Four Masters.
Thirty Years.
One System.
The life's work of four people who each mastered something different, and then found each other. A 2004 Olympics performer. A military contractor. A Hollywood stunt director. The builder of a landmark US light sword academy.
All four founding masters came up through the same international franchise. The only organized vehicle for light sword martial arts at the time. Each of them committed real years to it. Each of them watched it betray its own warriors.
When the corruption became undeniable in 2016, all four walked away. They weren't going to join another organization. They were going to build one. From scratch. On their own terms. Engineered against the exact failure modes they had collectively survived.
"We've built something that doesn't require you to choose between training seriously and building a life. That's what the empire never figured out. And that's what they'll never be able to take from us."
, Sifu Edward Armstrong, Co-Founder
A Legend Before
LSTA Existed
Nathan Young was already a legend before LSTA existed. A two-time World Champion. An invited performer at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Featured in Black Belt Magazine. AJI Nidan rank holder under Professor Kai Li. Light sword martial arts credentials recognized by an institution founded before World War II. His documented credentials span disciplines most martial artists spend a lifetime accumulating.
What sets Nathan apart from most high-level competitors is the breadth of his documented training. Jeet Kune Do under the Bruce Lee lineage. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to purple belt. Kenpo and Kajukempo to the 2nd degree. Wing Chun instructor certification. APK Level 2 Parkour instruction. Nidan rank under Professor Kai Li through the American Jujitsu Institute. These are not peripheral credentials. They are the technical foundation from which the 9-Form Combat System was built. A practitioner with a narrower background could not have produced a system that holds up across body types, athletic abilities, and competitive contexts.
When Sijo Nathan Young brought his training history to bear on light sword martial arts, the result was a curriculum built for transferability. A system any practitioner could learn regardless of prior martial arts experience, and any athlete could compete in at an internationally sanctioned level. That was the design requirement. The forms are not ornamental. They are the functional movement language of the sport.
Nathan was also affiliated with the international franchise that betrayed Edward and the other founders in 2016. He walked away alongside them, and put his championship technique to work building what the corrupt organization had failed to provide. The 9-Form Combat System wasn't an academic exercise. It was the new technical foundation, designed by someone who knew exactly what international standards should look like and refused to let LSTA inherit the failures of the old system.
Nathan spent the next years building the 9-Form Combat System. The complete athletic classification framework that became LSTA's curriculum foundation and the rulebook for future international competition. Every LSTA student worldwide trains his forms.
In 2019, Sijo Nathan Young took Light Sword Martial Arts to the global stage, performing at the WAC World All-Style Championship in Portugal and Spain, the first time LSMA was ever introduced to an international competitive audience.
Creator of the 9-Form Combat System. The white-to-black sash progression. The technical and competitive foundation of the Olympic pathway. Often referred to as the "Father of Our Forms" by Light Sword Martial Artists worldwide.
The Academy Builder
Who Honored the Code
Edward came up through the same international franchise that Nathan, Julliana, and Nick were all affiliated with. The only organized vehicle for light sword martial arts at the time, and the organization that by 2016 would betray every one of them.
Before any of that was visible, he took the discipline seriously. Within months he had built a landmark light sword academy in the United States, 68 students in a single location. He won Entrepreneur of the Year. People's Choice Award. The City of Virginia Beach contracted him to provide classes through Parks & Recreation. Keynote speaker at the Holistic Health & Wellness Expo in Los Angeles. Featured on America's Real Deal and Total Health Magazine.
Then his students traveled to international competition. They came home knowing the results had been predetermined. Judging that favored hosts regardless of skill, leadership that responded to questions with hostility rather than answers. The system that was supposed to honor the art was protecting itself instead.
Edward had every reason to stay. He had status inside the organization. He had a landmark academy in the country. He had leverage. Staying would have meant quietly accepting that the warriors who had trusted him with their training were chasing a future that wasn't real. He could not do that.
The Code of S.A.B.E.R. (Security, Aptitude, Bravery, Ethics, Resolve), had already been written. The choice in front of him was the first real test of it. Walking away cost him his academy, his standing, and a year of his life. He paid that price knowingly.
He wasn't the only one who saw it. Nathan, Julliana, and Nick were inside the same organization, watching the same compromise. All four walked away. In 2017 they came together to build the organization you are reading about now. Engineered against the exact failure modes they had collectively survived.
Co-Founder, Co-Principal, and architect of the Academy Commander system. The reason the federation-registered network exists today, and why the next 100 are possible. Every Commander License inherits the same load-bearing standard he held under maximum pressure.
The Military Contractor
The Champion They
Sent to Milan
Julliana wasn't teaching yoga or running Instagram challenges. She was contracted by Langley Air Force Base and Fort Eustis Army Base to teach light sword combat to active-duty military personnel.
She became the first American certified to referee international light sword competition. Officiating at the Annual International Light Sword Championship Arena in Milan, Italy, inside the same international franchise system the other founding masters were affiliated with. She saw from the judging table what was happening to athletes from the inside. When the system's character became undeniable in 2016, she walked away with Edward, Nathan, and Nick. She is the Senior Trainer for the Guardian Division of Light Sword Martial Arts and serves as the Official Referee Bureau for all LSTA competitions worldwide. A standard now enforced by someone who has seen what happens when it isn't.
Her championship record is extensive. 1st Place GSBA Regional Champion and 3× WEKAF National Champion, with a Team USA selection for the GSBA World Championship in Germany, 2026. As co-creator of Total Saber Fit, she brought the system to audiences who'd never find it through traditional martial arts channels.
The military base program she built isn't just a training program, it's a licensing pipeline. Every military family that trains at a base is a prospective Academy Commander when they PCS to a new duty station. A built-in national expansion mechanism that requires zero additional marketing spend.
Competition standards, referee certification, military program development, and Total Saber Fit. The only American to have officiated international light sword competition. The architect of LSTA's military growth channel.
The Hollywood Pro
Stunt Director · Fight Choreographer
Sifu Nick Benseman grew up in the film industry of Los Angeles, California, where he found his twin passions of movies and martial arts. He is known throughout the film industry for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Tenet (2020), and The 5th Wave (2016). He is very well respected and sought after within both the national and international film industry.
Sifu Nick started at a young age studying the disciplines of martial arts. Jun Fan Gung Fu, Capoeira, Kempo, Judo, Jeet Kune Do, and various other styles. Which led him to teaching Jeet Kune Do for several years, fueling his desire to work at the intersection of film and martial arts.
After attending school with a Major in Acting, Sifu Nick continued with diligence and hard work to become a well-known professional Stunt Director, Stunt Performer, Fight Choreographer, Stunt Coordinator, and Second Unit Director with over 101 stunt credits and 28 acting credits on IMDb.
Like the other founding masters, Nick was affiliated with the same international franchise that broke down in 2016. He walked away alongside Edward, Nathan, and Julliana. Bringing his Hollywood-grade fight choreography and combat-validation expertise to the new organization they built together. The reason LSTA's combat forms hold up against the highest production standards in the world is that someone who works at that level signed off on every one of them.
He continues to be a teacher as well as a student. For one never actually stops learning.
Cinematic training methodology, choreography standards, and Hollywood credibility few light sword organizations can claim.
Where the System
Comes From
The 9-Form Combat System doesn't exist in a vacuum. Its roots run through verified martial arts lineages and a documented history of international competition.
WAC World All-Style Championship
In 2019, Sijo Nathan Young took Light Sword Martial Arts to the global stage for the first time. Performing at the World All-Style Championship in Portugal and Spain. This was the moment LSMA entered the international competitive record, laying the groundwork for the national federation affiliation pathway and eventual World Games bid.
The LSMA Ecosystem
LSTA draws from a documented lineage of light sword martial arts organizations, including Saberation Inc. (Light Sword Athletic Association), Light Sword Martial Arts PMA (Private Member Association), and Sifu Nate Martial Arts Academy, all endorsed by or founded by Sijo Nathan Young. LSTA is the current competitive and educational standard-bearer of this lineage.
The WISE, Warrior Intelligence System Edge
Thirty years of combined mastery. One operating system. Four layers that no other organization in any category carries. Built directly from the expertise each founding master brought to the table.
Master-Coached Form Review
The 9-Form Combat System Nathan built is reinforced by certified masters reviewing student form video, frame by frame, on the student's schedule. Real eyes. Real corrections. The kind of training that used to require flying to a master, delivered through a phone.
LSTA Wellness Platform
Built on Julliana's NASM certification and Total Saber Fit methodology. A complete warrior wellness system, powered by AcadevoFit, covering recovery, mobility, and combat conditioning. Designed for the demands of real training, not generic fitness.
Saber Circuit, Electronic Scoring & National Rankings
Electronic scoring backed by Century Martial Arts. The same hardware used in sanctioned international competition. Every match logged. National rankings live from your first bout. No disputes. No guesswork.
12-Volume Academy System
12 volumes of operational knowledge built from Edward's decade of real-world academy operations. Every system a licensed LSTA Academy Commander needs to open, run, and grow a sustainable martial arts business.
Train inside the WISE. Compete with the edge.
Find Your Path, 60-Second Quiz