Original draft published 1989
When we think of ring combat sports Boxing, Mauy Thai and Mix Martial Arts generally come to mind, however there is another ring art that has, for the past 170 years, had a major influence in Europe - this art is called sport savate.
An evolutionary product of Western thought the development of savate can be traced back to the second half of the 18 century. By the early 1800s la savate, as it came to be termed, was a simple street fighting art that utilized open hand strikes and low line boot kicking techniques as weapons of attack.
During the 1830s savate would under go changes that would come to have a major bearing on its primary skills sets and training outcomes. Influenced by the aristocrats thirst for anything new along with savate practitioners cross training in English boxing , Parisian wrestling and cane fighting these changes resulted in the arts emphasis shifting from one of street combat to a sport.
Joseph Charlemont, a student of Louis Vigneron, codified the various methods of savate adding fencing principles and refining the kicking, boxing and wrestling skills.
The specialized foot wear worn by modern savateurs when they compete permits all sections of the boot to be used to as points of percussion.
For instance the fouette, the most popular kick used in sport savate, uses the hard toe of the boot to literally "stab" into targets between and around a tight guard.
The chasses use the heel of the boot to "crush" and "stomp" targets , balancers often "slap" with the sole of the shoe and the coup de pied bas utilizes the inside edge of the boot to "cut" into the shin bone.Students of savate soon come to realize the sturdy wrestling, like boots, make a considerable difference in the delivery of kicking techniques when compared to the bare foot variety.
Damage produced by the boot often shifts the emphasis from power to that of pin point accuracy which is central to sport savate. |
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This accuracy is developed by using specialized glove target training drills which also facilitates an appreciation of distance and foot work.
The kicking skills of sport savate can be classified into three categories chasse - kicks delivered in a piston type manner, fouette - round kicks using a whipping action of the knee and balancer - kicks using a swinging motion of the leg. |
Closed fist punches from English pugilism replaced the traditional open hand strikes and mauling techniques while the street kicking came to include both the chest and head as targets.
This new combat sport was renamed la Boxe Francaise or French boxing and together with the later introduction of Chausson (a southern French recreational method using sophisticated high kicks) was restructured making it socially acceptable for men, women, teenagers and children to practise.
He wrote two manuals on French boxing his most celebrated work, L' art de la Boxe Francaise et de la canne published in 1899, presents a complete and sophisticated sportive method which covered the four general ranges of weaponry, kicking , boxing and stand up grappling.
Charlemont's system forms the technical syllabus which modern sport savate is based on.
Today the sport component of savate is practised as an amateur French kick boxing method with the emphasis being placed on constant movement, clean kicking techniques and amateur boxing principles.
Over the years grappling has been removed and is no longer permitted in competition, though it is still taught today as part of savates self-defence curriculum.
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