Rationality | West Coast Fencing Archive

Living By The Sword

by Doug Nichols | Aug 12, 2019 | Blog Post, Coaches, Coaches F - J, Coaches K - O, Faulkner, Ralph, Fencers, Fencers P - T, Mori, Torao, Okawa, Heziburo, Shurtz, Skip

During an otherwise very pleasant Italian meal I shared with two-time, two-weapon National Champion and Olympian Sewall “Skip” Shurtz and Andy Shaw of the Museum of American Fencing, Andy mentioned that he’d come to appreciate, late in life, a difficult-to-like fencer who was once a teammate of Skip’s.

Party Like Hans Halberstadt

by Doug Nichols | Aug 5, 2019 | Blog Post, Coaches, Coaches F - J, Coaches K - O, Coaches P - T, Halberstadt, Hans, McDougall, John, Selberg, Charles

Of the 13 million Germans mobilized for the First World War, over half were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Hans Halberstadt and other survivors jumped into the Roaring Twenties with gusto.

Say Goodbye, Say Hello

by Doug Nichols | Jul 29, 2019 | Blog Post, Calvert, Delmart, Coaches, Coaches A - E, Coaches K - O, Ellingson,Joy, Fencers, Fencers A - E, McDougall, John, Okawa, Heziburo, Selberg, Charles

I drove from my Bay Area home last week to attend the memorial service for much-loved fencing master Delmar Calvert.

The Glamorous Photos of Erich Funke d’Egnuff, Part 2

by Doug Nichols | Jul 22, 2019 | Blog Post, Coaches, Coaches F - J, Coaches U - Z, Fencers, Fencers K - O, Funke, Erich, Mayer, Helene, Uyttenhove, Henri

There are many ways in which the scrapbook of Erich Funke d'Egnuff is a gold mine, not least of which are the amazing variety of newspaper photos of fencers. The scrapbook covers the years 1934 to about 1942 and the fencers of that time had a style all their own. ...

The Fencing Muralist: Victor Arnautoff

by Doug Nichols | Jul 15, 2019 | Blog Post, Coaches, Coaches F - J, Coaches U - Z, Funke, Erich, Halberstadt, Hans, Visconti, Edward

There is a great photo hanging on the wall at the Halberstadt Fencers Club on South Van Ness in San Francisco that I’ve always admired. It shows four fencing masters sitting and watching a tournament at the Funke Fencing Academy when it was on Geary Blvd in the City.

Mori and Kendo

by Doug Nichols | Jul 8, 2019 | Blog Post, Carnighan, Len, Coaches, Coaches A - E, Coaches F - J, Coaches K - O, Coaches U - Z, Halberstadt, Hans, Mori, Torao, Northern California, Okawa, Heziburo, Schools/Clubs, Stanford, Vince, Joseph

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.

Order from the Chaos