This is a featured blog posting from Allen Evans.  Allen is a frequent poster to the Fencing.Net Forums and provides great insight from the point of view of a fencing coach. 

"To teach someone to fence is not just to teach the mechanics of fencing. The student often gives the coach a tremendous amount of power to manipulate the personality behind the fencer; to influence not just what they do on the strip, but who they are as people. This is a profound responsibility. Handling it well is one of the marks of a great coach."

Read more in Allen's blog at Fencing.Net