All License Tiers Tier 1 · Instructor Certification · $2,997
● Instructor Certification · Tier 1 of 3 · $2,997

Certify your instructors.
Deploy the curriculum.

$2,997. One-time license. You teach Light Sword combat at academies that already have students: weekend workshops, private lessons, contract programs at gyms. Five sessions a week pays back the license in your first quarter. Keep your job. Build a real second income.

Not the right fit? See all three license tiers

Insight Anchor.
The Instructor Tier analysis.

A direct walkthrough of the Instructor Certification: what it costs, what you teach, where you teach, and what the income math actually looks like at fifteen hours a week. Watch this if you're evaluating whether this is your tier. Read the deeper breakdown below if you've already decided.

You don't want to quit your job.
You want a real second income.

The franchise pitches all want you to bet the house on a building you don't own. The MLM pitches want you to bug your friends. The "passive income" courses want $5K and don't deliver income.

You want something different: a real skill, a real certification, and a real way to monetize it on your terms. At gyms and academies that already have students, on weekends and evenings, with no fixed location obligation, no inventory, and no monthly overhead.

That's what the LSTA Saber Instructor Certification is. It's a $2,997 one-time investment that turns into a portable side business teaching a ranked Light Sword combat system.

You've been training in this system.
Certification is when training starts paying you back.

Every certified instructor is founding faculty of a federation on its way up, a licensed light sword martial art, fielding a Team USA world-championship competitor in 2026 and building toward international federation recognition and a World Games bid. Your certification doesn’t just let you teach. It puts your name in the instructor directory of a sport that’s ascending, and the credential carries more weight as the federation grows.

Training as a Shadow Warrior and wondering if you could teach? Your sash progression is the on-ramp, ask about it on the call below.

Everything you need to teach.
Nothing you don't.

The certification gives you the credential, the curriculum, and the marketing infrastructure to monetize it. What you don't get: anything you'd have to maintain or inventory.

📜
Certified Instructor Status
Recognized credential under the LSTA system. Trained directly under the founding masters. Listed in the LSTA instructor directory.
📚
Full Curriculum Access
Form I "Foundation Strike", all 14 lessons. The 9-Form, 9-Sash, 3-Level system. Master demonstration videos for every move. Lesson plans you can use directly.
📋
Workshop & Private Lesson Packages
Pre-built lesson packages: 6-week intro workshop, weekend bootcamp, 1-hour private session formats. Pricing structures, registration scripts, and student intake templates included.
🎯
Academy Outreach Playbook
The exact pitch, contract template, and revenue-split structure for approaching martial arts academies, fitness centers, and rec departments to host your sessions.
🛡
Liability & Insurance Templates
Student waiver templates, certificate-of-insurance documentation, and recommended liability coverage. The legal infrastructure for running classes professionally.
🤝
Instructor Network Access
Private community of certified LSTA instructors. Share what's working in your market. Get rank-evaluation support from senior instructors when you need it.

Five sessions a week.
$30K–$60K a year. (Illustrative Year 1 Example)

Illustrative Year 1 examples based on typical session pricing and volume, not guarantees of income. Two example scenarios, pick which one fits your weekly availability.

Conservative · Weekend Side Hustle
3 sessions/week · 30 students total
Saturday workshop (10 students × $30) ··· $300/wk
Tuesday eve class (8 students × $25) ······ $200/wk
2 private lessons × $80 ··················· $160/wk
Gross weekly$660
Annual gross (50 wks)$33,000
− LSMAF Coach dues (flat $59/yr, no revenue share)−$59
Net Annual
$32,941
License paid back in ~5 weeks
ILLUSTRATIVE YEAR 1 EXAMPLE
Real Second Income
5 sessions/week · 60 students total
Saturday workshop (15 students × $30) ··· $450/wk
Two weeknight classes (12 ea × $25) ······ $600/wk
4 private lessons × $80 ··················· $320/wk
Gross weekly$1,370
Annual gross (50 wks)$68,500
− LSMAF Coach dues (flat $59/yr, no revenue share)−$59
Net Annual
$68,441
License paid back in ~3 weeks
Pricing varies by market. The numbers above use national midpoints. The Discovery Call models your local market specifically: academy partnership rates, private lesson pricing in your area, demand patterns.

The credential carries weight
because of who’s behind it.

When you tell an academy, a YMCA, a college, or a corporate event coordinator that you’re a certified Light Sword instructor, the next question is always, certified by whom? Here’s the answer.

Co-Principals
Sifu Edward Armstrong
Norfolk, VA
Sifu Edward Armstrong
Co-Founder & Co-Principal

Built a landmark U.S. light sword academy · Entrepreneur of the Year · Featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox · Parks & Recreation Contract

Sifu Julliana Armstrong
Langley AFB, Virginia
Sifu Julliana Armstrong
Co-Principal · First American Int'l Referee

3× WEKAF National Champion · NASM-Certified Trainer · Delivered U.S. military contract programs, Langley AFB & Fort Eustis

Team USA, 2X GSBA World Champion, Germany 2026
Founding Masters & Technical Directors
Sijo Nathan Young
Hawaii
Sijo Nathan Young
Founding Master · Technical Director

2× World Champion · 2004 Olympics Performer · Black Belt Magazine Feature · 2nd-Gen JKD, Bruce Lee lineage

Sifu Nick Benseman
Los Angeles, CA
Sifu Nick Benseman
Founding Master · Choreography Director

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 · Tenet · The 5th Wave · 101 Stunt Credits on IMDb · JKD · Capoeira · Kempo · Judo

FOUNDING INSTRUCTOR COHORT

Founding-rate certification is capped at 100 founding instructors.

Founding instructors are listed in the LSTA public directory ahead of new entrants and keep their founding rate on any future renewal. New pricing introduced after the cohort closes applies only to new entrants. The founding cohort is capped at 100 seats. The directory placement is the asset; the rate lock is the bonus.

If you're not generating revenue
in 90 days, we keep working with you.

90-day satisfaction guarantee. If you've followed the playbook. Completed certification, used the academy outreach scripts, run your first workshop, and you haven't generated revenue, LSTA continues working with you until you do. Additional coaching, contact introductions, marketing guidance. No expiration on that commitment.

The one condition You must run the playbook as provided. The guarantee covers execution of the system, not substitution of it. If you don't reach out to academies, don't follow the curriculum, don't run workshops as designed, that's not what the guarantee is built to cover. We work with people doing the work.

Three reasons to look at a different tier.

You want to leave your day job.
$30K–$60K is real second-income money, not full-time replacement income. If you want this to BE your career, look at the Mobile License ($14,997) or Partner License ($47,997) instead.
You don't want to teach in person.
This certification is for live, in-person instruction: workshops, group classes, private lessons. If your interest is more about owning equipment-based events, the Mobile Saber Tag License is structured around event-day economics, not teaching.

Not the instructor path?

Here’s where else this might lead.

If you read this and realized teaching isn’t the right move. You’re not lost. The LSTA system has four entry points. Pick the one that actually matches what you want.

Apply now or get in touch.

If the math fits and you're ready to start certification, apply. If you want to model your local market with a real human first, send a quick note and our team will reach out. No pressure on this tier. The conversation is purely about market fit and your situation.

Start Certification, $2,997 → Get In Touch, Ask Anything

Prior investment credits in full toward Mobile or Partner upgrades if your situation changes.

Earnings disclaimer: Any income, revenue, margin, or retention figures on this page. Including monthly/annual revenue ranges, net margins, and percentages. Are documented results from our founding operations or illustrative examples. They are NOT typical results, projections of your results, or guarantees of any kind. Individual results vary widely with market, effort, pricing, and execution; many will earn less and some will earn nothing. We make no guarantee of any specific financial result.