Individual lessons are for students who have already achieved a minimum level of competency. It is difficult to teach beginners the basics through individual lessons. It is also very inefficient for the coaches, and not very interesting for the students (particularly for children).

Individual lessons require a degree of enthusiasm from the student and a desire to work hard and improve. If a parent signs up the student for individual lessons when the student is not particularly interested in them, the lessons will not have much effect.

Students should sign up for their lessons on the whiteboard as soon as they come into the club. This helps the coach better plan his or her time. The order in which students are signed up on the lesson board is not necessarily the order in which the lessons will be given. Your coach may rearrange lessons to group similar weapons together or to adjust for a particular student's schedule. If you have to leave at a certain time or have other schedule restrictions, let your coach know as soon as possible. We will make every effort to accommodate everybody's schedules.

The coaches have a limited amount of time each night for lessons. Occasionally, not everyone who signs up will get a lesson. When that happens, we will try our best to let the affected students know as early as possible. We would rather postpone a lesson to another day than give everyone shorter and less effective lessons. Again, input from the students about their schedule restrictions is always helpful.

Lessons are approximately 20 minutes in length. The exact length of the lesson is at the coach's discretion, and is based on factors such as how long it takes the student to warm up and focus, how long the student will last before becoming too tired to execute actions properly, and the intensity level of the lesson. A 15-minute non-stop competition lesson to an advanced fencer can have just as much value as a 25-minute explanatory lesson to a lower-level fencer. A ten-year-old may not be able to last more than fifteen minutes, whereas an older student can take a longer lesson.

Coaches welcome input from their students on what they want to work on. This can include everything from specific techniques and tactics that they feel need work on, to competition strategy and long-term goals.