Fencing Biography: Bob Block

Bob has been involved in fencing for over thirty years, first as a competitor and then as a coach, referee, writer and USFA committee member.  He began fencing when he was sixteen years old at the San Diego Circle d’ Escrime and was a founding member of the San Diego Fencers Club.  He was recruited to fence epee and foil at UCLA where his team won the Western Intercollegiate Fencing Championships.  Bob was on the championship foil team and made the All-Conference Team in epee.  He competed in the NCAA championships in epee as a junior and in foil as a senior when he was also captain of the UCLA fencing team.  In 1964 he was invited to participate in the first West Coast Olympic Development Camp for fencing.  He was a member of the Salle de Nord epee team that tied for third place at the AFLA 1965 National Championships.  After graduating from college he served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany from 1966-68 where he became the only American member of the German fencing club Eintracht Frankfurt and competed on its epee team.

Bob took a break from fencing for a number of years while he earned a Ph.D., raised a family and established a career.  He returned to the sport in 1990 at the Mile High Fencing Club and Salle Veysey.  He qualified for the USFA 1991 Summer Nationals in epee and became a frequent medallist in veteran fencing, winning a national veteran age-group foil championship in 1994.  He fenced foil and epee on the U.S. Veteran Team that went to Germany in 1996 and in the 1998 World Masters Games.  He has been a member of the USFA Veterans Committee since 1997 and served as its chairperson for three years.  Since 1996 he has written a column called “The Grayblade” for American Fencing Magazine. 

He has been coaching for about fifteen years and started taking courses at the USFA Coaches College in 1995.  He is currently certified as a Level-4 in epee, a Level-3 in foil and saber as well as a wheel chair coach.  He has also taken coaching seminars at the Pan-American Fencing Academy and earned the ranking of Prevost d’ Armes from the Academie d’ Armes Internationale.  Bob became a “Three Weapon Man” by studying and competing in saber for the past decade.  He now coaches fencers in all three weapons.  He was one of the founding members of the Denver Fencing Center when it was first formed at the Denver Turnverein.