Staff
All of our coaches are members of the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA). Membership is paid by the Club. We also support coaching/instructor certification and other development endeavors of our staff. The various levels of certification in the USFCA include Fencing Master who are at the highest level of certification and are qualified to teach all levels of fencers as well as fencing coaches, Prevot who are at the next level and focus more on training all levels of fencers to compete rather than training other coaches, Moniteur who are members of this professional coaching organization who focus on beginner and intermediate fencers, and Assistant Moniteurs who are qualified to assist all levels of professional coaches. Fencing Masters, Prevots, and Moniteurs are required to pass a rigorous written, practical, and oral examination to receive their credentials.MTFC Coaching Staff
Kwangsuk Chung (Kwang Seok Jung), (Head Coach) Coach Chung runs the Foil Program. He is from South Korea where he has been a long time coach at the Lourus Fencing Club. While on the Korean Nation team he earned gold in many international events and a bronze medal with South Korea’s 1998 world championship team. Coach Chung holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from the Korea National Sport University and is an International A Foilist. Coach Chung is available for private individual foil and epee lessons. His MTFC students have earned national medals and national rankings.
Bruce Burch, (Club Maestro). A retired Air Force pilot and Teacher, Bruce has been a fencing instructor locally for over 30 years. Bruce, a former All-American Fencer, began in 1950 under Irving Kipnis, a student of Maestro Anthony Greco, and later became a student of Greco’s. Bruce has won 30 Gold, 15 Silver and 15 Bronze medals or trophies, including the Southwest Sectional Championships in Foil and Sabre. In 1956 he won the Western Intercollegiate Championships in Foil and Sabre, and placed 2nd in Epee.He was on the All Western Collegiate Fencing Team in 1954, 1955 and 1956. In 1956, Bruce was honored with a Conference Outstanding Fencer Award. Bruce taught Foil, Epee and Sabre at the University of Arizona. In 2000 Bruce began a Basic Foil certification program following a curriculum developed by Maestro Anthony Greco. Maestro Burch has also trained under Ed Korfanty, Coach of the Polish National Sabre Team, Gyorgy Pillar, Hungarian Fencing Master, and Ed Richards, American Fencing Master. Bruce attended the United States Fencing Association Coaches College in Epee and Sabre, and is a rated referee in all weapons. He is a current member of the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA), Bruce teaches Foil, Epee and Sabre.
Joseph Jasper, MD (Coach, Prevot in Sabre). Dr. Jasper is certified by the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) as a Prevot in Saber and also teaches foil. He is a valued certified saber and epee director. Joe first fenced in 1971 in NYU’s Junior Varsity team under Hugo Castello, and continued at Case Western Reserve University, but did not fence again until 1999. Joe has worked with coaches Bruce Burch, Harald Hillemann and later M. Wang Yung. He has attended workshops for fencing instruction and directing. Joe stays busy outside the salle with his career and the medical community, where he served as President of the Pierce County Medical Society and has served on hospital committees and other society boards. He has also advocated on behalf of patients and physicians in DC and Olympia. Joe enjoys teaching foil to new and intermediate fencers, and believes that good modern footwork and technique combined with competitive tactics and experience will yield a better fencer. Joe has a great desire to see our fencers succeed in USFA Competition. He offers both group and individual instruction. Joe has a passion for the club’s welfare and friendly but disciplined atmosphere. Joe has a keen mind, level head and great sense of humor. His positive attitude and active lifestyle are gladly shared with his son, Max, one of our former star fencers.
Marty Tetloff, (Coach, Prevot in Epee, Moniteur in Foil and Sabre) founded the not for profit Metro Tacoma FC in 1998 and serves on the Board of Directors as President and CEO. He is certified by the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) and Academie of Armes Internationale (AAI) as a Prevot in epee and Moniteur d’Armes to teach all three fencing weapons. He is a rated referee in all weapons. Marty developed, implemented and coached various programs in his fencing career to date including: Gig Harbor Sport Fencing, Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma, The City of Enumclaw Parks and Recreation, Enumclaw Home School Cooperative, Tacoma School of the Arts (TSOTA) and the West Chester University Fencing Club in Pennsylvania. Marty has intercollegiate, local, divisional, regional and national competitive experience: USFA National Championships, Foil and Epee – national points ranking; currently rated C2011 (B2007) in Epee and E2008 (C1978) in Foil. He has fenced in North American Cup circuit events and the following USFA Divisions: Western Washington, Oregon, Northern California and Philadelphia. Marty was a 3 year NCAA fencer at California State University, Sacramento where he first started to fence in 1976. Marty has had articles published on fencing and edited the chapter on fencing for the book Playgrounds to the Pros: An Illustrated History of Sports in Tacoma-Pierce County by Caroline Denyer Gallacci, Marc Blau and Doug McArthur.
Dana Sanford, (Head Epee Coach). Dana has been fencing since the age of 12, competed nationally for 4 years, and trained at Northwest Fencing Center during his senior year of high school, 2002-2003. He attended Drew University and was selected to participate in the NCAA Championships 3 of his 4 years while there. When he was competing, he held an A classification in épée. Dana runs the elite épée program at Metro Tacoma Fencing Club.
Tobias Lee, MD (Coach, Prevot in Foil). Toby started fencing in 1986 at Lakeside High school. He was a member of the Harvard varsity fencing team as an épéeist from 1991-1994, coached by international fencing master Branimir Zivkovic. After college he took a 14 year break from fencing as he finished his medical training. He enjoys assisting with the Youth fencing program but is often found at open fencing or competing whenever he is not on call for his cardiology practice. He is a coach for the club in foil and épée and has earned his certificate from the US Fencing Coaches Association as a Prevot in Foil in 2011. Toby has returned to competitive fencing and is among the 2% of US Fencing Association members having earned ratings in all three weapons. He has weapons ratings of B2017 in épée and C2015 in foil (he had an E2009 in sabre which has lapsed). Toby competed at the 2017 US Fencing Summer National Championships and placed 3rd for veteran 40 (ages 40-49) men’s epee as well as 5th in division 2 (C and under) men’s epee. At the 2016 December North American Cup (NAC) in division 1a men’s épée he placed 33rd out of 146 fencers. His US fencing referee ratings are a 6 in foil (2012) and a 7 in épée (2012). He finds fencing terrific for physical fitness, but just as wonderful are the people he has met at the Metro Tacoma Fencing Club. Additional information about Toby can be found at tobylee.com/fencing.
Benjamin Lee, (Instructor Assistant, Assistant Moniteur). Benjamin has been fencing since 2008. He has consistently earned national points in foil since 4/2011. He was one of only eight Y10 men’s foil fencers nationally to hold a classification in the 2011-2012 season having earned an E2012 after finishing 3rd at the US Fencing Summer Nationals. He was one of seven 12 year olds to qualify and compete in the Junior Olympics National Championships in 2/15/2014 for Cadet (U17) men’s foil. His top national rankings by age group include Cadet (U16) men’s foil (4/9/2017) 24th in the United States, Y14 men’s foil (5/4/2016) 43rd in the United States, Y12 men’s foil (9/13/2013) 11th in the United States, and Y10 men’s foil (3/1/2012) 11th in the United States. He took two years to play club soccer with the Washington Premier Football Club before returning to fencing full time in April of 2015. Benjamin has a classification of A2016 in foil and D2015 in épée. He is a rated referee with a 10 in foil (2016) and 10 in epee (2016). He attends Charles Wright Academy. Benjamin helps coach the Competitive Foil Class and earned his certificate from the US Fencing Coaches Association as an Assistant Moniteur in 2016. His coach is Kwangsuk Chung.
Andrew Lee, (Instructor Assistant, Assistant Moniteur). Andrew has been fencing since 2008. He has consistently earned national points in épée since 3/2012. His highest national rank for senior (open) men’s epee is 119th (4/23/2017). He finished 48th in division 1 (open) men’s epee at the April North American Cup (NAC) National Championships in 2017 where past U.S. Olympians placed 10th and 12th. During the 2014-2015 season he placed 32nd out of 245 fencers at the 2015 Junior Olympics National Championships in Cadet (U16) men’s épée and 7th out of 114 fencers at the 2015 July Challenge Invitational in Cadet (U16) men’s épée. He represented the United States in the designated European Circuit event (Cadet World Cup) at Copenhagen, Denmark in December, 2015 and placed 43rd out of 186 top épée fencers from 24 countries. Andrew has a classification of A2017 in épée and C2016 in foil. He is a rated referee with a 10 in foil (2016) and 10 in epee (2016). He attended Charles Wright Academy for high school and will attend Harvard College in the fall of 2017 where he hopes to fence on the team. He earned his certificate from the US Fencing Coaches Association as an Assistant Moniteur in 2013. His coach is Dana Sanford.
Zoe Tolbert (Instructor Assistant, Moniteur). Zoe started competitive foil fencing in 2011. She placed 2nd in the 2017 April North American Cup (NAC) in both division 2 (C and under) and division 3 (D and under) women’s foil events. She finished 7th out of 136 fencers in Division 3 women’s foil at the 2016 US Fencing Summer National Championships. She enjoys competitive fencing as well as practicing with her MTFC friends and helping new club members. Zoe enjoys rock, mineral, gemstone, and fossil collecting. She has helped coach the Competitive Foil Class and has earned her certificate from the US Fencing Coaches Association as a Moniteur in foil in 2015. She is a rated referee with a 6 in foil (2016), 6 in epee (2016), and 10 in saber (2016). She has a classification of B2017 in foil. Her coach is Kwangsuk Chung.
Dylan Waits, JD (Coach, Prevot in Foil). Dylan began fencing as a high school freshman in 1988 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, moving on to The Hague, Netherlands and training at Club Des Villiers until joining the fencing team at Brigham Young University in 1992. He was team captain, and taught beginning fencing through the Physical Education program. Fencing was cut from the university athletic roster in 1996, so he founded a campus club, continuing to teach. Relocating to Salt Lake, he taught youth fencing at the Salt Lake Fencing Club, eventually returning to coach at BYU for the campus club. Dylan returned to coaching recently after relocating to Western Washington and has been attending Metro Tacoma Fencing Club for a couple of years. He is excited about the growth that fencing has enjoyed over the years and is excited to help Metro Tacoma Fencing Club bring new people into the sport. Dylan has earned certification from the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) as a Prevot in Foil in 2011.
Andrew Glynn, (Coach, Moniteur in Foil). Andy has been fencing for several years and has run the Youth Fencing Program at Metro Tacoma Fencing Club. Just about all our youth fencers had him as a coach. He focuses on teaching cadet age (U16) and younger student athletes. His passion is with the beginner fencers. Andy has earned his certification from the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) as a Moniteur in Foil in 2011. He he a classification of C2014 in epee. Andy has previously served on the Board of Directors as Treasurer.
Aaron Page, (Assistant Coach, Assistant Moniteur). Aaron began fencing in 1993 and was involved in the development of the fencing clubs at Tacoma Community College and later at Central Washington University. He was the Inland Empire Division Champion in Foil in 1997. He has competed in foil and épée in North American Cup events as well as Summer Nationals. Aaron returned to the Seattle area in 1997, where he was a member of Salle Auriol Seattle. Aaron took a break from fencing in 2002 to start a family. Until 2014 he served on the board of directors and was the head armorer at MTFC. He has held national points for veteran’s foil and épée. He currently has a classification of B2017 in epee and C2014 in foil.
Tom Priester, Phd (Assistant Coach, Assistant Moniteur). Thomas has been fencing with Metro Tacoma Club since 1999 and is a three weapon fencer. He fenced in college and spent many years fencing in the Capital Division in Maryland. Tom earned his Greco Certification for Basic Foil from Bruce Burch. Thomas Priester has earned certification from the United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) as an Assistant Moniteur in Foil.
Roger Brees, (Assistant Instructor, Assistant Moniteur, certified referee) Donald Lake, (Instructor in development, Armorer)