Elite Ari Simmons and Stephen Ewart Epee Clinic: Saturday February 28 9am to 4pm.
- CFA Admin
- Feb 5
- 3 min read
On USA Fencing’s First to 15 podcast, Ari said, “Fencing is a mirror—how I sharpen discipline, humility, and honesty on the strip shows up in my life off it.”
Ari and Stephen believe that fencing has acted as a critical tool in their development as people. They have used this mirror to grow as individuals, as athletes, as friends and as professionals. Combined, Ari and Stephen have accumulated numerous major wins and losses at every level of the sport, and believe that losses are even better tools for learning than wins are.
In life, nothing we accomplish is fully on our own. At their home clubs, the University of Notre Dame, and now at the New York Athletic Club, the two have been taught and taught again the importance of not only individual effort and accountability, but also the value of teamwork and uplifting others. Simply put, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Stephen Ewart
Growing up in Lancaster, California, Stephen found the sport of fencing at a very young age. Soon after, he began training with Tigran Shaginian at Swords Fencing Studio (Los Angeles, CA), where he established himself as one the top fencers his age worldwide. After numerous national and international medals, Stephen attended the University of Notre Dame where he continued his dominance at the Junior and Senior levels, coached by Cedric Loiseau. His time at Notre Dame was highlighted by a Junior World Cup Gold, a Silver Medal at the Junior World Championships in Teams, Division 1 NAC Individual and Team Gold Medals, a Senior World Cup Bronze, and 4 NCAA Team Championships. After graduating, he moved to New York City, where he now represents the New York Athletic Club and is coached by 2x Men’s Epee Olympian Soren Thompson. Professionally, Stephen works as an insurance professional at Aon.
Ari Simmons
Ari Simmons was raised in Bellaire, Texas and began fencing at the age of 10 at Alliance Fencing Academy with coach Andrey Geva. Although he didn’t shine throughout most of his youth fencing career, the arrival of coach Sergey Danilov to Alliance changed Ari’s trajectory. He really began to hit his stride in his last year of Cadet, qualifying for his first of five USA World Championship Teams and coming home with a Cadet World Championship Gold Medal. He carried his momentum into his NCAA career at the University of Notre Dame, coached by Cedric Loiseau, where he was a 4x All-American, 3x NCAA Team Champion, ACC Champion, and many-time Division 1 NAC medalist. After graduating, he moved to Colorado and began his professional career in software development, training with coach Omar Elgeziry, and working as the Assistant Epee Coach at the United States Air Force Academy. He continued to excel as an athlete, and as a coach he helped qualify 4 fencers to NCAA Championships over his 2 years in the program. After Elgeziry moved on to become the Head Coach of the Duke University Fencing Team, Ari moved to Durham to continue his training and coaching pursuits as well. His 1 year at Duke culminated in more Division 1 medals and even 1 Senior Team appearance. As a coach, he helped 2 more fencers qualify for the NCAA Championships, one of whom finished as a 1st-Team All-American. Ari now lives in New York City, where he trains at the New York Athletic Club and New York Fencing Academy, where he is coached by Misha Mokretsov and Dylan Nollner.
Direct Elimination
In 2025, Ari and Stephen Co-Founded the Direct Elimination Podcast, which is a platform and community geared towards growing the sport of fencing, sharing stories and creating new opportunities for fencers worldwide. They regularly host interviews of top-level fencers and discuss important topics such as success, failure, personal growth, imposter syndrome, burnout, passion, self-mastery, hard work, and focus.
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