Coaches
Eric Guth, Head Coach
Safe Sport Certified
I am a native Clevelander. Was a tennis player at University School, before going to Columbia University where I took up fencing. After college, I moved to Russia and lived there for 9 years. That is its own book. In the parameters of fencing though, I studied under 10 time world champion foil fencer Alexandra Ivanovna Zabelina, a true Soviet icon! She is the 6th most decorated women’s Olympic fencer – EVER! 3 Gold!
I came back to Cleveland to start a family in the early 2000’s. I fenced at the Alcazar’s Fencing Club under the instruction of Fencing Hall of Fame inductee Bill Reith.
One thing led to another, and my wife Polina and I have five kids. We love each one of them more than the other. And without my wife’s tenacity and laser beam ability to focus on detail, this Academy would have never become a reality. Thank you, honey!
I decided to start the Cleveland Fencing Academy as a place to fence for my kids and the community, and to continue on the legend of the Alcazar Fencing Club.
I enjoy fine wine, thick cigars, the Cleveland Museum of Art, my pescatarian diet, the jazz age, Art Deco, 60’s swagger, 80’s music, Grace Kelly, Dostoyevsky, yada yada yada..
Ahmad Taqi
Safe Sport Certified
Coach Ahmad most recently was the captain of the Cleveland State University fencing team and now is a volunteer coach at CFA. He reached 5th place in the NCAA regionals in foil losing out to an Olympian and future Olympian.
Coach Ahmad comes to us from the country of Kuwait. Like the rest of our staff, he has been trained in the Russian style of fencing and coaching. He was on the Cadet and Junior teams for Kuwait before coming to the US as a student athlete. Coach Ahmad also trains in boxing and is a kids favorite since he is so positive and light hearted about the sport he loves so much. He teaches foil and epee as well as oversees part of our physical fitness training program and does a great job of it!
Evran Walters
Safe Sport Certified
Evran is our newest and (almost) youngest member of the coaching staff. He is an active fencer who has been fencing for 13 years. Originally trained by Rolando Tucker (now Notre Dame coach) at FSA in Virginia, Evran was recruited by the CSU fencing team.
He went on to become a 4 time regional qualifier to the NCAA Championships and captained the CSU foil squad. Fun facts: Evran loves everything Turkish, including himself! And he sure knows a lot about sports – from basketball to soccer – he knows the answer to the trivia question. .
Sergey Kobzar
Safe Sport Certified
Sergey comes to us from San Diego California. Born in the USSR and trained in the famous Soviet system, Sergey comes to us with a pedigree we could only dream of. Once again, CFA has nabbed the best available coach in the United States.
Notable Students:
• James Williams – Member of USA National Team, 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist – USA Team Saber.
• Kevin Madrid – Silver and Bronze Medalist PanAmerican Cadet and Junior Games.
• Annika Davis – Division 1 Women’s Sabre NAC Champion USA.
• Victor Bianchini – Word Champion USA Veterans Sabre Team.
Ronald Anglade
We are pleased to introduce Ronald Anglade, who joins us as a saber assistant coach.
RJ is a recent college graduate and former captain of his college fencing team. He recently placed 13th at the NCAA individual championships in saber as a member of Princeton University’s bronze medal team.
Beyond his impressive A rating and years of practice with top coaches in New Jersey and at Nellya Fencers in Atlanta, Ronald has a certain relaxed “bedside manner” to him.
RJ wants to be an otolaryngologist, he can play the violin, knows one singular card trick, is a falcons fan, and considers Nikolay Kovalev to be his favorite fencer to watch. He also enjoys listening to Michael Jackson, reading medical novels, and is currently binging abbot elementary.
Welcome to Cleveland and welcome to CFA!
Allie Tamaro
Allie is an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University studying mechanical engineering. She is a homegrown saber fencer, coach, and referee. (So be nice to her!) Her other passion is figure skating which she also has developed as an instructor.
Fun fact: coach Eric and Allie’s father grew up not from each other in our very own Lyndhurst, Ohio way back when :0)
Jesse Ndjeka
First of all, Jesse speaks four languages and understands eight. Boom! Jesse hails from South Africa and was recruited as an epee fencer for CSU where he was one of the top epee fencers in the Midwest Region every year.
Before fencing, Jesse was a competitive soccer player. His favorite instrument is one that you could never guess – so ask him for fun. Jesse is our voluntary epee coach for our small, but competitive epee program.