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
Time Traveling with Hans Halberstadt
A recent gift to the Archive has me dumbfounded. It’s existence was something I had speculated about in a vague way, but never dreamed of finding proof for. Much less, having the proof come directly to me as a donation to the Archive.
Other Tales from the Archive
Count Marco and the Photo Shoot
There was one group of photos, classes, individual fencer, etc., that I couldn’t place or identify after collecting them as part of the Selberg estate, so I sent some to John for help.
Studio of American Fencing Collage #1
I love photo collages of fencers, even when I don’t know who any of the people in the pictures are. Especially if there are lots of faces to look at. I always find myself looking closely and wondering, “Is that….?
The Selberg Instructional Series
It’s funny how things have come together while gathering items for this Archive. When I was just starting to get things together, I went to visit Matthew Porter at his shop, American Fencers Supply.
The Hans Box
Mark Headley and I hold the distinction of having dismantled the salle d’armes that Charlie Selberg put together in the woods of Southern Oregon. On the outside, it looked like this: On the inside, like this: Taking it all down for transport to Berkeley and...
Tronchet vs Pavese
I’ve been fascinated with Generoso Pavese since first finding his picture in an antique store many years ago. Looking at it, I can’t resist the tug on my brain
The Nick Muray Medal
One of the amazing bits of fencing history at Halberstadt are a collection of four scrapbooks which include items dating back before 1900.
In the scrapbook with the oldest material, there were two programs that caught my attention.
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
A pin-backed button for the 1957 US National Fencing Championships.
Film Library
Check out our video library
Vintage Posters
View our collection
Books
By the West Coast Fencing Archive
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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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