About Larchway

Who we are

Larchway started as a handful of evening classes held above a hardware store near Broadview Avenue, aimed at neighbours who wanted something useful to do on a dark Tuesday night. Six winters later it is still a small operation, operating as Riverdale Martial Arts Inc., focused on exactly three courses rather than a long menu of programs. We have kept the roster deliberately short because a small, well-run set of courses is easier to teach consistently than a sprawling schedule.

The idea behind the name is simple: a lantern-lit path through a long season, lit one stretch at a time. Classes are kept small enough that a coach notices when someone's footing is off, and scheduled for the hours people are actually free — after work, after school, after the sun has already gone down. Most students join in October or November, as the evenings shorten, and many stay on through the Long Path Program once the Lantern Skills Course wraps up.

We are not a large franchise with locations across the city. We are one address, one small team, and a schedule built around the reality of a Toronto winter — streetcars that slow down in the cold, sidewalks that need careful footing, and evenings that start getting dark not long after four o'clock.