Sabre fencing in LA

[sabrefromthe80s]

Hi all I just moved to LA (Beverly Hills to be precise) and am looking to get back into fencing after a long absence and am looking for advice on where/when the best sabre fencing is in the city. And also suggestions on a good private coach. I'd like to start competing seriously again now that I've crossed into the veterans group.

[flechewounds]

Hi all I just moved to LA (Beverly Hills to be precise) and am looking to get back into fencing after a long absence and am looking for advice on where/when the best sabre fencing is in the city. And also suggestions on a good private coach. I'd like to start competing seriously again now that I've crossed into the veterans group.

Your best choice from Beverly Hills is Avant Garde Fencers Club - 2209 Barry Avenue. It is run by Daniel Costin (Jason Rogers' coach) and Daniel Gregori. It is a new club as the Daniel's split off from LAIFC (the large club nearby - but right now, they're foil and epee). Tel: 310-473-8890, web site: http://www.avantgardefencersclub.com/

[edew]

Why is it that coaches think they should split to form their own club? Once you start running a club, the last thing you're able to do is coach. It's insurance, membership, janitorial work, membership, payroll, marketing, membership, taxes, rent, membership, marketing, payroll. The last thing you can do is coach.

[sabrefromthe80s]

Thanks. My question was in part prompted by my curiosity about the absence of sabre coaches listed at the LAIFC

[Jason]

Why is it that coaches think they should split to form their own club? Once you start running a club, the last thing you're able to do is coach. It's insurance, membership, janitorial work, membership, payroll, marketing, membership, taxes, rent, membership, marketing, payroll. The last thing you can do is coach.

The are quite a few club owners who would disagree. Of course an owner's responsibilities extend way beyond coaching--but then maybe that's what they wanted anyway.

[Mr.MightyMouse]

Your best choice from Beverly Hills is Avant Garde Fencers Club - 2209 Barry Avenue. It is run by Daniel Costin (Jason Rogers' coach) and Daniel Gregori. It is a new club as the Daniel's split off from LAIFC (the large club nearby - but right now, they're foil and epee). Tel: 310-473-8890, web site: http://www.avantgardefencersclub.com/

Grigore - IMHO, twice Olympian, World Championship medalist.

[flechewounds]

I knew I spelled it incorrectly, but was too lazy to look it up. Thanks!

[Allen Evans]

Why is it that coaches think they should split to form their own club?

Larger earnings potential?

Control over their own work environment?

Ability to emphasize their own philosophy in regards to fencing?

...Just off the top of my head.

[foibles]

and ego?

[Purple Fencer]

and ego?

Don't forget the possibility of personality conflicts....

[edew]

Larger earnings potential?

Control over their own work environment?

Ability to emphasize their own philosophy in regards to fencing?

...Just off the top of my head.

You get less earnings potential if you work alone as opposed to working in a group. For one thing, the rent is all yours, as opposed to shared among other coaches. In reality, a coach can train maybe 40 fencers max. Any more and it becomes an administrative nightmare, if not already. So, either the coach has to hire a person to do the administrative work, and then supervise that person, which means more work on top of coaching (otherwise, hey, where did the money go?) or do it himself (or have a family member do it, but that's really not much different than doing it himself).

I like to think of a coach as a chef. A great chef works better if paired up with a great restauranteur. The chef shouldn't be the restauranteur, unless they're really a (former) chef cum restauranteur and they're really doing the restauranteuring work while living off his fame as a chef.

If you graduated from culinary academy and is really good as a chef, pair yourself up with a good restauranteur rather than starting your own restaurant. If you start your own restaurant, you're lucky to see kitchen knife once a week. And by that, I mean it both ways: you're so busy with so many other things, you don't have time to do any cooking and prepping. And the other meaning is, if you're successful, you wouldn't need to be doing the cooking and prepping, otherwise, you'll get swallowed up by all the work and you'll fail. Given that 99% of all restaurants fail within 2 years, it's more likely that the chef-cum-restauranteur model is not very successful and they're unlucky to be seeing the kitchen knife on a daily basis.

I think the two Dans are great coaches. Wonderful coaches with great ethical and moral correctness, fair to their fencers and do a damn good job of teaching their new fencers. I can't comment on their "restauranteur" abilities, but having been in the same boat myself, I know it's a completely different world and most people don't have the specific knowledge to make it work. The time it takes to concentrate on all those mundane things I mentioned above and they don't disappear once you finish it.

[Allen Evans]

I don't know anything about the "two Dans" and my comments weren't directed towards their situation, which I know nothing about.

I'm not sure how working for someone ensures that you will have more earning potential than being your own boss, except in those cases in which the coach is completely incapable of running a club him or her self, and needs a partner to make the business run. I currently work for a partnership in my day job, and I can assure you the owners of this business are ALWAYS going to be paid more than me, a lot more.

I understand your analogy, Eric, but you neglect the satisfaction of being your own boss. I've been in clubs where I didn't have much say over what was happening in my work environment, or the fencing being taught, and it's hard to put a monetary price on that lack of control.

[Jason]

I understand your analogy, Eric, but you neglect the satisfaction of being your own boss.

Which is comically bizarre since Eric is his own boss and a club owner.

[teacup]

Thanks. My question was in part prompted by my curiosity about the absence of sabre coaches listed at the LAIFC

Mihai Orita is the new sabre coach at LAIFC.

Mihai was head coach of the national men's saber team in Romania. His longtime student, Mihai Covaliu, was the 2000 Olympic Sabre Gold Medalist in Sydney and World Champion. In addition to a tremendous amount of international experience, he is also a world class referee.

As well as private lessons, he runs the sabre junior program on Mondays and Wednesday from 5:00 - 6:30 PM and Saturdays from 8.30 - 10:00 AM.

http://www.lafencing.com/htmls/coaches.html

[Wetmelon]

Daniel Gregori

lol reminds me of "Father Gregori" from Half Life 2...

[I_luv_saber]

Oh, you so freakin' get Half Life rep...

[oiuyt]

Oh, you so freakin' get Half Life rep...

This is why we can't have nice things....

[Wetmelon]

This is why we can't have nice things....

Lol! oops!

[Grasshopper]

are you Jed from the Beverly Hillbillies?