t stop me. I simply started over — again and again — trying each time to do better than before. I wanted it to be in my blood, for my understanding to follow a coherent path.

When I think back on that day, I realise: “Si Fu was incredibly patient with me — even when I no longer was.” At one point, during an exercise in which I took on the role of tutor and Si Fu acted as the student, I failed to execute a strategic procedure properly. As I restarted, without even noticing, I said a loud “let’s go again” to Si Fu, as if he were anyone else. At the time, I didn’t realise it, but Si Fu made a deliberate pause and invited me to reflect on what I had just done. He pointed out that, although my words carried no ill intent, they were not appropriate. In that instant, I understood that I had completely opened my centre line — I had stopped being present before the person in front of me and had merely wanted to start over mechanically.

It was then that I understood something essential: being a tutor is not about me, nor about what I want. It is about not interfering with the transmission of the content. I quickly absorbed that lesson and returned my focus to the true purpose of that moment — preparing myself to become a genuine tutor.

When night came, the lessons ended naturally, and I felt that we had done everything possible that day. Still immersed in everything that had happened, I found myself admiring even more the work that my Si Hing Daniel carries out today.

I was living an experience that I will carry with me forever — even if it lasted only one day and I may not yet fully grasp its impact. Perhaps, in time, I will come to understand.