Julius Palffy-Alpar
Julius Palffy-Alpar became a fencing master while attending the famed Toldi-Miklos military academy in Hungary. He taught at multiple clubs in Budapest and was part of the Hungarian coaching cadre for the 1936 Olympics. After World War 2, he emigrated to Canada and taught in Toronto until 1960, when he accepted an offer to teach at John McDougall’s San Francisco Sports Academy. In 1962 he was offered the fencing teacher position at UC Berkeley and he taught there until his retirement in 1975. Published in 1967, his book Sword and Masque contains some interesting tidbits of classic Hungarian technique.
Articles
Road Trip!
My first introduction to Ferenc Marki was at the 1978 Junior College Championships for Northern California. Maestro Marki called us all together at the start of the Men’s Team Foil to explain the format and strip assignments. He spoke for a good 15 minutes and I didn’t understand a single word that he said.
Daniel Magay, Part 2
As a member of the Hall of Fame committee for USA Fencing, I get a chance to participate in the annual ritual of determining, in the fairest way possible, who is to be considered for inclusion into that prestigious body. But in the long run, just like every member of USA Fencing, I only get one vote.
Alpar Comes to San Francisco
Some months ago, I paid a visit to UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library to look at a collection of scrapbooks donated to the library upon the passing of long-time Cal fencing master Julius Palffy-Alpar. Harold Hayes of the Pacific Fencing Club had told me of their existence and agreed to meet me there to get a look at the books.
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