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High-Performance Senior Coach

Mike has indeed been a high-level coach for the Canadian and American national teams. He was the coach of the American women's foil team that won the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He founded the Golden Gate Fencing Club in San Francisco, which he managed until 2022. Mike also acts as a consultant to fencing clubs all over the world, from Germany to China.

At Gadbois he works with the competitive group and mentors the rest of the coaching staff — Tristan Young came up under him — which is how a club this size keeps national-team standards on an ordinary Tuesday evening.

Mike's specialisation is foil at the high-performance end — the tactical preparation, bout analysis and physical readiness that separate a strong club fencer from a national-team one.

What he brings to Gadbois is that the same method is applied all the way down. The way a beginner is taught to hold distance is the way a national-team fencer holds it; the only thing that changes is the tempo. He also coaches the coaches, so the standard survives past any one person.