The Maître (coach) and founder of the En Garde School of Fencing.
How did En Garde start? | Details | En Garde facts | Contact David
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David, along with Glenda Pieters of Touché'.
His involvement in coaching in South Africa goes back to assisting at Bishops in 'the late 80's. Thereafter, he was instrumental in establishing a fencing club at Rondebosch Boys High in the early 90's, from which he moved to Fish Hoek Senior High School in 1994. At about this time, his night manager position in a hotel, enabled him to spend his daytime hours coaching either at a school, or doing development work in the New Crossroads township.
Almost 3 years was then spent in the Netherlands. Here, whilst continuing being an ordinary fencer at a Salle, he was "apprenticed" by a fencing master in Amsterdam. Two years were spent learning how to make fencing work in schools, and a model was developed how to apply it in South Africa. The name of that fencing school, from which so much was learnt, was "En Garde".
On arrival back in South Africa, a club was established in Fish Hoek, and for a year he continued with a full-time job. At the beginning of 1999, he took the plunge and decided to follow his passion for the sport. En Garde was born, and initially it was based at Fish Hoek, and looked at really establishing a foothold in this area. To date, this has produced four junior fencers who have represented South Africa at the Junior Word Championships. Development work in New Crossroads community expanded.
Other Facts about David
First and so far only, professional South African coach in the country.
Current FWC "Colours officer".
Qualified with a two-year fencing coaching diploma ("Russian" method).
Participant on a number of South African coaching courses ("British" method)
Honours degree (Geography) and also majored in Psychology (UNISA).
Nationally competitive until 1999; best weapon being Sabre.
Medic in the "bad old days" of national service.
Started fencing at UCT under Len Davids.. some time ago!
En Garde: facts and philosophies
Biggest fencing school in SA: we have had over the last 3 years, consistently over 100 students, currently 120!
The top juniors in foil and epee have come from En Garde.
We operate at 10 clubs, with the top 30 fencers invited to the squad, from which teams are selected to represent the school at provincial and national tournaments.
Training is based on group lessons, with squad members receiving individual lessons if requested.
Fun, and a strong team spirit are fundamental! We tend to be "followers of the way of the sword" first, and sportsmen or women second. Following a balanced approach is more important for an individual's development, than a "win at all costs" attitude.
Social events form are an integral part of our program.
Other aspects of fencing are also explored, such as theatrical and historical fencing.
"Traditional" values in the sense of what fencing is about, is very important to us, so we have a code of conduct as guide for students. Fencing is also a martial art, so integrity, respect and self-discipline are paramount.
We follow a strategic plan which embraces what our students want, as well as following a vision of the "big picture".
We organise a comprehensive system of individual and team competitions, for different levels and age-groups.
A goal-orientation is crucial, so we use a ranking system as a way to measure absolute and relative progress in competitions. This is recognised by the awarding of "qualification certificates" and colours.
Competitions are not the be-all-and-end-all of our activities, and proficiency in demonstrating the material is also evaluated and rewarded through grading and proficiency awards.
e-mail info@engardefencing.co.za
mobile 072 194 1926
Postal address PO Box 46806, Glosderry, 7702