Len Carnighan
Len Carnighan learned to coach under the tutelage of Charles Selberg while attending UCSC. After graduation, he took over the Freedom Fencers Club in Freedom, CA, which had been founded by John McDougall. In the fall of 1977 he was hired to teach at Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA.
In his five years there, he created an outstanding cadre of fencers and had an extremely dedicated class following. Moving north, he taught in Ashland, OR for a few years before moving to Portland and opening the Studio of American Fencing in 1985.
Articles
Selberg Instructional Series Teaches Parries
Time flies when you’re having fun and it’s been almost 4 years since I shared any of Charles Selberg’s Instructional Film Loop series, so let’s dive back in!
My Forever Summer
You don’t forget your first team, or your first teammates. The fortuitous circumstances surrounding my introduction to fencing couldn’t be more memorable; a time filled with remarkable personalities.
Mori and Kendo
I confess, I don’t know a whole lot about Kendo. Outside of the countless samurai films I’ve seen (which I don’t pretend are representative of Kendo), I’ve only been around the sport a couple of times.
Photo Grab Bag
If you’ve been checking in here regularly, you’ll know I frequently haunt the corridors of that virtual thrift store known as Ebay. Sometimes I find things of fencing interest, sometimes I don’t. It’s a mix of disappointment and fascination.
Another Fortuitous Occurance
It’s impossible to know why these things happen. They can’t be planned for or expected yet I’ve been experiencing more than my share of these types of events since starting this archive and I couldn’t be happier about it. This is simply the latest.
A Lifetime of Lessons
“Do you not know that a man is not dead if his name is still spoken?” – Terry Pratchett
My first fencing coach, Len Carnighan, died a week ago today, September 11, 2016.
More 1979 Junior World Championships
It’s a holiday weekend around here, so I won’t write much. I just thought it might be nice to show a couple more bouts from the ’79 Junior Worlds, recorded on video by Len Carnighan. If you missed the first story, it’s here:...
1979 Junior World Championships, University of Notre Dame – part one
The truth is, I’ve been saving this one. Not for any particular reason, but this competition holds a great deal of personal significance for me.
1980 Cabrillo Invitational
In 1980, Len Carnighan, then coach at Cabrillo Community College in Aptos, CA, hosted a tournament seeded with three of the top fencers in the area.
Photo Gallery
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