Coach
Okawa to Gain Hall of Fame in July May
11, 2004 - Charlotte, NC
Cal
State Fullerton fencing Coach Heizaburo Okawa will be inducted into the
United States Fencing Hall of Fame on July 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina,
as part of the U.S. Fencing Association’s national championships.
Okawa has been the Titans’ head coach for the past 24 seasons. He
has guided them to Top 30 finishes at the NCAA Championships in eight
of the past nine years including a best of 15th place this past season.
“It is a great and unexpected honor,” said Okawa. “I have
worked very hard over many years to achieve the goals I have set. This
award has given me another for which to strive. I will work even harder
to be worthy of the recognition.”
Okawa previously served as head coach for six years at UCLA while also
instructing at the Mori Fencing Academy in Beverly Hills from 1969 through
1980. He has worked with numerous Hollywood film productions on fencing
techniques and sequences.
As a fencer himself, Okawa was a two-time United States national champion
and a six-time national champion in his native Japan covering all three
weapons. He won the U.S. title in foil in 1967 and 1968 and the collegiate
foil title in Japan in 1960. He won the national foil titles in 1963 and
1964. He won the collegiate title in sabre in 1961 and the national title
in 1967 as well as the epee crown in 1963.
Okawa was a three-time Japanese Olympian as a competitor (1960, 1964 and
1968) and was a referee in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He placed ninth
in foil in Tokyo in 1964 while his Japanese team placed fourth.
Among his other international competitions were a foil championship at
the Duvall Tournament in Paris and an epee championship at the Martel
Tournament in Poitier, France. He also competed in the World Championships
in 1967 at Montreal where his foil team placed fourth.
His international coaching career includes directing the Japanese national
team at the 1969 World Championships in Cuba. He also has coached at the
World Championships in Sao Paulo, Denver, Buffalo, Mexico City, Kobe (Japan)
and Valencia (Venezuela).
A graduate of Chuo University in Tokyo with a degree in economics, Okawa
also attended the Nationale Institute des Sport in Paris. He and his wife,
Jeanie, live in Torrance.
