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Edwin Hurst

Fencing Master

 

Coach Hurst is accredited a Maitre d’Armes (Master of Arms) by the Academie d’Armes Internationale and as a Fencing Master by the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association. He is a former president of that organization as well as serving for several years on its nine-member Certification & Accreditation Board, the body that examines and certifies fencing coaches in the United States.

 

He has been a private fencing coach since 1987, teaching in both Los Angeles and San Diego, and also coaching the University of California at Santa Barbara club team. Previous to that he was Men’s and Women’s Varsity Fencing Coach for 8 years at Stanford University and the Assistant Fencing Coach at California State University, Northridge for another 3. While at Northridge he obtained Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Physical Education. He is a 1962 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was a First Team All-American in sabre and a member of  Navy’s NCAA Champion  fencing team. After his graduation from Annapolis he served as a Navy carrier pilot during the Vietnam War. He studied theatrical fencing under Maestro Ralph Faulkner of Hollywood, CA and taught an accredited course in stage fencing at Stanford.

 

He numbers among his current and former students four All-Americans, one World Championship silver medalist, five U.S. National Champions, three members of Junior World Teams, several Pacific Coast Championship and California State Games medalists, and San Diego Division champions in all three men’s events and women’s foil & sabre.

 

In 1984 he served as the Competition Manager for Fencing for the XXIII Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In 1988 he was named the “Coach of the Year” of the Western Region by the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association. He served as Vice-President of the U.S. Fencing Association from 1996 to 2000, and as a top-rated official, refereed the gold medal bouts in several national championships.

 

David Burgess

Assistant Coach & Armorer

 

Coach Burgess is a 1981 graduate of San Diego State University, where he was a member of that school’s varsity fencing team. He was a silver medallist at the 1981 Western Intercollegiate Championships, and then moved to Alaska where he helped found the Anchorage Fencing Club and served as its coach. Not only did he win many state titles in all three weapons, but one of his students won the 1991 National Division II Epee Championship, while another took the silver medal at the 1997 National Division II Foil Championship. During that time, his students won seven individual Alaska State Championships as well. In 2001, he won the bronze medal in Sabre at the U.S. National Veterans’ Championship. He teaches fencing classes at Cabrillo and serves as the club’s senior armorer. In that speciality he has a national reputation, is regularly invited to work at major U.S. tournaments, and was selected to be the Head Armorer for the USFA’s 2008 Division I National Championships.

 

Beau Elfman

Assistant Coach

 

Beau is available to give private foil lessons to our younger and tournament-oriented fencers, as well as our adult beginners. His equanimity and positive personality make him a natural fit with new fencers, especially youngsters. A student of Maestro Hurst’s for over eight years, Beau has competed at the local, regional and national levels.

 

He has studied the methodology of one-on-one lessons directly under the Maestro, and in addition he is assists in teaching Cabrillo group classes.  He holds a BA as a Mathematics Teacher from San Diego State University, a California Teacher’s Credential, and is working on his Masters Degree in Education. He has also earned a diploma as an Assistant Moniteur from the US Fencing Coaches Association.

 

 

Joanna Ritchie

Membership Coordinator

 

Joanna is the primary contact for visitors to the club as well as the liaison with our membership. She handles the billing, maintains the coaches’ lesson schedules, operates the Pro Shop, and coordinates the input to the Armorer. A native of San Diego, she graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. She also interns at the San Diego Museum of Art where she is studying archeological preservation, a field that she eventually intends to pursue in graduate school. She is our go-to person here at Cabrillo.

 

 


3339 Adams Avenue | San Diego, CA 92116 | (619) 584-2478 | cabrillosword@gmail.com

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