How long should a martial arts class be?

[Maxximus]

What do you guys think? I've been exposed to various martial arts programs throughout my pathetic life. The duration of classes in these programs has ranged from anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour to 1.5 hours to even 2.5 hours. What should be the proper amount of time allotted to a single class? Or does anyone think that it also might depend on the style? (for example should a muay thai class be an hour long while a Bjj class should be no less than 1.5 hours?) A friend of mine is going to take up martial arts and asked my opinion as to whether or not he'd be getting his money's worth at the place he is considering. I've always felt personally that if you only have time to actually go and train a couple times a week then each session should be no less than 2 to 3 hours each. At the place he found he will be training twice a week for one hour each time. I just don't think you can really make that much progress with such a small amount of training time. But I know that there are many different methods of training that I am unfamiliar with so maybe what works for my training isn't necessarily what works for another type. I want to see some other opinions before I actually give him an answer. So what do you all think about this?

[Jaguar Wong]

The problem lies in the students. If it were more of an individual/private basis, I think 45 min to an Hour would be good quality time (2-3 times a week), but that's only if the student were to take some time out of his week (not during his/her lessons) to do the conditioning. If you have to take time during the class to do things other than warming up (pushups, situps, jogging, etc) then the 45 min class would be more like a 15 to 20 min class because of the time spent on conditioning. If the student has no extra time, but can put in the 1.5 to 2 hours in the actual class, then with the conditioning it would be IMHO a pretty good quality class.

I really feel that if a student were to put in the extra time to do some conditioning on his/her own, then the time spent in the actual classes would be more beneficial, because they are in pretty good shape, so all that is needed before class is a light warm up (which could even be done before class, but because of insurance crap related with running a school, it has to be done during to protect the instructor ).

The shorter classes are probably not the best choice for larger groups, because not everyone will put in the extra time in the off hours. That's why the 1.5 to 2 hour classes would probably be the best. I suppose you could go more (3+ hours), but it's probably best that you rest, and spread the classes out during the week (if it's financially possible).

[YeLLa-TiGeR]

My classes are generally two hrs long. Some others I went to were 3 hrs long but it also included HELLISH conditioning.

[Lacrymosa]

About an hour seems reasonable for a medium-sized class. You can cover much of what you want in that timespan.

[dan downard]

I would love to see schools in the states open 24 hours .We just dont have the following like they do in Brazil.
That would be so cool.To be able to drop in at any time day or night and just start rolling.

[Evilution]

On a small group basis, usually no more than 4 at a time, I've made tremendous progress with a number of students training an hour to and hour and a half at a time, 2 two 3 times a week. They do the conditioning on their own time, and I encourage them to train at home anytime or way they can. By doing it in small groups I can give pretty personal and in depth instruction.

[Underdog]

The absolute minimum training time for me is two hours lessons; but when we gather at the Main academy we work for three-four hours two times a day.

That is not done regularly, however.