“I don’t teach my students, I create the best environment for them to learn” - Albert Einstein
The Academy facilities are named after Sholto Douglas, Academy's foilist and, one of the top Australian fencers ever.
We are in Sydney, 190 Bourke Rd, Building 2, Alexandria, within walking distance from Mascot and Greensquare train stations.
The Academy is only 10’ away from Sydney airport and 10’ from the City centre.
The Centre includes 16 fencing pistes, a changing area with lockers, two bathrooms with showers, fitness spaces and a parafencing dedicated area.
We have decided to name our fencing centre to Sholto Douglas, for his outstanding achievements, and also his invaluable contribution to our Academy.
Sholto, who’s now an AI researcher at Google in San Francisco, is part of our legacy and his support is the evident demonstration of the circle of life.
Sholto Douglas is an Academy foilist who has become one of the best Australian fencers of all time.
Sholto has had a relevant career including winning gold (team) and silver at the senior Commonwealths, silver at the U23 Asians, bronze (team) and top 8 at the senior Asians, bronze (team) at the World Universiade. He also reached as far as being top 16 in a senior World Cup and was two times senior Australian Champion.
“Everyone likes to win, but it’s creating the conditions to do it with consistency that makes the difference along the pathway”.
The ability to adapt to unpredictable situations is what distinguishes a good athlete from one who simply mechanically repeats the gestures learned in training.
Fencing is a discipline that unites body and mind, a dance of rapid and precise movements that require equally rapid and thoughtful decisions. However, speed and technique are not enough. A good fencer is not only a skilled athlete, but also a strategic thinker, capable of making decisions in fractions of a second.
The most common mistake in many fencers (usually coming from their coaches), especially the younger ones, is the mechanical execution of the techniques learned.
When a gesture becomes automatic, there is a risk of losing attention to the real situation in which one finds oneself, this leads to predictability in actions, making the athlete vulnerable.
In a competitive situation, the opponent is constantly looking for repetitive patterns and predictable gestures to exploit. A predictable attack is easily countered, and this leads to unsatisfactory results.
Creativity and Adaptation are one of the most important tools for a fencer and, for this reason, it is essential to train athletes who know how to think and make conscious and rapid decisions in the moment.
During training, the use of techniques that favor reflection and creativity should be encouraged. Rather than teaching automatic gestures, athletes should be encouraged to explore different solutions for each situation, thus developing greater awareness and mental flexibility.
Training that stimulates critical thinking, analysis of situations and creativity will instead lead to better results, both from a technical and strategic point of view.
A thinking and creative athlete is able to vary his responses and anticipate the opponent's moves, becoming so unpredictable and therefore much more difficult to deal with.
Only through training in strategic thinking and creativity can an athlete achieve excellence, transforming every action into an opportunity to express not only his technique, but also his fencing intelligence.
- Maestro Giuseppe Alongi
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Antonio started coaching in Italy in 1994.
From 2000 to 2008 has worked with the Italian National Team, training athletes to win medals at European and World level as well as for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
From 2009 to 2024 Antonio has lead the Australian Team to win medals at the Asian championships and at the University World Games, ultimately guiding the Aussie Foil team to be ranked top 12 in the World.
Antonio students have won several Italian and Australian titles in both foil and sabre.
Simon, who has been part of the Australian Fencing Team as an athlete, coaches all weapons but he's specialised in Epee.
His students have achieved some excellent results in recent years, including the n.1 on the Australian U17 ranking, top 16 at the Asian championships and top 64 at the Worlds cadets.
Simon is very dedicated to his students and he’s extremely motivated to bring everyone to the next level.
Chris has been fencing foil for a while and, despite the young age, he has decided to start his coaching career.
Chris is very fond of the Italian foil school, and, under the guidance of Maestro Signorello and coach Capon he has quickly gained everyone’s trust and respect.
Amelie’ Awong has had a high level athlete’s career, being part of the Epee French Team and winning team gold at the 2015 Universiade as well as the senior French Championship in the same year.
Amelie’ is now coaching both epee and fencing fitness at the Sydney Academy of Fencing, trying to pass her valuable experience to the young Australian fencers.
After a competitive fencing career in foil, Richard formed the Mountains Fencing Club, and began coaching; a role he has filled to the present time.
Richard has been NSW Epee coach for the AFF.
In 2013 Richard attended an FIE epee coaching course in Uzbekistan.
Richard has also led the U23 Australian Epee Team to the Asian Championships in Kuwait.
Richard has been acknowledged by Sport NSW with the 2020 Distinguished Long Service Award and he has recently received an honorary plaque from the NSWFA, “in recognition of a career of valuable and consistent support for fencing development in NSW.”
Alex Andre’, after being an athlete of the Australian Sabre Team at the senior Asian and World Championships, started coaching after the 2012 London Olympics.
Alex is the most winning coach of all time at the commonwealth championships, with 6 gold and one silver medals in one single event in London 2022.
Alex students have won many Australian championships in all categories and, her main student, Veronika Vasileva, has been ranked n.1 in the junior world ranking.
Michael has coached for many clubs and, in 2009, joined the NSW Squad program, becoming also an assistant national coach for the national HPP.
In 2018, he established his own club called 'Hills Sabre Academy', out in Western Sydney.
He has toured with NSW fencers to many national events all over Australia and he has led the Australian Sabre Team to international events such as the World University Games in China 2011, the Cadet Junior World Champs - Moscow 2012 and the Senior World Champs - Budapest 2013.
Many of his students have achieved impressive results in state, national and international events and, more specifically, they've won two gold medals at the 2024 Commonwealth Championships.
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