Training Pathway | Vanguard Lightsaber

YOUR TRAINING PATHWAY

From the moment you pass your Initiate grading, your journey at Vanguard opens up. The Training Pathway is your map.

The Foundation

Everything begins with Shii-Cho 1 Drills and Skills — the building blocks of all that follows. Drills develop your movement, coordination, and control. Skills put those fundamentals into practice: footwork, strikes, and working with a partner. You won't move forward without these, and that's by design. Everything built later is built on this.

The Parallel Tracks
Once your foundation is in place, the path branches.

Combat Level 1 introduces safe, controlled sparring — learning to read a partner, hold your form under pressure, and stay composed in the moment.
Kata Level 1 takes you in a different direction: precision, structure, and the artistry of choreographed movement.

These aren't competing options. Many students pursue both, and both feed into each other.

Building Higher

Shii-Cho 2 — Drills and Skills — refines and expands what you've already built, raising the standard across the board and introducing more demanding technique.
Kata Level 2 takes your study of the Kata further, expanding the moveset and precision.

The Gate

Kata Level 3 and Combat Level 2 are the thresholds — and passing either one is what opens the door to the advanced forms: Makashi, Djem So, Soresu, Ataru, Shii-Cho 3, and Combat 3.

How Gradings Work

Gradings are available on request — there's no waiting list, no invite. When you feel ready, speak to an instructor. If we agree, you'll attempt the grading.

Each grading is designed to be small and manageable. Rather than testing everything at once, each one focuses on a specific set of skills — keeping the process accessible, low-pressure, and genuinely open to you whenever you're ready. You're never working towards one overwhelming milestone; you're just taking the next step.

If a grading doesn't go your way, there's a two-week cool-off before trying that same one again. Everything else remains open in the meantime.

The only thing left to do is take the next step.