Private & Semi-Private Instruction
The Fastest Way
to Get Good.
A group class divides an instructor’s attention thirty ways. A private lesson doesn’t divide it at all. Every minute, every correction, every drill is aimed at you — which is why one private hour routinely does what two months of group classes can’t.
$120
Per Hour, Central CT
No
Contract or Membership
1–5
People Per Lesson
30/60
Minute Booking Blocks
24
Years of Instruction
Why private instruction
You are not the average of a room.
Group classes are often taught aiming at a middle. That means if the instructor isn’t skilled at differentiation, they pick a pace, a body type, an experience level, and an assumed goal — and everybody who isn’t at that midpoint gets a compromised lesson.
Maybe you’re recovering from a shoulder injury. Maybe you’ve got a specific situation at work that worries you. Maybe you’ve trained for fifteen years and you want one particular hole in your game closed. Maybe you just don’t want to be the new person in a room full of strangers on your first day.
None of those are edge cases. They’re the norm. Private instruction is simply the honest response to that.
And because your instructor holds teaching credentials in eight arts, you’re not being funneled into the one system he happens to know. You get to see all the options on the menu, help choosing what’s right for you, and then coaching to develop it.
What a first lesson looks like
- Minutes 0–10: a real conversation. What do you want to be able to do? What’s your history, your body, your constraints?
- Minutes 10–50: hands-on work with live feedback, scaled to your level. This is where the skill actually gets built.
- Minutes 50–60: pressure-test it, then a clear plan for what to practice and what comes next — whether or not you book again.
“The real goal, in my mind, is that we make healthy and sustainable choices that enrich our quality of life. It isn’t about earning belt after belt, nor about fighting to be the alpha dog.”
Chris Martell, Founder & Head Instructor
What can I learn?
Anything on this list. And things that aren’t.
Bring a question, a goal, or a worry. Or bring nothing and let your instructor help you choose — that’s part of the job.
Self-defense topics
- Personal safety, awareness, and violence prevention
- Beginner, intermediate, and advanced self-defense methods
- Boxing and kickboxing — Chinese, French, American, and Filipino approaches
- Trapping — Chinese and Filipino methods
- Grappling — Brazilian, Japanese, and Filipino methods
- Edged weapons: defense, disarms, use, and retention
- Blunt weapons: defense, disarms, use, and retention
- Projectile weapons: defense, disarms, and retention
- Women’s self-defense (from the author of Knack Self-Defense for Women)
- Occupational tactics for teachers, healthcare workers, social workers, security, and law enforcement
Or study a full program
Also available by request: Budoshin Ju-Jitsu (white through black belt), Kenpo Karate, Boxe Française Savate French kickboxing, and functional movement screening and programming.
Semi-private lessons
Bring people. Split the bill. Keep the attention.
A semi-private lesson is a private lesson with up to five participants. The rate doesn’t change — $120 per hour total — so five people training together pay $24 each.
It isn’t just cheaper. Some skills genuinely require a partner you trust: grappling, weapon disarms, escapes from a hold. Training with someone you already know removes a real barrier that keeps a lot of people out of martial arts entirely.
- Couples — train together, at your own pace, without an audience
- Families — parents and teens learning the same material, adapted per person
- Friend groups — the most common configuration, and usually the most fun
- Small work teams — practical safety training for a department without booking a full seminar
- Existing training partners — bring your own group and close a specific gap in your game
Cost Per Person
The math on splitting a lesson
| 1 person | $120 / hour | Maximum individual attention |
|---|---|---|
| 2 people | $60 each | Couples and partner work |
| 3 people | $40 each | Great for families |
| 4 people | $30 each | Friend groups |
| 5 people | $24 each | Best value per person |
Central Connecticut rate shown. Sessions at your home or office have a 60-minute minimum. Travel outside the local area is quoted individually — just ask.
Remote instruction
Distance is a logistics problem, not a training problem.
If you’re out of state, overseas, on a schedule that doesn’t cooperate, or simply not near central Connecticut, you can still get live, one-on-one coaching from the same instructor.
Live HD video
Remote Private & Semi-Private
$120
/ hour
- Live, real-time instruction over Zoom, Skype, or our secure platform if you don’t have one
- Excellent for concepts, footwork, striking mechanics, drills, and problem-solving
- Also works for reviewing your own training footage with an expert eye
- Split the rate with up to four others in your household or gym
Only Source Worldwide
Virtual reality
Live VR Private Lessons
$75
/ half hour
- Real-time instruction from a live instructor, delivered to your VR headset
- Streaming anywhere in the world
- Works with any headset that can play YouTube 360 — Cardboard through Quest
- Spatial distance, angle, and timing read far more accurately than on flat video
- One-on-one, 30-minute sessions (a deliberate limit — motion comfort)
Modern Self-Defense Center is, as far as we know, the only source offering live, instructor-led virtual reality self-defense lessons. We built it because a student moved away and we didn’t want to lose the thread.
Pricing
One rate. No contract. No upsell.
You pay for the lessons you take. That’s the entire commercial model.
In Person
$120
/ hr
Central Connecticut rate, 1–5 participants. At our location, your home, or your office (60-min minimum on location).
Remote HD
$120
/ hr
Live video, 30- or 60-minute blocks, anywhere in the world.
Virtual Reality
$75
/ 30 min
Live instructor in VR, one-on-one, streaming worldwide.
Beyond Local
Quoted
Just ask
Travel across Connecticut and beyond is normal for us. Tell us where you are.
Request private training
Tell us what you want to be able to do.
This takes about two minutes. A real person — usually Chris — reads every one of these and replies personally, typically within one business day. No autoresponder sequence, no sales call.
Private lesson questions
Before you apply.
Do I have to commit to a package or a membership?
No. There is no contract, no membership, and no minimum. Pay per lesson. Some clients take two lessons for a specific reason and we never see them again — that’s a success, not a lost sale.
Can I earn rank through private lessons?
In most of them, yes. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Budoshin Ju-Jitsu run white belt through black belt, Modern Arnis has its own rank structure, and Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts follow their respective instructor-level progressions. Rank is awarded on demonstrated skill, on the same standard as anywhere else in the lineage. Krav Maga is the exception: we teach the curriculum but don’t issue rank in it at this time — see the Krav Maga program page.
How far will you travel for a lesson at my home or office?
We regularly teach across Connecticut and into neighboring states. On-location lessons have a 60-minute minimum, and anything outside the local area is quoted individually depending on distance. Just tell us where you are on the form and we’ll give you a straight answer.
What should I wear and bring to a first lesson?
Comfortable athletic clothing you can move in, and water. No uniform, no gear, no gi required to start — if you eventually want to train gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we’ll tell you what to buy and where, with no markup from us.
I’m nervous about training one-on-one. Is that normal?
Very. It’s one of the most common things people write in that last box on the form, and it’s genuinely useful for us to know. A first lesson starts with conversation and we ease into the work as you gain confidence. Nobody is going to test you, spar you, or put you on the spot.
Can I train with a friend who’s at a totally different level than me?
Yes — this is a real advantage of semi-private over group class. The lesson gets built to accommodate both of you, with each person working the version of the drill that suits them. A beginner and a ten-year veteran can share an hour productively.
One hour. New skill. No commitment.
That’s the offer, and it hasn’t changed since 2002.