School holiday program: Sydney USA 
Sabre Camp

Rob Handelman, D.C., Maître d’Armes

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In 1974, Maître Rob Handelman joined Halberstadt Fencers’ Club in San Francisco, and was the head coach teaching all three weapons until 1982.  He started a private practice as a Doctor of Chiropractic specializing in sports injuries in 1983, and retired from chiropractic in 2010.   

 

Maître Handelman organizes and teaches coaching clinics in San Francisco, throughout the U.S., and internationally (Canada and China). For 47 years he was the head coach for the sabre program at Halberstadt Fencers’ Club in San Francisco, CA.

 

Rob began fencing in 1968 in New York and competed in sabre.  After university, Rob spent nearly three years in Paris at the Institut National des Sports (INS), earning his Fencing Master credential in all three weapons (sabre, foil, and épée).  He is one of only three Americans to ever graduate from the INS.

He was an A-rated competitor in the three weapons and fenced in many European "A" World Cup competitions.  His students have been national finalists, national team members, and national champions in all three weapons.

 

Maître Handelman was head coach for the varsity team at UC Berkeley, has taught coaches' clinics for the US Fencing Association at the Olympic training center at Squaw Valley, and training camps for our top junior fencers.  He has coached US teams at the Olympic Sports Festivals, World Cup Events, and Junior World Championships.

 

For six years Maître Handelman was the chair of the certification and accreditation board for the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association and now he is currently the President. He revamped the testing system to certify coaches, made it more objective, and to allow one weapon masters.

 

He is a co-author of two fencing texts that are both used to train coaches in the US,  Canada, England, and Australia, and fencers all over the world - Fencing Sabre: A Practical Training Guide for Coaches, Parents and Young Athletes (2010 & 2015 2nd ed.) and Fencing Foil: A Practical Training Guide for Coaches, Parents and Young Athletes (2014). The Addendum (2015) is a digital companion supplement for coaches, parents and fencers that wish to more deeply understand the concepts and reasoning behind the modern training methods. Concepts from many training and physiology texts are condensed for the reader and those same concepts are adapted to fencing activities.

 

In 2021, working with “Fencing Metrics”  he created a series of Epee zoom training clinics as a 50+ hour online continuing education course available for epee coaches of all levels.

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Connie Louie, Ph.D., Maître de Sabre

 

Dr. Connie Louie was a competitive fencer in foil for 16 years. She has trained with the French national team and has competed internationally. Dr. Louie was also a member of the US Olympic Training Squad for three years and fenced with the US Women’s Foil Team in Europe. She placed 4th individually in the 1981 Nationals and captain of the 2nd place team. In 2006, Dr. Louie received her Moniteur certificates in both foil and sabre, in June 2009 her Prévôt certificate in sabre, and Feb 2013 her Maître in sabre from the US Fencing Coaches Association.

 

Dr. Louie earned a doctorate degree in clinical psychology in 1994 and is a clinical psychologist specializing in sports psychology.

 

She is a co-author of two fencing texts that are both used to train coaches in the US,  Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and fencers all over the world - Fencing Sabre: A Practical Training Guide for Coaches, Parents and Young Athletes (2010 & 2015 2nd ed.) and Fencing Foil: A Practical Training Guide for Coaches, Parents and Young Athletes (2014).

 

While serving in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom 2011-2012, Captain Louie, Army psychologist, taught sabre to soldiers. The classes helped soldiers stay fit and uphold their fighting spirit.