MEET THE EN GARDE INSTRUCTORS

Jim Liebich

Owner, Head Coach

Moniteur Jim Liebich has been fencing for over twenty years in the Bay Area. He developed a love for fencing by starting out in a local community center class, like many of his students, and has enjoyed it ever since. Jim strongly believes that fencing is a fun and wonderful sport that can be enjoyed at any age.

Jim began coaching in 2000 and eventually earned his Moniteur teaching degree from the United States Fencing Coach’s Association (USFCA) in both foil and épée. 

He founded En Garde Fencing in January of 2008 with the goal of providing high-quality fencing instruction in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County and creating a vibrant community of fencers in the North Bay. He enjoys sharing its myriad benefits with kids and fencers of any age, and he is always working to improve his skills as a coach. Jim teaches classes six days a week at En Garde Fencing and runs after-school fencing classes at many schools in the area. He teaches beginning fencing at Sonoma State University and is often seen conducting demonstrations around the county to promote the sport of fencing.


As a former Vice-Chair of the Northern California Division of the United States Fencing Association and a current member of the Executive Committee, he is committed to growing the sport in the Bay Area. Jim is a full-time fencing instructor and strives to provide the finest coaching available in Sonoma County.

Jim Liebich

Owner, Head Coach

Moniteur Jim Liebich has been fencing for over twenty years in the Bay Area. He developed a love for fencing by starting out in a local community center class, like many of his students, and has enjoyed it ever since. Jim strongly believes that fencing is a fun and wonderful sport that can be enjoyed at any age.

Jim began coaching in 2000 and eventually earned his Moniteur teaching degree from the United States Fencing Coach’s Association (USFCA) in both foil and épée.

He founded En Garde Fencing in January of 2008 with the goal of providing high-quality fencing instruction in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County and creating a vibrant community of fencers in the North Bay. He enjoys sharing its myriad benefits with kids and fencers of any age, and he is always working to improve his skills as a coach. Jim teaches classes six days a week at En Garde Fencing and has run after-school fencing classes at many schools in the area. He teaches beginning fencing at Sonoma State University and is often seen conducting demonstrations around the county to promote the sport of fencing.


As a former Vice-Chair of the Northern California Division of the United States Fencing Association and a current member of the Executive Committee, he is committed to growing the sport in the Bay Area. Jim is a full-time fencing instructor and strives to provide the finest coaching available in Sonoma County.

MEET THE EN GARDE INSTRUCTORS

Jim Liebich

Owner, Head Coach

Moniteur Jim Liebich has been fencing for over twenty years in the Bay Area. He developed a love for fencing by starting out in a local community center class, like many of his students, and has enjoyed it ever since. He has recently begun offering archery instruction at EGF. Jim strongly believes that fencing and archery are fun and wonderful sports that can be enjoyed at any age.



Jim began coaching in 2000 and eventually earned his Moniteur teaching degree from the United States Fencing Coach’s Association (USFCA) in both foil and épée.


He founded En Garde Fencing in January of 2008 with the goal of providing high-quality fencing instruction in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County and creating a vibrant community of fencers in the North Bay. He enjoys sharing its myriad benefits with kids and fencers of any age, and he is always working to improve his skills as a coach. Jim teaches classes six days a week at En Garde Fencing and runs after-school fencing classes at many schools in the area. He teaches beginning fencing at Sonoma State University and is often seen conducting demonstrations around the county to promote the sport of fencing.

As the owner of En Garde Fencing, Jim is committed to growing sword sports and archery in the Bay Area. He is a full-time fencing and archery instructor and strives to provide the finest coaching available in Sonoma County.

Jim Liebich

Owner, Head Coach

Moniteur Jim Liebich has been fencing for over twenty years in the Bay Area. He developed a love for fencing by starting out in a local community center class, like many of his students, and has enjoyed it ever since. Jim strongly believes that fencing is a fun and wonderful sport that can be enjoyed at any age.

Jim began coaching in 2000 and eventually earned his Moniteur teaching degree from the United States Fencing Coach’s Association (USFCA) in both foil and épée.

He founded En Garde Fencing in January of 2008 with the goal of providing high-quality fencing instruction in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County and creating a vibrant community of fencers in the North Bay. He enjoys sharing its myriad benefits with kids and fencers of any age, and he is always working to improve his skills as a coach. Jim teaches classes six days a week at En Garde Fencing and has run after-school fencing classes at many schools in the area. He teaches beginning fencing at Sonoma State University and is often seen conducting demonstrations around the county to promote the sport of fencing.


As a former Vice-Chair of the Northern California Division of the United States Fencing Association and a current member of the Executive Committee, he is committed to growing the sport in the Bay Area. Jim is a full-time fencing instructor and strives to provide the finest coaching available in Sonoma County.

Joel Overly

Coach

Joel started fencing at EGF in 2017. He had a passion for Historical European Martial Arts and started a German longsword program with a focus on the early Lichtenauer sources, specifically Ringeck and Ms 3227a. 


He takes a holistic approach to KDF including Ligitzner’s sword and buckler and Lecküchner’s messer.

Joel was fortunate enough to attract some like-minded individuals, and with the help of the rapier and saber programs, build a competitive HEMA team that has been successful in several different weapons in tournaments across the country. 


As a longsword instructor and the coach of the EGF HEMA tournament team, Joel emphasizes core fundamentals of athleticism and fencing to make historical techniques accessible. Joel believes that learning and progression happen best through free play, and that swords, sword fighting, and history are objectively awesome.

Dimitri Elias Nicholson

Coach

Coach Dimitri has been active in the world of martial arts for over 15 years, having trained and offered instruction in styles ranging from Okinawan Karate to Russian Systema. Caught up in the thrill of fencing since 2009, he currently fences competitively to hone his own skills and constantly gather knowledge for EGF students’ improvement and health. Dimitri teaches beginning to intermediate-level Foil and Epee.

Ivar Bjornsson 

Coach

Coach Ivar Bjornsson has been with En Garde Fencing for many years, starting with experience in Olympic weapons, then expanding to Italian rapier, and also exploring nineteenth century dueling saber.


The rapier class continues under his watch, where his goal is to introduce the North Bay to a fun and athletic passion. He follows the principles laid down by the historical masters, cultivating self-discipline and respect of the weapon and other fencers. His class centers around the tenets of Giganti and Capoferro, but is open to any master of great work.


The rapier is a weapon that is fortunate to have direct sources in writing from masters dead for centuries. Part of this unique experience that Ivar finds so fascinating is the necessity of reconstructing the lost art of the rapier.



Any activity or tradition requires a strong community to train, uplift, and to simply have fun. Ivar Bjornsson is proud to be at En Garde Fencing, to fight and to have fun with so many interesting and talented characters.

Shayna Overly

Group Fitness Instructor

Shayna is an AFAA Certified Group Fitness Instructor and has been teaching group fitness classes since 2018 in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, and Petaluma. She is certified in group formats such as PiYo, WARRIOR Rhythm, WARRIOR Strength, and has recently certified as a G.E.A.R. Indoor Cycling Instructor. Shayna believes in the "we are all in this together" mentality of group fitness. 

As a Group Fitness Instructor, Shayna’s goal is to help inspire positivity, confidence, and well-being through movement and exercise. Shayna strives to help individuals feel uplifted, important, and just plain good in their own skin!


Alanna Wendt

Coach

Alanna originally started Olympic fencing at EGF in 2013. After an almost decade hiatus, she returned to EGF in 2021. She quickly became fascinated with Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) and has since focused her training on Italian Rapier and German Longsword. 


Alanna now coaches Women & Under-represented Genders Longsword, a class open to women, trans, and nonbinary members of the community. As an instructor, Alanna is dedicated to creating a welcome space for those interested in learning German Longsword, as well as uplifting Under-Represented Genders in HEMA. Alanna works to make German Longsword accessible to all fencers, and empowers them to discover their own unique style of fencing.

Fred Kaye

Coach

Sifu Fred Kaye’s martial career spans over 50 years. With experience as a martial artist in disciplines as varied as Bagua Zhang, Shaolin Kuo Shu Quan, Bartitsu, Shotokan Karate, and T'ai Chi Chuan, he has developed a training program integrating Classic Martial training featuring Indian Clubs, Maces and Health Wands. Coach Fred firmly believes this blended method of training will empower everyone to maintain and improve health and well-being at any age. 


Coach Fred has trained for decades to become an instructor of the Chinese internal martial arts of Bagua Zhang, Xing Yi Quan, Lu Huo Quan and Taiji Quan. Over the past decade, Coach Fred has expanded his martial journey with an exploration of western martial arts Bartitsu, La Defense dan la Rue and other global fighting arts. 


His dedication to the study of martial arts and the health benefits that spring from daily practice makes him a key member of the coaching staff at En Garde Fencing.

Kyle Lazzarevich

Coach

From swashbuckling with sticks in his backyard treehouse as a child, to teaching students how to cut with a sharp longsword, Kyle’s interest in swords and fencing has been lifelong. 


He joined the world of HEMA as an assistant instructor with the Chivalry Today Educational Program in San Diego in 2009, and has been teaching western martial arts ever since, specializing in treatises from the late medieval period, such as sword and buckler from the Tower Manuscript I.33 and the various glosses on Liechtenauer’s Zettel, both in and out of armor. 


He dabbles in renaissance fencing arts on occasion with the rapier, saber, or smallsword, but maintains that such futuristic armaments are clearly the wild speculations of science fiction aficionados.


Kyle joined the instructor staff at EGF in 2019, where he currently runs classes on the knightly arts of longsword in the German tradition, and armored combat of the 14th and 15th centuries (or, HEMA Harnisfechten).

Jacob Peralta

Coach

Coach Jacob has been active in all realms of fencing for over 9 years, both Olympic Fencing and HEMA. Jacob is skilled and has medaled in all three Olympic fencing styles: Saber, Epee, and Foil. He also competed at the Jr. Olympics & Summer National Championships in 2023. 


Jacob has also competed and medaled in various regional and national HEMA competitions, earning recognition in Rapier and Longsword. He teaches the Foam Weapons class and one-on-one lessons at En Garde, continuing the growth of the love of fencing with a new generation. 


He has always been caught up in the thrill of competition and continues to represent the club at USA Fencing and HEMA tournaments. 


Jacob’s other passions include indoor climbing, cycling, and archery.