Fencing Helps Students Overcome Fear of Boundaries

By Ed Moy

"It's not really external obstacles," says Richmond/Sunset Recreational Center volunteer fencing instructor Alfred Louie. "It's really obstacles you place on yourself."

Since picking up his first foil at age 10, Louie has evolved into not only a fencing instructor but a teacher of life. Like many of his students, the 31-year-old Louie began taking lessons in an after-school program.

It was at the Chinatown YMCA, with Connie Yu from The Fencing Center, where he developed his love for the sport. From there Louie fenced at Letterman Fencing, located at the Presidio, with Gerard Esponda and Dr. William O'Brien. In high school, Louie would become a three-time All-City Individual Fencing Champion for the Lowell High School Varsity Fencing Team, which was overseen by Kathy Kruson, from Haberstadt.

After college, where Louie fenced for the UC-Davis Fencing Club, he got a job in Los Angeles, where he taught and fenced at the Westside Fencing Club (now LAIFC and Beverly Hills Fencing Club). But the San Francisco native eventually came home to teach the sport at recreation centers in the Richmond and Sunset districts.

"Teaching is my way of giving back not only to the sport of fencing but also to my hometown," Louie said.

Currently, young fencers in San Francisco have only two options: fencing at school and private club fencing. Louie hopes to offer the third option of community fencing through his programs being facilitated by the SF Recreation and Park Department.

"In my opinion, students should use all three available options because they all offer great facilities, teaching, coaching and atmosphere," Louie says. "Generally, most private fencing clubs offer better-quality training, facilities, schedules and competitive fencing. They attract the best coaches and supply the best equipment and faculty. School sports offer an average quality because of school schedules and modest funding. School fencing is supported by limited public funding but they provide fencing for students with a low initial cost. Unfortunately, school fencing isn't a year-round sport and students are usually rushed with their training. There is also limited availability of coaches and fencing staff that can accommodate a school's schedule and budget."

According to Louie, community fencing is usually considered to be "recreational" and non-competitive because it's free. Since there is no true commitment by some students or coaches, the quality level sometimes reflects this commitment and it is seen only as an exotic alternative to the more popular American sports of basketball, football, baseball and soccer.

"Fencing is its own special type of sport," Louie says. "It's one-on-one. The training is team related so you do train as a team, but when you're fencing or dueling with another opponent it's one-on-one. When you're fencing an opponent, sometimes it's more than athletic skill. It's a spiritual battle within yourself."

With that in mind, Louie continues to fight to change the role of community fencing.

"I believe that community fencing can fill a gap between school fencing and private fencing clubs. We can provide competitive training for those with modest budgets. We have students that fence at Washington, Balboa and Galileo high schools, City College, SF State University, GGFC and Haberstadt. Students of all levels and budgets can benefit from community fencing."

As a life-long student of the history and traditions in the fighting arts, Louie often has his fencing students read classic books, such as the "Book of Five Rings," which some consider a definitive text on the Japanese samurai's philosophy of life ad fighting.

Louie enjoys teaching his students.

"They're teaching me about themselves and I'm teaching them about myself," Louie philosophizes. "That relationship between the teacher and student, and student and teacher is what I cherish - that is more valuable than just winning."

Louie's belief that fencing is a means to train for anything a person may encounter in daily life also keeps him going when the obstacles and challenges get bigger.

"It's your spirit that has to invoke itself to go beyond its own limitations when you fence someone that is better than you, bigger than you, faster than you," Louie says. "What is it going to take from your spirit to overcome these obstacles? Usually it's within yourself - that is the battle that you're fencing against, not really the opponent you're fighting. So you're constantly pushing yourself to overcome these boundaries within your own mind. That's what I think is special about fencing."

Louie is currently waiting for the new schedule at the Richmond Recreation Center to be released. For more information about upcoming classes, call (415) 225-9220.