Class Schedule

Class Schedule : Adults and Teens

 For Kids Ages 6-11, please see the Kids page, above.

The Team Training Class Schedule (class for Adults and Teens) is essentially set by what works for the team, but the following schedule has been set for a long time (given existing students) so this is what new students should expect for the foreseeable future:

Tuesday 6:30pm for 1 hour+

Thursday 6:30pm for 1 hour+

Saturday 8:30am for 90 minutes+

In order to succeed at Team Training, students must attend the vast majority of the classes. Can you attend these two weeknights and Saturday mornings except when you’re traveling, on the other hand? Then you’d be good to go! Everyone has conflicts come up like travel and illness, so perfect attendance is not required for Team participation. However students should STRIVE to attend all classes. In our classes, we offer an ongoing curriculum, and the student body is always the same; it’s the team. So missing a class, means missing a lesson that was important to move the team forward, and therefore it’s a lesson that will have to be repeated. Here, we differ from other area martial arts schools that promote more of an anything goes atmosphere. 

Beginning students are not invited to the Iaido (Japanese Sword) and Jo-do (Jo Staff) Saturday-morning class, until they advance a little bit in the weeknight classes and show their ability to keep up with the Team. This invitation to move up could occur one month or one year after starting. As a result, beginners’ Team participation is less than three  classes per week. In sum, it’s more like two per week, BUT aspiring team members should not join without clear aspirations to catch up soon enough to join the additional sections (Iaido and Jo-do). Class schedule is based on the team’s needs with the goal of moving the team always forward in terms of learning and proficiency. If the team all wanted to practice on a different night, for example, Sensei Ligo would do his best to accommodate. Please understand, however, that such decisions are made to support the majority, and the momentum of learning. We are not likely to change our class schedule for an individual. Private, supplementary lessons are available. See Registration page.

There is ALWAYS more training to be had, for the Team that wants more. We practice 3 classes per week because it seems to be the threshold that CHALLENGES our current team, without breaking their momentum given their life commitments outside of class. If Sensei Ligo had his way, we would have more sessions per week, but since the current Team has work, and school, and family commitments, for now at least, this seems to be the frequency that keeps the team flourishing. Furthermore, there is more training to be had, because of seminars, trips, tournaments, etc. But the lion’s share of the training happens in 3 classes per week. Team members should understand that the EVENTS that we schedule and participate in as a team ARE an important part of Team success. These don’t happen often, but if we were to announce an all-day training on some Saturday to focus on special material or train with visiting students (from other schools), this event, too, is part of WHAT THE TEAM DOES to move forward. Bottom line, we teach our team members to always fight to do all activities that that team does together to further our art. And if we’re joining a seminar in Japan? Of course this is cost-prohibitive for many (if not most) students, but to support the team, eligible students should look closely with determination and an open mind to see if there’s some way it could be done, rather than dismissing it upfront.