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(Redirected from French Boxing)
'''Savate''' (pronounced ), also known as '''boxe française''', 'French boxing', 'French Kickboxing' or 'French Footfighting', is a French martial art which uses both the hands and feet as weapons and combines elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Only foot kicks are allowed, unlike some systems, such as Muay Thai, which allow the use of the knees or shins. ''Savate'' is perhaps the only style of kickboxing in which the fighters habitually wear shoes (''savate'' being a French synonym for "shoe"). A practitioner of ''savate'' is called a ''savateur'' (male) or ''savateuse'' (female).
''Savate'' takes its name from the French for "old boot" (heavy footwear that used to be worn during fights).
The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century[1]. ''Savate'' was then a type of street fighting common in Paris and northern France. In the south, especially in the port of Marseille, sailors developed a fighting style involving high kicks and open-handed slaps. It is conjectured that the kicks were done so as to allow the kicker to use a free hand for balance on a rocking ship's deck, and that the kicks and slaps were used on land to avoid the legal penalties for using a closed fist, which was considered a deadly weapon under the law. It was known as ''jeu marseillais'' ("game from Marseille"), and was later renamed ''chausson'' ("slipper", after the type of shoes the sailors wore). In contrast, at this time in England (the home of boxing and the Queensberry rules), kicking was seen as unsportsmanlike. Traditional ''savate'' or ''chausson'' was at this time also developed in the ports of North-West Italy and North-Eastern Spain.
The two key historical figures in the history of the shift from street-fighting to the modern sport of ''savate'' are Michel Casseux (also known as ''le Pisseux'') (1794–1869), a French pharmacist, and Charles Lecour (1808–1894). Casseux opened the first establishment in 1825 for practicing and promoting a regulated version of ''chausson'' and ''savate'' (disallowing head butting, eye gouging, grappling, etc). However the sport had not shaken its reputation as a street-fighting technique. Casseux's pupil Charles LeCour was exposed to the English art of boxing when he was defeated in a friendly sparring match by British pugilist Owen Swift around 1830 and felt that he was at a disadvantage, only using his hands to bat his opponent's fists away, rather than to punch. He trained in boxing for two years before, in 1832, combining boxing with ''chausson'' and ''savate'' to create the sport of ''savate'' (or ''boxe française', as we know it today). At some point ''la canne'' and ''le baton'' stickfighting were added, and some form of stick-fencing, such as ''la canne'', is commonly part of ''savate'' training. Those who train purely for competition may omit this. ''Savate'' was developed professionally by LeCour's student Joseph Charlemont and then his son Charles Charlemont.
''Savate'' was later codified under a Committee National de Boxe Francaise under Charles Charlemont's student Count Pierre Baruzy (dit Barrozzi). The Count is seen as the father of modern ''savate'' and was 11-times Champion of France and its colonies, his first ring combat and title prior to World War One. A student of the Count, Baron James Shortt of Castleshort, a Walter Mitty type character, established ''boxe francaise/savate'' in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ''Defense de la Rue'' is the name given to those methods of fighting excluded from ''savate'' competition.
In competitive ''savate'', there are four allowed kinds of kicks, and four kinds of punches [1].
★ Kicks:
#''fouetté'' (literally "whip", roundhouse kick making contact with the instep), high, medium or low
#''chassé'' (side or front piston-action kick), high, medium or low
#''revers'' ("reverse" or hooking kick making contact with the sole of the shoe), high, medium, or low
#''coup de pied bas'' (literally, simply "low kick", a front or sweep kick to the shin making contact with the inner edge of the shoe, performed with a characteristic backwards lean) low only
★ Punches
#''direct bras avant'' (jab, lead hand)
#''direct bras arrière'' (cross, rear hand)
#''crochet'' (hook, bent arm)
#''uppercut'' (either hand)
Perhaps the ultimate recognition of the respectability of ''savate'' came in 1924 when it was included as a demonstration sport in the Olympic Games in Paris. Despite its roots, ''savate'' is a relatively safe sport to learn. According to USA Savate [2], "''savate'' ranks lower in number of injuries when compared to American football, hockey, Football, gymnastics, basketball, baseball and inline skating".
Today, ''savate'' is practiced all over the world by amateurs: from Australia to the USA and from Finland to Britain. Many countries (including the United States) have national federations devoted to promoting ''savate''. ''Savate'' was also featured in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament, where Dutch ''savate'' champion Gerard Gordeau beat a ''sumo'' wrestler and an American kickboxer before a submission loss to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Royce Gracie in the final round.
Modern codified ''savate'' provides for three levels of competition: ''assaut'', ''pre-combat'' and ''combat''. ''Assaut'' requires the competitors to focus on their technique while still making contact; referees assign penalties for the use of excessive force. ''Pre-combat'' allows for full-strength fighting so long as the fighters wear protective gear such as helmets and shinguards. ''Combat'', the most intense level, is the same as pre-combat, but protective gear other than groin protection and mouthguards is prohibited.
Many martial arts provide ranking systems, such as belt colors. ''Savate'' uses glove colors to indicate a fighter's level of proficiency (unlike arts such as ''karate'', which assign new belts at each promotion, however, moving to a higher color rank in ''savate'' does not necessarily entail a change in the color of one's actual gloves, and a given fighter may continue using the same pair of gloves through multiple promotions). Novices begin at no color. Promotion tests allow the fighter to graduate successively to blue, green, red, white and yellow. Competition is restricted to yellow glove rank and above, fighters at white glove rank are considered to be instructors in training, and yellow gloves are required to teach what they know to others and can attend a ''combat'' competition. Silver gloves are the highest regular rank in ''savate''. However, golden gloves are awarded to ''savate'' pioneers and leading exponents by their national committees. White gloves and lower ranks can be attributed by the teacher but for the higher ranks, the fighter must take a real exam.
The same word, which is cognate with Spanish ''zapato'' and Portuguese ''sapato'' "shoe", is also used in French for any slipper.
★ In the Transporter films, the main character Frank Martin's fight style (though never defined as any style) bears a strong resemblance to savate.
★ Gambit and Batroc, Marvel Comics characters who are both savateurs.
★ Professor Calculus from Tintin's comics was a ''savateur''.
★ Vorstedt in ''Lethal Weapon 2'' was a ''savateur''.
★ In the novel ''Starship Troopers'', one of the martial arts taught to the Mobile Infantry is ''savate''.
★ The main character in ''Le Pacte des Loups'' (''Brotherhood of the Wolf''), Grégoire de Fronsac, uses ''savate'' in the rare moments when he is seen fighting.
★ In the film ''Jules and Jim'', the two eponymous characters are seen practicing ''savate''.
★ Vega from the Street Fighter video games has a fighting style which is partially based on ''savate''.
★ Lee Chaolan from the Tekken video game series does not have a set martial art, but borrows a variety of maneuvers from other styles, and several of his moves are based on ''savate''.
★ In the film ''Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (1961)'', two of the characters fight using ''savate''.
★ Caroline, a British-Korean teacher in Unbalance x Unbalance, was a ''Savate'' practitioner.
★ Japanese pro-wrestler Takuma Sano is known for the frequency with which he executes the rolling savate kick (or rolling solebutt), a spinning back kick to the gut, like the revers. His official shirt shows Sano in mid-kick, with the word "savate" written underneath.
★ In the famous Japanese animation One Piece, Sanji, the cook of the Strawhat Pirates and his mentor "Red Leg" Zeff uses this fighting technique, but only kicks since the hands are only for cooking.
★ Savate was featured in the fourth episode of The History Channel's show Human Weapon on August 10th 2007.
★ The fictional character Sherlock Holmes was said to be an expert in baritsu (a typographical error for the real martial art of Bartitsu, which incorporated savate and French/Swiss stick fighting along with boxing and jiujitsu).
★ Spike Spiegel from the television series Cowboy Bebop uses Jeet Kune Do, which incorporates its kicks from Savate.
★ Martial arts
★ Boxing
★ Kickboxing
★ ''La canne'' (or ''Canne de combat'') and ''Bâton français'', two related martial arts which use a walking stick and a quarterstaff, respectively.
★ Aachen (Germany) University SavateTeam
★ Boot to the Head A daily blog about Savate and martial arts.
★ Bridgeman Savate website
★
★ historical and modern images
★ California Savate Association - has pictures of modern savateurs in action.
★
★ for example women and men in the ring
★ Cambridge Academy of Martial Arts good photos of modern savate
★ Club di savate in Italia dal 1908.
★ English Boxing and the 'French Connection' - by Ollie Batts informative essay on the roots of savate
★ Larousse, undated French encyclopaedia, early 20th century
★ Montreal Savate Kickboxing Club rules, history, videos, and some stuff about "savate defense" and "la canne"
★ Savate Australia contains some excellent transcriptions of historical Savate books and essays
★ Savate Domžale(slovenia) Private club in Slovenia
★ Savate federation slovenia Contains a lot of information in [ENG] and [SLO] language
★ Savate in Mexico
★ Savate Terminology (French terms used and their English translations)
★ Savate Videos Refreshed daily
★ Savate Toronto contains lots of information pertaining to savate
★ Sport Savate article
★ Youtube Savate Search - numerous Savate videos, including a few newsreels of pre-WWII matches and exhibitions.
'''Savate''' (pronounced ), also known as '''boxe française''', 'French boxing', 'French Kickboxing' or 'French Footfighting', is a French martial art which uses both the hands and feet as weapons and combines elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Only foot kicks are allowed, unlike some systems, such as Muay Thai, which allow the use of the knees or shins. ''Savate'' is perhaps the only style of kickboxing in which the fighters habitually wear shoes (''savate'' being a French synonym for "shoe"). A practitioner of ''savate'' is called a ''savateur'' (male) or ''savateuse'' (female).
| Contents |
| Martial art |
| Other meanings |
| In Popular Culture |
| See also |
| Sources and External links |
Martial art
''Savate'' takes its name from the French for "old boot" (heavy footwear that used to be worn during fights).
The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century[1]. ''Savate'' was then a type of street fighting common in Paris and northern France. In the south, especially in the port of Marseille, sailors developed a fighting style involving high kicks and open-handed slaps. It is conjectured that the kicks were done so as to allow the kicker to use a free hand for balance on a rocking ship's deck, and that the kicks and slaps were used on land to avoid the legal penalties for using a closed fist, which was considered a deadly weapon under the law. It was known as ''jeu marseillais'' ("game from Marseille"), and was later renamed ''chausson'' ("slipper", after the type of shoes the sailors wore). In contrast, at this time in England (the home of boxing and the Queensberry rules), kicking was seen as unsportsmanlike. Traditional ''savate'' or ''chausson'' was at this time also developed in the ports of North-West Italy and North-Eastern Spain.
The two key historical figures in the history of the shift from street-fighting to the modern sport of ''savate'' are Michel Casseux (also known as ''le Pisseux'') (1794–1869), a French pharmacist, and Charles Lecour (1808–1894). Casseux opened the first establishment in 1825 for practicing and promoting a regulated version of ''chausson'' and ''savate'' (disallowing head butting, eye gouging, grappling, etc). However the sport had not shaken its reputation as a street-fighting technique. Casseux's pupil Charles LeCour was exposed to the English art of boxing when he was defeated in a friendly sparring match by British pugilist Owen Swift around 1830 and felt that he was at a disadvantage, only using his hands to bat his opponent's fists away, rather than to punch. He trained in boxing for two years before, in 1832, combining boxing with ''chausson'' and ''savate'' to create the sport of ''savate'' (or ''boxe française', as we know it today). At some point ''la canne'' and ''le baton'' stickfighting were added, and some form of stick-fencing, such as ''la canne'', is commonly part of ''savate'' training. Those who train purely for competition may omit this. ''Savate'' was developed professionally by LeCour's student Joseph Charlemont and then his son Charles Charlemont.
''Savate'' was later codified under a Committee National de Boxe Francaise under Charles Charlemont's student Count Pierre Baruzy (dit Barrozzi). The Count is seen as the father of modern ''savate'' and was 11-times Champion of France and its colonies, his first ring combat and title prior to World War One. A student of the Count, Baron James Shortt of Castleshort, a Walter Mitty type character, established ''boxe francaise/savate'' in the United Kingdom and Ireland. ''Defense de la Rue'' is the name given to those methods of fighting excluded from ''savate'' competition.
In competitive ''savate'', there are four allowed kinds of kicks, and four kinds of punches [1].
★ Kicks:
#''fouetté'' (literally "whip", roundhouse kick making contact with the instep), high, medium or low
#''chassé'' (side or front piston-action kick), high, medium or low
#''revers'' ("reverse" or hooking kick making contact with the sole of the shoe), high, medium, or low
#''coup de pied bas'' (literally, simply "low kick", a front or sweep kick to the shin making contact with the inner edge of the shoe, performed with a characteristic backwards lean) low only
★ Punches
#''direct bras avant'' (jab, lead hand)
#''direct bras arrière'' (cross, rear hand)
#''crochet'' (hook, bent arm)
#''uppercut'' (either hand)
Perhaps the ultimate recognition of the respectability of ''savate'' came in 1924 when it was included as a demonstration sport in the Olympic Games in Paris. Despite its roots, ''savate'' is a relatively safe sport to learn. According to USA Savate [2], "''savate'' ranks lower in number of injuries when compared to American football, hockey, Football, gymnastics, basketball, baseball and inline skating".
Today, ''savate'' is practiced all over the world by amateurs: from Australia to the USA and from Finland to Britain. Many countries (including the United States) have national federations devoted to promoting ''savate''. ''Savate'' was also featured in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament, where Dutch ''savate'' champion Gerard Gordeau beat a ''sumo'' wrestler and an American kickboxer before a submission loss to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Royce Gracie in the final round.
Modern codified ''savate'' provides for three levels of competition: ''assaut'', ''pre-combat'' and ''combat''. ''Assaut'' requires the competitors to focus on their technique while still making contact; referees assign penalties for the use of excessive force. ''Pre-combat'' allows for full-strength fighting so long as the fighters wear protective gear such as helmets and shinguards. ''Combat'', the most intense level, is the same as pre-combat, but protective gear other than groin protection and mouthguards is prohibited.
Many martial arts provide ranking systems, such as belt colors. ''Savate'' uses glove colors to indicate a fighter's level of proficiency (unlike arts such as ''karate'', which assign new belts at each promotion, however, moving to a higher color rank in ''savate'' does not necessarily entail a change in the color of one's actual gloves, and a given fighter may continue using the same pair of gloves through multiple promotions). Novices begin at no color. Promotion tests allow the fighter to graduate successively to blue, green, red, white and yellow. Competition is restricted to yellow glove rank and above, fighters at white glove rank are considered to be instructors in training, and yellow gloves are required to teach what they know to others and can attend a ''combat'' competition. Silver gloves are the highest regular rank in ''savate''. However, golden gloves are awarded to ''savate'' pioneers and leading exponents by their national committees. White gloves and lower ranks can be attributed by the teacher but for the higher ranks, the fighter must take a real exam.
Other meanings
The same word, which is cognate with Spanish ''zapato'' and Portuguese ''sapato'' "shoe", is also used in French for any slipper.
In Popular Culture
★ In the Transporter films, the main character Frank Martin's fight style (though never defined as any style) bears a strong resemblance to savate.
★ Gambit and Batroc, Marvel Comics characters who are both savateurs.
★ Professor Calculus from Tintin's comics was a ''savateur''.
★ Vorstedt in ''Lethal Weapon 2'' was a ''savateur''.
★ In the novel ''Starship Troopers'', one of the martial arts taught to the Mobile Infantry is ''savate''.
★ The main character in ''Le Pacte des Loups'' (''Brotherhood of the Wolf''), Grégoire de Fronsac, uses ''savate'' in the rare moments when he is seen fighting.
★ In the film ''Jules and Jim'', the two eponymous characters are seen practicing ''savate''.
★ Vega from the Street Fighter video games has a fighting style which is partially based on ''savate''.
★ Lee Chaolan from the Tekken video game series does not have a set martial art, but borrows a variety of maneuvers from other styles, and several of his moves are based on ''savate''.
★ In the film ''Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (1961)'', two of the characters fight using ''savate''.
★ Caroline, a British-Korean teacher in Unbalance x Unbalance, was a ''Savate'' practitioner.
★ Japanese pro-wrestler Takuma Sano is known for the frequency with which he executes the rolling savate kick (or rolling solebutt), a spinning back kick to the gut, like the revers. His official shirt shows Sano in mid-kick, with the word "savate" written underneath.
★ In the famous Japanese animation One Piece, Sanji, the cook of the Strawhat Pirates and his mentor "Red Leg" Zeff uses this fighting technique, but only kicks since the hands are only for cooking.
★ Savate was featured in the fourth episode of The History Channel's show Human Weapon on August 10th 2007.
★ The fictional character Sherlock Holmes was said to be an expert in baritsu (a typographical error for the real martial art of Bartitsu, which incorporated savate and French/Swiss stick fighting along with boxing and jiujitsu).
★ Spike Spiegel from the television series Cowboy Bebop uses Jeet Kune Do, which incorporates its kicks from Savate.
See also
★ Martial arts
★ Boxing
★ Kickboxing
★ ''La canne'' (or ''Canne de combat'') and ''Bâton français'', two related martial arts which use a walking stick and a quarterstaff, respectively.
Sources and External links
★ Aachen (Germany) University SavateTeam
★ Boot to the Head A daily blog about Savate and martial arts.
★ Bridgeman Savate website
★
★ historical and modern images
★ California Savate Association - has pictures of modern savateurs in action.
★
★ for example women and men in the ring
★ Cambridge Academy of Martial Arts good photos of modern savate
★ Club di savate in Italia dal 1908.
★ English Boxing and the 'French Connection' - by Ollie Batts informative essay on the roots of savate
★ Larousse, undated French encyclopaedia, early 20th century
★ Montreal Savate Kickboxing Club rules, history, videos, and some stuff about "savate defense" and "la canne"
★ Savate Australia contains some excellent transcriptions of historical Savate books and essays
★ Savate Domžale(slovenia) Private club in Slovenia
★ Savate federation slovenia Contains a lot of information in [ENG] and [SLO] language
★ Savate in Mexico
★ Savate Terminology (French terms used and their English translations)
★ Savate Videos Refreshed daily
★ Savate Toronto contains lots of information pertaining to savate
★ Sport Savate article
★ Youtube Savate Search - numerous Savate videos, including a few newsreels of pre-WWII matches and exhibitions.
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