Charles Selberg
Fencing Master at UC Santa Cruz, member of a team that won gold at the World Master’s Championships
Preserving Fencing History
The passion for fencing history you’ll find reflected here on the West Coast Fencing Archive can be traced to the legacy of Charles Selberg.
An exceptional teacher and storyteller, Charlie brought fencing history to life for his students through his vivid tales of great fencers and famous bouts.
His estate, filled with posters, photos, scrapbooks and other fencing memorabilia, became the initial collection for the Archive. Since then, we have incorporated sixty more collections and counting.
The Latest Story
Dueling Dads of the Pacific Coast
This story began with a listing on Ebay. It was a photograph of a young woman in fencing garb, back hand on her hip and sword arm raised in a prime parry. Nice classical form, but nothing to inspire a purchase.
Other Tales from the Archive
Fencing in Advertising
Let’s have some fun, in an advertising vein! I’ve run across some fun little ads in my time collecting fencing memorabilia, but I confess that all of the ads I’m posting today were collected by the inimitable Hans Halberstadt
The Selberg Instructional Series, Part Two
One of the first stories published here on the West Coast Fencing Archive was about the how-to-fence series of film clips that Charles Selberg put together with his former employer, Bill Snyder of Bill Snyder Films, based in Fargo, ND, Charlie’s home town. You can...
The Stars Come out
Just a quick update for the website today, as it’s a busy week in the land of the West Coast. The San Jose World Cup Men’s Foil event is taking place . . ..
The Walls of the Joseph Vince Studio Los Angeles, CA
The Joseph Vince Studio was on Santa Monica Blvd, in the heart of Beverly Hills; a grand location to attract an amazing assortment of Talent with a capital T. Quite a number of Movie Stars spent time with Joseph Vince.
A Well-Traveled Man
Heizaburo Okawa has been quite a few places and seen a lot. And accomplished a fair bit in the process. Let’s run it down, shall we?
Jan vs Maxine
We’re back at the 1958 Pacific Coast Championships. This time out, we’ve got the Women’s Foil Finals, pitting Olympic teammates Janice Lee York-Romary against Maxine Mitchell.
The Last Captain
FEATURE LENGTH FENCING DOCUMENTARY
For fifty years, the Hungarian National Sabre team had two constants: they took home gold in every tournament they entered and they had George Piller.
This is the story of Jekelfalussy (Piller) Gyorgy, the 1932 Olympic Sabre champion who defected to the United States during the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.
By Doug Nichols and Greg Lynch
Meet the Fencers
Meet the Fencing Masters
Relic Spotlight
The 1951 First Place trophy for the Gerda d’Egnuff Women’s Foil competition.
Film Library
Check out our video library
Vintage Posters
View our collection
Books
By the West Coast Fencing Archive
SHARE YOUR
STORY
Have something to share or add? Our goal is to capture the stories we know are out there. Plus photos, videos, home movies, posters—you name it. All this material helps preserve the stories of West Coast fencing.
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