Muriel (Bower) Taitt is an American
foilist
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
, coach, and educator.
She is author of the foilist's classic textbook ''Foil Fencing'', now in its 8th edition. In the second edition (1972), former
F.I.E. President
Miguel de Capriles
Miguel de Capriles (November 30, 1906 – May 24, 1981) was a Mexican-born American fencer, a President of the FIE, a former dean of the New York University School of Law and one of the world's leading authorities on fencing.
Biography
Dr ...
identified her as "a sensational teen-age Pacific Coast champion before the war
ho subsequentlyreturned to competition to win a well-earned No. 3 national rating. She is one of the small but bright cluster of California women who dominated the national fencing scene in those years".
She holds the distinction of having been accredited the first woman
fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
master in the United States, by her fencing master, the Hungaria
Istvan Danosi(b. 1912, d. 2005),
USFA Hall of Fame
The United States Fencing Association (USFA) is the national governing body for the sport of fencing in the United States. The USFA was founded on April 22, 1891, as the Amateur Fencers League of America (AFLA) by a group of 20 New York City fen ...
recipient.
Her first fencing master was Henry Uyttenhove, who was Douglas Fairbank Sr.'s fencing trainer. Uyttenhove was fencing master at the
Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is a privately owned athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1880, the club is today best known for its John R. Wooden Award presented to the outstanding men's and ...
, to which Fairbanks belonged. Uyttenhove was replaced by Jon Hermann, also from Belgium. Muriel was obviously Hermann's star pupil, but a serious car accident prevented her going to the 1948 Olympics (she had made the team), and she started working with Hermann as his assistant. She was going to college during this period, earning a bachelor's degree in PE at UCLA and a master's degree at USC.
In the 1970s Muriel coached the
California State University Northridge
California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...
and has subsequently been inducted into that University'
Hall of Fame
Women's foil coach to the American team at the 1964
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
fencing events in Tokyo, she managed the American women's fencing team at the World University Games, Russia, 1973, and served in protocol to fencing at the L.A. Olympic Games, 1984. She has subsequently served as West Coast Vice-President of the
USFA Coaches Association for two terms, and also as Commissioner of Western Regional Intercollegiate Fencing Championships, USFA.
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Living people
California State University, Northridge people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American female foil fencers
21st-century American women