| |
|
What is OLYMPIC Fencing? And Why Fencing?
Fencing is one of the oldest Olympic sports which
grew out of the European tradition of swordsmanship. It is perhaps the only true Western martial sport form. It is elegant
and dynamic, as demonstrated in this video.
|
|
| |
Click Here: For Berkeley Prep. Summer Olympic Fencing Camps & PE Credit Classes. |
|
|
|
Click Here: For Fencing for Chideren 7 years old & older. |
|
|
|
| CLICK HERE for Lesson Location Map. |
START
YOUR OLYMPIC FENCING PRARTICE for ages 15 and older by:
Emailing or Calling Coach GerryD and SCHEDULE: "AN INTRODUCTORY INDIVIDUAL
LESSON FREE OF CHARGE", as Coach GerryD's GUEST VISITOR to the SPORES CENTER Tampa Bay. In this
lesson you will learn the objectives and rules of the fencing practice. The Coach will learn
your goals and motives' for the training, so that he can plan a suitable a training program for you. Fencing
equipment is provided by Coach GerryD, for your first 8 lessons.
The fees for Individual
Lessons with Coach GerryD are $10 per Lesson.
CLICK HERE for a link to Estimate your STANDARD STARTER FENCING EQUIPMENT COST after completing your first 8
lessons. Lesson at the SPORTS CENTER Venue can be scheduled
for: Tuesdays, Wenesdays & Thursdays from
4 pm., to 8 pm., Saturdays from
9 am., to 1 pm. If the student is disposed to
participate in competitive tournament competitions, training for this is also available.
| |
I practice OLYMPIC
fencing skill with Coach Gerardo (GerryD) at the SPORTS CENTER Venue. - Don, Pus n’….. |
Meet your OLYMPIC FENCING SKILL COACH
| Coach Gerardo Duran AKA. Coach GerryD at TFA 2006 |
|
| Coach Gerardo Duran AKA. Coach GerryD at TFA 2006 |
Gerardo Duran A.K.A., Coach GerryD "Working
with people that strive for personal excellence in the practice of Recreational Olympic Sport Fencing". Coaching recreational sport fencing
has been part of Coach Gerardo's life since 1987. In that year he attended a fencing coach's Foil and Sabre seminar in Orlando
FL. From that day on, he knew that “he was a Fencing Coach". All that was needed now : the skills of "the
Fencing Coach".To start his new career, he attended in 1991 and 1992 the United States Fencing Association's (USFA) Coaches
College at the Olympic Training Center (OTC), Colorado Springs, founded “Tampa's Fencing Academy” Tampa Florida,
and became a lifetime member of the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association. Ten years later at age 62 it was time to retire from
his day job to dedicate 25 hours a week in teaching and coaching sport fencing at the Academy and local private schooled.
CoachGerryD revisited the Coaches College in 2005 for 3 weeks of coaches training (EPEE, FOIL,SABRE) and was privileged to
attended a seven day seminar “Sport Fencing- The Unity of Theory and Practice”, with renowned Polish Fencing Master
and Coach Professor Zhigniew Czajkowski. "There is always something more to learn in this sport: better techniques, tactics, pedagogy. Now that
the USA has earned there first gold fencing metals at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics, more people are attracted
to fencing as a recreational sport. Everyone can succeed in the sport of
fencing. All that's needed is love for the game". by WMD.... On October 2007 Coach GerryD transferred
his job of Owner/Coach of Tampa's Fencing Academy to Coach Boyco Krastavich, a Bulgarian educated fencing coach.
| A Lesson Coach Gerardo Duran AKA. Coach GerryD |
|
| Fencing Lesson at Sports Center Venue 2011 |
|
|
|
|
Why Fencing
Non-fencers often ask me, "Why should anyone want to fence? After all, no one fights with swords anymore. What
can fencing do for me?" True, it's probably unlikely that you're ever
going to be fighting a duel, flashing blade in hand down at the Local Park, or go into battle wielding a broadsword. Yet fencing,
for all-its anachronistic splendor, has much to offer anyone who decides to give it a try. To begin with, fencing is a superb and unique form of exercise. On a basic level,
it gives a good, solid workout that is fairly inexpensive to engage in. You'll build endurance, strength, flexibility and
the capacity to relax under fire. Coordination—which includes physical balance, timing, grace and poise—will be
improved. Fencing aids both circulation and respiration, adding further physical health benefits. Mentally, it is as stimulating
as chess. It enhances observational skills and the ability to think in an abstract manner (important for problem solving).
Ultimately, fencing blends both mind and body into an effective whole. Psychologically, fencing develops self-confidence. Responding with a sense of authority during times of mental
and physical stress becomes second nature. Fencing provides an outlet for those who possess a highly competitive nature. It
may also be used to channel aggressive impulses that might be otherwise frowned upon by society at large. It also teaches
self-control over a person's reactive nature. Fencing, of course, develops patience. Furthermore, you should remember that any physical workout of a static nature runs the
risk of becoming boring to those who partake in it. Fencing may be many things, but it is never that. Maestro, Nick Evangelista
|
|
|
What is the compelling reason for beginning your fencing career with the foil?
by Maestro, Nick Evangelista. - The foil was designed to be a teaching tool, and what does it teach? Here's the secret: the foil really and truly
teaches only one thing: Personal control. Underline this answer and memorize it, because by following this premise,
you will become an intelligent fencer, no matter what "facts" anyone else throws at you.
The conventions of foil fencing are not just some arbitrary directions set down and force-fed fledgling
fencing students because someone simply felt like including them on a list of rules. Nor are they there to establish manners
and politeness on the fencing strip. The conventions of foil fencing, the rules of right-of-way, of priority, of give and
take, are what they are because they reflect the proper behavior one should follow when fighting with a sword, and the key
word here is "should". Admittedly, this is not the gritty, anything goes, life or death reality of mortal combat,
but rather the kind of focused behavior that would, in fact, allow you to survive such an unpleasant encounter. The rules reflect a logical process, and hence instill a sense of rightness of action, of when to do this, when not
to do that. They are based on what has been observed in the past as either useful or harmful. They are based on... Truth.
You attack when you have a clear opportunity, and you defend when you are being threatened by a well-defined offensive or
counter-offensive action. The rules of foil fencing, then, require us forcefully to respond sensibly
rather than react mindlessly with knee-jerk reflexes, so that we may, in the situations we find ourselves in on the fencing
strip, hit and not be hit.
|
Competitive FOIL Fencing Practice for Coach GerryD's Students with VOLUNTEER COACHES at TAMPA FENCING ACADEMY. |
|
at "TFA",
TAMPA FENCING ACADEMY. (Location Map LINK) Tampa Fencing Academy is located one mile east of the Sports
Center. This training is for fencing students that desire to compete in fencing tournaments. TFA's Address:
5406 Hoover Blvd
Unit #3 & #14
Tampa FL, 33634. Coach GerryD recommends that you take at lest 16 individual FOIL Fencing lessons at the
Sports Center prior to starting the competitive program. The competitive training is given on Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 7 pm. to 9 pm. There is no additional cost to the student for the competitive FOIL instruction
given by the volunteer coaching staff at TFA. You can continue participating in the Sports Center's individual lessons program while attending TFA's
competitive program. The cost to coach GerryD's students for using TFA's venue in their competitive training
is $65
per month for two days per week $40
per month for one day per week. On the first day of training each month give
coach GerryD a check payable to "TFA"
TAMPA FENCING ACADEMY.
|
|
Meet the TFA's Volunteer OLYMPIC FOIL FENCING COACH'S
Competitive FOIL, Fencing Coach
Miguel Marquez, A/K/A.
Coach Miguel as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University trained in foil with Coach Dick Oles and was a member of Salle “Palasa” fencing club in Baltimore MD from 1983 to 1990. In 1991 Miguel earned the Bronze Medal in Foil for the National Team of Puerto
Rico at the Central American Games held in Caracas Venezuela. Miguel is now practicing Foil at the Tampa Fencing Academy "TFA"
on Tuesday and Thursdays from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Coach Miguel is going to work with Coach Mark Jones and Coach GerryD, giving
Foil Fencing instruction and practice to Foil Fencing students. -
Coach Mark Jones has
been with the academy from 1997 and in 1999 he began coaching Academy members as will as competing
in local Tampa Bay and national tournaments. Coach Mark is an excellent coach of Foil technique
and Armory.
- Was the original founder of TFA in 1992. "Working with people that
strive for personal excellence in the practice of Recreational Olympic SPORT Fencing".
I became a fencing coach for the pleasure it seemed to promise,
but soon found it to be time consuming work, mixed with small doses of uncertainty and fear. I almost gave it up right at
the start. But before long the problems were surmounted or in some manner dealt with. From then on, the true rewards of fencing—
patience, fortitude, fitness, philosophy, self-respect and confidence, and a mastery of timing—became evident. For me,
these were the pleasures that becoming a fencing coach secretly promised and eventually fulfilled.Coach
GerryD
|
|
|
Fencing for childeren 7 years old & older at:
Tampa Fencing Academy with Head Coach/Owner: Boyko Krastevitch TFA FENCING PROGRAMS *
|
|
Coach GerryD, Fencing lessons: individual and groups, "Up Close‘n
Personal," Summer Camps," HAVE SWORDs ‘n
ARMORY, WILL TRAVAL", Recreational, Competitive, Training, Epee, Foil, Sabre, Video Tutorials, ndividual
OLYMPIC Fencing Lessons Program with CoachGerryD individual OLYMPIC Fencing Lessons Program with CoachGerryD. Coach
GerryD, Fencing lessons: individual and groups, "Up Close‘n Personal," Summer Camps," HAVE SWORDs ‘n ARMORY, WILL TRAVAL", Recreational,
Competitive, Training, Epee, Foil, Sabre, Video Tutorials, ndividual OLYMPIC Fencing Lessons Program with CoachGerryD individual
OLYMPIC Fencing Lessons Program with CoachGerryD.
|
