Meet Our Team

Savannah Longsword Fencing Club is built on our coaching team, each dedicated to creating amazing fencers. Get to know them below, and then come out in person and meet them yourself!

Head Coach/Founder — Marshall Strong

Since starting SLFC in 2014, Marshall Strong has been competing as an active member of the US HEMA community for over a decade and is the head coach of Savannah Longsword. Marshall is a dedicated fencer and emphasizes a hands-on training approach, teaching historical technique through practical application, creative decision-making, and focused sparring. And he also just really likes hitting people with swords.

Assistant Coach/Youth Instructor — Minh Nguyen

The walking loudspeaker of the club, Minh Nguyen has been doing martial arts since he was 5 and teaching since he was 11 years old. Now he handles the brunt of the beginner classes at SLFC and also acts as the club youth instructor, spreading the love of historical fencing to as many students young and old as possible. He’s also killer at karaoke.

Assistant Coach/Gear Manager — Benjamin Murphy

A true nerd at heart, Ben has been playing with swords in some form or another for more than 35 years, and has spent 30 years of that practicing martial arts. At Savannah Longsword, he gets to combine his two passions into one and look cool doing it. Ben also helps maintain the copious amounts of gear that we use, keeping our swords rust free (when possible) and our equipment shiny (more or less). He’s also left handed, which makes him very frustrating to hit.

Come out and meet the rest of our members! Send us an email at ssg.sav@gmail.com or fill out our contact form below.