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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A to Z: Nouvieme

This awesome challenge is hosted by founder Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out, Damyanti Biswas at Amlokiblogs, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Tina Downey at Life is Good, DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude 2.0, Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie, Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse, Matthew MacNish at The QQQE, Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small, Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs, Livia Peterson at Leave it to Livia, L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick, and Nicole at The Madlab Post

My A to Z theme is fencing and swordplay, focusing mainly on fencing terminology, but with a few favorite movie fencing moments thrown into the mix too.


Nouvieme: an unconventional parry (#9) sometimes described as blade behind the back, pointing down (a variant of octave), other times similar to elevated sixth.

My fencing coach actually taught this one, even though he stated at the time that it was unlikely that any of us would use it, unless we went to the Olympic level. I have searched and searched for pictures or video of this unconventional party - I know I've seen it somewhere - but I can't seem to find it.

The closest thing I found, and it doesn't look like what I learned, is in the Princess Bride Sword Fight scene between 2:07 and 2:10. The man in black does it, but it's pretty low, and the nouvieume I remember was up higher.



I love that scene! Love, love, love it. It not only captures some well-done stage fencing by actors who've been trained by a fencing coach, but it also captures some of what I consider to be saber fencer attitude.

Happy A to Z!

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13 comments:

  1. Alex J. CavanaughApril 16, 2013 at 5:33 AM

    Think I caught the moment. The blade was very low behind his back.

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  2. UnknownApril 16, 2013 at 6:50 AM

    "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." :D

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  3. Tyrean MartinsonApril 16, 2013 at 6:59 AM

    Alex - yes, it was! Good catch!

    E.J. - Inconceivable! :D

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  4. Rachel SchieffelbeinApril 16, 2013 at 7:35 AM

    What a fun theme for A to Z! Very cool. :)
    I love that movie! Best ever. ;)

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  5. jaybirdApril 16, 2013 at 7:41 AM

    Mad props for including The Princess Bride in your A-Z challenge. LOVE that movie!! :)

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  6. Mark MeansApril 16, 2013 at 8:21 AM

    Great scene and, when you can use a clip from TPB, you know you have a great post! :)

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  7. Michael Offutt, Phantom ReaderApril 16, 2013 at 8:48 AM

    I wonder why Princess Bride is such a cult hit with people.

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  8. Julie FlandersApril 16, 2013 at 9:50 AM

    Love the Princess Bride. :)

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  9. Golden EagleApril 16, 2013 at 3:29 PM

    Interesting to know the name of the move. Great post!

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  10. Susan KaneApril 16, 2013 at 4:01 PM

    I love this post! Perfect sword fight--almost watched it twice!

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  11. Al DiazApril 16, 2013 at 5:44 PM

    I also love that scene and my powerful sight caught the move in just the second replay, hahaha.

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  12. AnonymousApril 16, 2013 at 6:03 PM

    Fencing and sword fighting in general always leave me astounded. If I had a sword, and someone was trying to cut me in half, I would probably be waving it like a maniac, or out in the first 15 seconds. ;)

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  13. Tyrean MartinsonApril 16, 2013 at 6:24 PM

    Rachel - Thanks! I think it's one of the best movies ever too.

    Jaybird - Thanks! Princess Bride is one of my favorites!

    Mark - Thanks! :)

    Michael - you don't like it? Inconceivable! I don't think I can explain why I like it so much, but I just do.

    Julie - me too! :)

    Golden Eagle - Thanks!

    Susan - Yes, it's tempting to watch it more than once. :)

    Al - just the second one? I watched it three or four times to catch the right moment. :)

    Madeline Jane - Waving like a maniac would work for a bit. :)

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Thanks for taking time to share your awesomeness!