Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Swordplay: Fencing coaches Alexandr and Nataliya Maximovich, who have trained Olympic and world champions, are now master instructors at the Fencing Center of San Jose.
Dynamic Russian fencing duo teaches students that fencing emulates real life
Couple teaches at the S.J. Fencing Center
By Moryt Milo
For fencing coaches Alexandr and Nataliya Maximovich, the ancient sport of sword fighting is a reflection of life.
This husband and wife team advocate the philosophy that every move taught in fencing represents a true or false behavior.
"Our job is to teach students about life," Alexandr Maximovich says. "Then maybe in 20 years they are ready to go out into the world. This is what fencing offers. It's not just about competition or the sport."
For more than a decade, the Maximovichs coached extensively in their home country of Kazakhstan, formerly part of the Soviet Union. Alexandr arrived in Campbell two years ago, his wife following a year later. Nataliya, 56, stayed in Kazakhstan so that their daughter, Daray, could continue her ballet studies in Russia.
As master instructors teaching at the Fencing Center of San Jose, they dream of training a U.S. champion who will place among the top three finishers at the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing.
It is a goal and dream Alexandr Maximovich accomplished once before when he helped coach the U.S.S.R. men's foil team that won gold at the Olympics in Seoul, Korea, in 1988.
Once a U.S.S.R. pentathlete--an athlete competing in five sports: swimming, running, shooting, horseback riding and fencing--Alexandr Maximovich turned exclusively to fencing at age 26.
After finishing his career as an athlete, the Kazakh Academy of Sport and Tourism offered him an opportunity to enter the academy and become a coach.
Being asked to join the academy was considered a great honor, Alexandr says. The school is considered only for the elite.
"It was a dream come true," Alexandr says. "I was fortunate. Many outstanding athletes are great in one thing but not good in other areas. The coaches at the academy thought I would make a good coach. I was a good sportsman and had been on the national team."
For Alexandr, 55, the next step--becoming a fencing coach--occurred seamlessly, as he watched the students he instructed achieve individual success as national and world champions.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
On Guard: Philip Hofman, 9, receives fencing instructions from veteran fencer Alexandr Maximovich at the Fencing Center of San Jose.
Parents of children in classes at the Fencing Center in San Jose say Alexandr and his wife are naturals at teaching, and they think the sport offers many positives.
"I think this is a great sport for funneling a person's energy," says Richard Hofman, father of 9-year-old Philip. "I feel it is very safe and great for my kid."
Like Philip Hofman, fencer Gareth Rouse, 10, is taught by the Maximoviches. He has been fencing for two years. His interest in the sport was sparked by reading books about castles and swords. The Rouse family is originally from England, and when its members started visiting castles in their homeland, Gareth's interest in the sport "took off," says his father, Graham Rouse.
Graham says his son also enjoys playing chess, so choosing fencing was a logical choice for a sport.
"Fencing is a little bit like physical chess," Graham says. "You need to be thinking all the time."
The mental aspect of the sport is integral to a fencer's success, and this is Alexandr Maximovich's focus. While Alexandr instructs students in proper technique, Nataliya works on the fencers' conditioning.
In Kazakhstan, while working on her doctoral degree as a "scientific advisor in physical education," she developed a scientific training program that enabled her to successfully profile each student and determine their strengths and weaknesses. Using this methodology, she was able to analyze and develop a customized program for each student that incorporated individualized physical and psychological conditioning.
Her approach achieved a high level of success in Kazakhstan, and she was honored as Kazakhstan's teacher of the year in 2001.
With her young American students, she works on developing their reflexes and hand and footwork--all critical components to a fencer's success. Her use of a simple drill--tossing a tennis ball and requiring the student to catch it with one hand--teaches timing, agility and coordination.
The sport of fencing involves three different weapons--foil, epee and sabre. The best-known weapon is the foil, the modern version of the dueling rapier--a long, thin sword with a plastic button on the end to prevent injury. The epee (pronounced epp-pay) is similar to the foil but heavier, with a bowl-shaped guard and a long, narrow blade that has no cutting edge. The sabre, heavier than the foil, is the modern version of a horseman's weapon, and is used with a slashing as well as thrusting movement.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Foil Room: Swords, helmets and uniforms are neatly stored at the Fencing Center of San Jose.
At the Fencing Center of San Jose, all students start with the foil. Over time, a coach determines the weapon that is the best fit for each student, but most students train in all three disciplines.
Doug Schmidek, 31, started fencing when he was 11, and has been coaching foil at the center for three years.
"Alexandr is considered a master, or maestro, because he has mastered all three weapons," Schmidek says. "He will watch a student and determine his strength and see if the student has a preference toward one weapon or a tendency to be better in another. But students will cross-train in all the weapons."
Although the center is busy during the early evening, coaches at the center acknowledge that fencing has had a difficult time gaining popularity in a state like California, where outdoor sports take center stage.
But Schmidek, who's been fencing for 20 years, says, "Fencing sticks in your blood. I walked away from it several times but years later there was nothing to replace it."
Another coach, Dirk Decker. agrees and adds, "The sport requires speed, stamina, eye-hand coordination, a sense of timing ... and it all has to be accomplished without thinking."
According to the Maximoviches, the sport also offers a student the chance to develop a love for art and culture.
"It is a way to open up a child's eyes, spirit and soul," Nataliya says.
They see the sport as a way to develop a child's self-confidence and help establish a strong inner foundation for later in life.
"Every coach has their own style," Alexandr says. "Our philosophy is to inspire a child to grow from within."
Campbell, California
