Aaron Ahn, UPenn (USA Cadet team member) wrote: 

Training at GFC has been a life altering decision for me. Up until then, I was in a drought. 

My ranking was stagnant for 2 years and I was frustrated. The first time I met Sergei, I took a 30 minute lesson with him. 

During that short time, he noticed many of my flaws. He immediately had me change not only my form which I’ve been fencing with for over 10 years 

but even the grip of my weapon. If you are a fencer, you know that this does NOT come easy and is similar to starting over from scratch. 

However, I had nowhere to go and decided to put all my marbles on Sergei. It paid off dividends. 

Not only did I reach the peak of my rankings (finished 2nd in Cadet points compared to top 20s from previous years), 

but I had found a great mentor and friend. Every domestic and international tournament he was there with me. Highs and especially my lows. 

During my college recruiting season, Sergei personally met with many of the recruiters himself to speak on my behalf. 

Having a coach like him back me on the strip and off the strip… I cannot thank him enough. 

With his backing, I actually had many coaches reach out to me first to meet. I was eventually recruited to fence for UPenn.

 One of my peers at Penn actually told me that one of the reasons I was recruited was not only my rankings but they loved 

my fencing style over the other competitors. At Penn, I had a chance to go to NACs. Even at these national tournaments, 

Sergei would tell me to let him know what strip I was on so he could coach me. Once his kid always his kid. 

Even my foil teammates at Penn told me how lucky I was to be training with him. 

Training at GFC has been a joy in my life and I have learned the beauty of fencing. 

Yes training at GFC is hardwork and you need to be disciplined (willing to actually listen and change). 

BUT I promise it will pay off as it did for me. Thank you GFC family. Thank you Sergei !