Country of Origin: France
History: The formation of Savate began in 1825, when French martial artists Michel Casseux and Charles Lecour sought to take Parisian street fighting, and turn it into a formalized sport. Lecour would later travel to The United Kingdom to learn boxing, in order to incorporate boxing’s punching techniques into savate. The result was a kickboxing system built for both the ring and for the streets. Savate quickly became popular in France, was even a one time Olympic sport when Paris hosted in 1924. Savate’s popularity around the world has been slow (the first school in the USA did not open until 1983) but nonetheless, savate is still trained and competed around the world, thanks to the International Savate Federation.
There are two unique aspects of Savate that are worth touching. The first and most obvious difference between Savate and other forms of kickboxing is that fighters wear shoes during matches; not simple footgear, but actual shoes. The name Savate even means “old boot” in French. This is a holdover from Savate’s origins of street fighting, when, for obvious reasons, most fighters would be wearing shoes. The second is that many modern schools of Savate use different colored gloves to identify rank, similar to belts in other martial arts.
Techniques
- Fouetté: roundhouse kick
- Chasse Lateral: side kick
- Coup De Pied Bas: low kick meant to takeout the shin
And of course, punches.
Famous practitioners
- MMA fighters such as Gerard Gordeau, Christian M’Pumbu, Karl Amoussou, Cheick Kongo
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