Replying to A question on etiquette and political correctness (so to speak)

So, the head sensei of my kendo dojo, his mother recently passed away (last Monday) rather suddenly it seems. Next Sunday there is a memorial service but they are also going to still have practice (both start at 3pm).

We as a dojo were told that we could go to the memorial service if we wanted but practice is also going on.

So, I am now debating what would be considered "proper" so to speak. On the one hand, a lot of the sensei and stuff will be at the memorial service so having one higher ranking person like me would be appreciated. But at the same time, this sensei has kinda been that one guy that acted like a sports coach for me that was willing to force me to do better not only at kendo but also get on my case about school and other stuff as well so I feel like me going to the memorial service after he supported me for all these years wouldn't be a bad idea either.

So, any words of wisdom there or am I gonna get a bunch of cat pictures out of this?