THE GENTLE GIANT AKHI SPENCER-EL

BY SERGE TIMACHEFF

USA FENCING NAMES FIRST BLACK NATIONAL COACH: AKHI SPENCER-EL

ON JAN. 20, 2022, USA FENCING NAMED AKHNATEN (AKHI) SPENCER-EL ITS NATIONAL WEAPONS COACH FOR MEN’S SABER. HE SUCCEEDS ZORAN TULUM.

By Debbie Amsbaugh

Akhi, whom Peter Westbrook calls “The Gentle Giant” for his size and off-piste personality, has a proven track record as a fencer and coach. He was named to the USA Fencing Hall of Fame in 2020 after being a three-time junior saber national champion, two-time senior national saber champion, former No. 1 junior saber fencer in the world and a 2000 Olympian.

He currently coaches at Columbia University, Fencers Club and the Peter Westbrook Foundation. He was saber coach at the Pan American Games in 2011 and 2015, where the women’s team brought home four gold medals in team and individual events. He also coached Ibtihaj Muhammand in the 2016 Olympics.

Akhi was born in 1979 in Baltimore and raised in Harlem. Peter Westbrook met him through his wife while Akhi was playing baseball. Picking up a saber, he fell in love and left the bat and glove behind. Akhi joined the Peter Westbrook Foundation, where Westbrook has had remarkable success giving inner-city kids opportunities as fencers. PWF offers life skills along with fencing lessons, enabling young athletes to achieve success in sports and life.

Akhi began his fencing career at the age of 13. Peter Westbrook remembers him as “a big, strong, fierce fighter.” He says Akhi has an ability that most do not: He can be told something once and is able to understand and implement concepts it takes most fencers months to achieve. This is a trait he carries into his personal life, as well. Westbrook says he’s in awe of Akhi’s ability to overcome “crazy stuff.”

As for Akhi’s potential impact on the national team, Westbrook says, “He is already impacting the team. He is a unifier. He pulls people together. He brings out the brilliance and light in everyone to make a better team, community and country.”

Westbrook says Akhi has a unique ability to identify and address the unique needs of individual fencers. Whether

it’s a technique issue, a mental component or physical conditioning, Akhi stresses the importance of team through selflessness and knowledge. He brings out the best in his fencers.

“It’s an honor to follow in the footsteps of the great coaches before me,” Akhi says about his new role. “It was a dream of mine.”

As a competitor in national and international events, Akhi had the opportunity to hear and observe many coaching styles. He knew at an early age he had something different to bring to the table to motivate — not through yelling or degradation — but through positivity.

“No matter how bad it is, stay in the fight,” he says. “Always do your best.”

Hungary, known for its saber dynasty and legendary coaches, was where Akhi obtained his fencing master’s degree. He attended the Semmelweis University in Budapest, in a program that taught him preparation and helped him transition from athlete to coach. From all looks of his career so far, even though he is not a Hungarian, he is carrying on the Hungarian tradition of world-class results. Akhi’s personal success in saber gives him credibility with his fencers. There is a trust built on those experiences, the knowledge he has been in their place in a bout and in life.

Akhi says that being Black in a less-diverse sport has, at times, caused anxiety and self-doubt. PWF teaches to share the difficulties and adopt a culture of selflessness and team. That helped Akhi to focus on his love and passion for the sport. He says any discrimination he felt was encountered not at domestic tournaments but at some international competitions.

He remembers coaching Muhammad at World Cups in Europe, particularly in 2015 and 2016, and hearing some of the racist comments directed her way. That hurt, but he chooses not to dwell on those times.

“He cuts off the negative and only absorbs the positive,” Westbrook says.

Akhi says his worst coaching moment came early in his career when, in the eight-point break with his fencer doing poorly, the fencer lost confidence in his ability. The athlete was frustrated and stressed. The fencer called Akhi a bad coach.

“I took it personally and didn’t handle it well,” Akhi remembers.

HE CUTS OFF THE NEGATIVE AND ONLY ABSORBS THE

Akhi refocused on his purpose and started paying attention to the little signs that fencers show.

“I can see nerves getting the best of a fencer because I have been there. I see it and address it,” he says. “I have learned how to deal with people under stress and bring out the best in those moments. Peter taught us to believe in ourselves and do the same for others.”

That belief will serve Akhi well as he works toward what he sees as his most important role as national saber coach: preparing for the best-possible results in the Paris 2024 Olympics and bringing home a medal.

By creating the best team of trained, motivated athletes, Akhi wants the results to speak for themselves. “We’ll create a team with trust, a good bond, where they can depend upon each other,” he says. “Win together. Lose together.”

With his experience as a fierce competitor trained in the Peter Westbrook Foundation philosophy of purpose over position and success as a unifying coach, there is hope for our organization. Akhi’s even-keeled temperament and positive outlook, complemented by his skills to bring out the best in everyone, will set an example the rest can follow. His results speak for themselves. This “gentle giant” has the potential to impact not only saber, but other weapons, the fencing community and even the country.