Bill there is no doubt in my mind as to the merits of taking a class. I even think just among us there is lots to learn from people that have or do this as a profession or are more frequently getting to do woodworking in their shop.
The problem i find is life and the gaps between shop sessions gets in the way. So what i got up to speed with say 6 months ago, i end up having to go back and learn again.
There is a skill in woodworking which to me involves hours of practice and willingness to do it again. But if you leave it and do a gazillion other things in between well you dont quiet go back to square one but the muscle memory sure aint their from the last time you did it.
I think the key lesson i would learn and retain from seeing these guys work is their organization, manners of approach to a task and way they go about woodworking in general.
I guess its a bit different for the guys who are retired and have little else to distract them other than housework and the honey do list.
I can quiet see why the spinny guys go at it on the lathe and do mostly lathe work. Just take using a skew. You gotta practice with that tool and you gotta set up your sharpener system to be able to touch up the tool. Now if you leave it and go back to it after messing with half a dozen other things in between, you got to start again.
I think we hobbiests need to be real about the fact that we cannot hope to pick up a craftsmans life time of learning in hours.
Heck lets go back to the old days. We had a Journeyman setup shop somewhere as a craftsman. His apprentice was at it for years observing and assisting and making his own tools. And that apprentice did not have any dependents or family to interact with. He was indentured one step from being a slave. That in my view allowed for focus and we talking young minds.
The tools we can purchase today i think can contribute towards a bit of de-skilling of the craft but just think of it. You putting in 2 solid weeks at shop class right now. How many hours or weeks does that mean under normal life conditions. How long does it take the weekend warrior to get what essentially equates to 14 days of shop time.
I bet that is at least on average at best 3 months. Then try to have that warrior do what he did in the first hours of the first day again at the end of the 3 months after having lived a working life. Its no wonder so few really young guys get into the hobby. Regardless of the cost which again adds a significant hurdle.
I do think the class with the instructor and master would make for an excellent experience. For me it would be one of my best holidays in my life. I aint one for sitting on a beach baking to death to go and cool off and do it again and repeat the process for a week or two. I go nuts after 1 hour. Different if i have a fishing pole in my hand though.
Be interested like you to see what others think. Good stimulus for a debate.