School of Japanese Martial Arts

Application and Membership Fees

Dues are $75 per month.

If you are interested in joining the school, contact us to arrange a class visit. You may wish to observe a class before stepping onto the mat, but you are welcome to participate in an introductory class as well.

What to Expect

Newcomers to the school usually train in the empty hand arts until they are skilled in the fundamentals (such as posture, stances, footwork, coordination, and basic blocks and strikes), and are familiar with the basic techniques. Acquiring basic fundamentals typically takes one to two months, permission to enter weapons classes typically six months to a year. All students are welcome to observe weapons classes before beginning weapons training.

Though taught separately, empty hand and weapons are but two parts of a whole. Regular students study the complete tradition, since the arts complement each other in a substantive and meaningful way. For example, there may be an aspect of aiki ju jutsu training that cannot be appreciated without the context of ken jutsu concepts. In special situations, though, one might study only a subset of the full tradition. The weaknesses of such training would normally be addressed by augmenting classes with private instruction.

As a student, the frequency of your attendance is entirely up to you. The more often you attend, the faster you will progress, but all students balance their training with other priorities in their lives. All we ask is that when you train, you train seriously. This includes having a good attitude towards learning and trying new things.

Knowledge is passed on in a mentor-student relationship. We take the education of our students seriously, and class sizes are small. Prospective students are not guaranteed enrollment into the school, and current students may be asked to leave at any time.