Gryphon Fencing & Archery Academy coach Richard Garcia instructs a pair of young fencers during a training session at the fencing and archery facility in Murrieta. Valley News/Shane Gibson photo
Fencers shuffle backward and forward across the field of play, hoping to strike the other opponent.Gryphon Fencing has two locations, located in both Placentia and Murrieta. Owner Eric Holmgren founded the club and has been practicing the art of fencing for over 20 years.“I’ve been coaching since 1993,” Holmgren said.The Murrieta location at 24837 Jefferson Ave., opened almost two years ago, and last spring they opened up the facility to archery as well, something that Holmgren has been coaching at the Placentia facility for over eight years now.“Both fencing and archery are tied to historical types of martial arts, or historical types of combat,” Holmgren said. “With the advent of gunpowder, the use of shields and armor and all these other things became useless
