From the gritty 19th century Parisian back alleys to the gleaming rings internationally, explore the rich history and dynamic style of Savate, France’s own kickboxing ballet. Discover how this elegant yet formidable sport has kicked its way into the hearts of fighters and fans alike.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Savate, also known as French kickboxing, is a combat sport that emerged in the early 1800s in France. This discipline uniquely blends the hand techniques of English boxing with precise and graceful kicking manoeuvres. The term ‘savate’ is a French adaptation of the Spanish word ‘zapato’, referring to the heavy military boots worn by French sailors and soldiers. These boots were integral to the sport’s early practice, giving rise to its distinctively flashy kicking techniques. Developed amidst the gritty urban ports and on ships, Savate was a way for sailors and soldiers to defend themselves and settle disputes in confined spaces, using both agility and force.
France, home to the foot fighting art of Savate.
A Brief History of La Boxe Française
Savate originated in 19th-century France as a fusion of regional fighting styles, each contributing unique techniques and strategies.
- Chausson: A southern kicking art popular with sailors.
- Savate des Rues: A northern French street-fighting style from Paris.
- English boxing: Influencing the incorporation of punches.
Chausson (left); Savate des Rues (centre); English Boxing (right).
Chausson, developed by sailors in Marseille, emphasized high, fluid kicks and open-hand strikes, designed for balance on unstable ship decks and to avoid legal penalties associated with closed fists. Parisian street fighting (Savate des Rues), on the other hand, focused on low, bone-breaking kicks delivered with heavy boots, along with palm strikes, grappling, and close-quarters combat for self-defense in the city’s rougher areas. Later, Charles Lecour integrated English boxing into Savate after recognizing the effectiveness of punches, adding a new dimension of hand strikes to the art.
Regulation
Formalized by Michel Casseux and Lecour, Savate was transformed from its raw street-fighting roots into la boxe française, a regulated combat sport emphasizing precision and elegance. Over time, it expanded to include cane and baton techniques, broadening its utility as both a self-defense system and a competitive discipline. Following World War II, Savate gained international recognition, spreading to Europe, North America, and Australia. National federations promoted the sport globally, establishing it as a modern martial art celebrated for its technical skill and adaptability in both sport and self-defense contexts.
For more on the history of the sport, click on the link below
Characteristics
Modern Savate is strictly a striking art, with grappling, chokes, takedowns, and throws all prohibited. It is distinguished by its flamboyant and dynamic kicking style. The kicks unique to Savate involve a strategic combination of high and low attacks designed to confuse opponents. A high kick often sets up a subsequent low attack and vice versa, making it a challenging style for opponents to predict and counter.
In modern Savate, participants are restricted to using only four kinds of kicks and four kinds of punches. This regulation emphasises precision and technical skill within the sport.
Kicks
Savate kicks are elegant, precise, and designed to maximise speed and efficiency. A key feature is that only the foot is used, making it distinct from martial arts that incorporate shin or knee strikes. In Savate, the four main kicks (Fouetté, Chassé, Coup de Pied Bas, and Revers) form the foundation, and their variations arise from differences in target area, trajectory, angle, body movement, or specific situations.
1. Fouetté:
A snapping roundhouse kick executed with the toe of the shoe, available in high (figure), medium (médian), and low (bas) variations. This kick is used to disrupt the opponent’s rhythm, land quick strikes, or set up combinations.
2. Chassé:
A piston-action sidekick (“chassé latéral”) or front kick (“chassé frontal”), delivered by thrusting with the heel, also with high, medium, or low variations. This kick is used for power strikes, creating distance, or destabilising an opponent.
3. Revers:
A frontal or lateral reversing, sweeping or hooking kick delivered with the sole of the shoe. It comes in high, medium, and low variations to target the head, body, or legs. The low version often serves as a sweep to unbalance opponents.
4. Coup de Pied Bas:
A low, sweeping kick targeting the shin or ankle, making contact with the inner edge of the shoe and performed with a characteristic backward lean for balance and safety. This is exclusively a low kick used to destabilise or weaken the opponent’s base.
Note: Only foot kicks are permitted in Savate, distinguishing it from systems like Muay Thai, which also allow knee or shin strikes.
Punches
Savate integrates Western boxing techniques to complement its kicks. The punches are precise, fast, and strategically used to open up opportunities for kicks. The four primary punches are:
1. Direct Bras Avant:
A jab using the lead hand. Primarily used for distance control, setups, and disrupting an opponent’s timing.
2. Direct Bras Arrière:
A cross from the rear hand. A powerful straight punch from the rear hand. It is delivered with rotation of the hips and shoulders, often used for decisive strikes.
3. Crochet:
A hook, executed with a bent arm using either hand and aimed at the side of the opponent’s head or torso. Effective in close range or when bypassing the guard.
4. Uppercut:
An upward punch targeting the chin or body. Primarily used in close combat, especially to exploit gaps in an opponent’s guard.
In Savate, punches—borrowed from English boxing—are primarily used to set up the sport’s signature kicks, creating openings for precise and powerful strikes.
The Basics
An experienced savateur is capable of combining the four allowed punches and four types of kicks into thousands of potential combinations. These variations include executing kicks with either the lead or the rear leg and employing advanced techniques such as spinning, jumping, and cross-stepping methods. Targets for these kicks can range from an opponent’s legs and body to their head, demonstrating the tactical versatility and strategic depth that Savate offers practitioners.
Factors That Create Variations
With these foundational techniques established, Savate’s depth comes from how practitioners adapt and combine them. Savate thrives on creativity within the boundaries of its structured techniques. Practitioners combine punches and kicks into fluid, unpredictable sequences, integrating advanced variations to adapt to different scenarios and opponents. Each attack can be tailored for specific purposes or situations, based on several key factors:
Click on the links below for more on variation.
1. Target Area:
- Adjusting the height (low, middle, or high) creates variations within the same kick type.
- Example: A fouetté haut targets the head for a decisive strike, whereas a fouetté bas disrupts the opponent’s balance by attacking the legs.
2. Trajectory:
- Linear (directly forward), diagonal, or circular trajectories modify the approach.
- Examples: Linear strikes like the chassé frontal are direct and powerful, ideal for pushing back opponents. Circular strikes like the revers latéral bypass an opponent’s guard and exploit angles.
3. Foot Position:
- The instep, toe, heel, or sole of the shoe determines the type of impact.
- Examples: The heel, used in the chassé, delivers thrusting power, whereas the sole, used in the revers, sweeps or destabilise the opponent.
4. Leg Choice:
- Kicks can be executed with either the lead or rear leg, altering angles, reach, and power dynamics for tactical advantages.
- Examples: Lead leg strikes are faster and more deceptive. Rear leg strikes on the other hand, generate greater power, and are often used for decisive blows.
5. Body Movement:
- Adding spins, jumps, or pivots changes the dynamics and power of the kick.
- Examples: A spinning revers adds momentum, increasing force and unpredictability. A jumping chassé or fouetté adds height, making it harder for the opponent to defend.
6. Purpose:
- Whether the kick is meant for offence, defence, destabilising, or feinting creates subtle differences in execution.
- Examples: A low coup de pied bas is ideal for destabilising an opponent’s stance. Feints, such as a false fouetté bas, bait the opponent into lowering their guard, setting up a high attack.
These variations allow a skilled savateur to create thousands of potential combinations, showcasing the depth and adaptability of the art. Additional strikes, such as roundhouse, hook, or flying kicks, are often adaptations of the four foundational kicks (fouetté, chassé, revers, and coup de pied bas). For example, a spinning roundhouse kick might evolve from the revers, adding power and unpredictability.
By mastering these variations, a Savate practitioner can adapt to various fighting styles and situations, maintaining both versatility and precision.
Strategies
Savate places significant emphasis on strategy, requiring practitioners to think several moves ahead and adapt fluidly to their opponents. A skilled savateur uses timing, distance, and deception to create opportunities for effective strikes while minimising risk. Here are key tactical principles in Savate:
Click on the links below for more on strategies in Savate.
1. Controlling Distance
Maintaining optimal range is a cornerstone of Savate strategy. Practitioners constantly adjust their position to ensure they can strike while staying out of the opponent’s reach.
- Long Range: Kicks like the chassé frontal and fouetté haut are ideal for keeping an opponent at bay.
- Close Range: Techniques such as crochet (hooks) and uppercuts are employed when closing the distance.
2. Deceptive Movements and Feints
Feints are essential to Savate, allowing practitioners to mislead their opponents and create openings for attacks. Kicks and punches are delivered from unexpected angles or disguised as another movement.
3. Baiting and Countering
Savateurs often lure their opponents into attacking, exposing vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
4. Footwork and Mobility
Savate’s sophisticated footwork enables practitioners to stay elusive while positioning themselves for counterattacks. Cross-stepping and lateral movement are key tools.
5. Timing and Rhythm
A savateur must master the art of timing to capitalise on moments when the opponent is vulnerable. Breaking the rhythm of an opponent’s attack with well-timed strikes or counters can shift the momentum of the fight.
6. Multi-Level Attacks
Savateurs excel at combining high and low attacks to confuse and overwhelm opponents. Alternating between targets makes it difficult for the opponent to defend effectively.
7. Exploiting Angles
Savate’s focus on angles allows practitioners to bypass an opponent’s defences. By positioning themselves to attack from the side or behind the guard, savateurs can deliver strikes with minimal risk of retaliation.
Savate’s strategies are a blend of technical precision, psychological tactics, and fluid movement. By mastering distance, timing, and deception, a savateur can outmanoeuvre opponents and maintain control in any scenario. The art’s emphasis on adaptability ensures that practitioners are always prepared to exploit openings and turn the tide of a fight.
Defence
Savate’s defensive techniques are as refined as its offensive arsenal, showcasing the art’s elegance and precision. Parades involve blocking strikes with the arms or legs, esquives utilise evasive movements to avoid attacks, often leading to counterattacks, and décalages create new angles to exploit openings. These techniques reflect Savate’s strategic emphasis on control and adaptability.
Savate blends refined defenses with strategic footwork, showcasing adaptability and dynamic artistry.
Savate’s sophisticated footwork underpins both its defence and offence. The pas de Savate ensures balance and readiness through smooth sliding steps, while the balestra—a jumping advance—rapidly closes distance. The débordement allows fighters to flank opponents for a tactical advantage, embodying the dynamic artistry and practicality of Savate.
Competition
Uniform and Gloves
The official terms for practitioners of Savate are ‘savateur‘ or ‘tireur‘ (French for ‘shooter’). In competitions, participants wear an intégrale, which may be a one or two-piece outfit consisting of a vest and trousers, along with boxing gloves that may have padded palms. Savate gloves, typically 8–12 ounces, are lighter than boxing gloves, which range from 10–16 ounces, prioritising speed and precision over padding.
Footwear
Savate stands out among combat sports for its use of footwear, a nod to its historical origins. Unlike martial arts like Muay Thai, which permit using knees and shins, Savate restricts attacks to foot kicks only. Savate boots, which are an essential part of the sport’s gear, can be utilised to strike with the sole, top of the foot, toe, or heel. In line with tradition, hard rubber-toed shoes are mandatory in both practice and competition settings.
Savate uses specialised footwear for precise kicking, lightweight gloves for speed and precision, and the intégrale suit for mobility and protection during competition.
Competitive Levels: From Precision to Full Contact
- Assaut: This level emphasises technical skill and controlled contact, where competitors aim to score points without exerting excessive force. Referees are vigilant in penalising any use of excessive force.
- Pre-combat: Competitors engage in full-strength fighting but must wear protective gear, including helmets and shin guards, to minimise the risk of injury.
- Combat: The most intense level of competition, Combat follows the same rules as Pre-combat but with minimal protective gear, limited to groin protection and mouthguards.
Pre-combat Savate with headguards (left); Combat Savate (right) with minimal protective gear.
Referees and Scoring
Savate scoring shares similarities with boxing but differs in its emphasis on kicks, technical precision, and elegance. Like boxing, points are awarded for clean, effective strikes that land on designated scoring areas, with judges also evaluating ring control and defensive skills. However, Savate includes both kicks and punches, prioritising the proper execution of signature techniques like the fouetté (whipping kick) and chassé (straight kick). In the light-contact Assaut category, excessive force is penalised, favouring controlled, technical strikes over sheer power.
Referees, judges, or officials evaluate style, tactics, and technique over three rounds of two minutes each, with one to one-and-a-half-minute recovery periods between rounds. Competitors aim to land as many clean strikes as possible while defending against their opponent’s attacks. Points are awarded based on precision, balance, and form, with cleanly landed kicks often scoring higher than punches due to their complexity. At the end of the match, the fighter with the most cumulative points is declared the winner, reflecting Savate’s refined and technique-driven scoring approach.
Ranking Fighters
Unlike other martial arts, which often use a coloured belt system to indicate proficiency, Savate utilises glove colours to signify a fighter’s level of proficiency. The gloves must be worn during all tests and official competitions. The ranks are as follows:
- Gant Bleu (Blue Glove) – technical rank, first degree.
- Gant Vert (Green Glove) – technical rank, second degree.
- Gant Rouge (Red Glove) – technical rank, third degree.
- Gant Blanc (White Glove) – technical rank, fourth degree.
- Gant Jaune (Yellow Glove – technical rank, fifth degree).
- Gant d’Argent–Premier Degré (Silver Glove–First Degree) – technical rank, sixth degree.
- Gant d’Argent–Deuxième Degré (Silver Glove–Second Degree) – technical rank, seventh degree.
- Gant d’Argent–Troisième Degré (Silver Glove–Third Degree) – technical rank, eighth degree.
A student cannot compete until they have reached the red-glove level, and even then, they must have authorisation from their instructor. A yellow-glove student is expected to know all the art’s strikes, which is considered essential for eligibility to advance to the upper ranks represented by the silver gloves (gant d’argent). The silver gloves represent the pinnacle of technical achievement, with three levels: premier (first), deuxième (second), and troisième (third) degree. The third degree is the highest non-competitive rank, signifying mastery of the art’s techniques.
Savate - World Combat Games
A savate bout at the World Combat Games.
Health Benefits
Engaging in Savate offers a comprehensive approach to fitness, combining cardiovascular endurance, strength training, and flexibility. The dynamic nature of its kicks and rapid footwork provides an excellent aerobic workout, enhancing cardiovascular health and improving overall stamina. Its reliance on precision and agility sharpens motor skills and balance, while the kicks and punches build muscle tone, particularly in the legs, core, and upper body.
Savate training enhances cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility, and coordination, while promoting mental focus and discipline through its dynamic and technical movements.
Beyond the physical, Savate demands intense focus and strategy, improving cognitive functions such as reaction time, decision-making, and spatial awareness. The discipline required in training fosters resilience and mental clarity, often serving as a stress reliever for practitioners. Incremental progression through ranks also boosts confidence and provides a tangible sense of achievement, making Savate an ideal martial art for enhancing both physical and mental well-being.
Street Effectiveness
While Savate is renowned for its elegance and precision as a sport, its techniques also translate effectively to real-world self-defense. Through adaptations like Savate Défense, the art combines powerful strikes, evasive footwork, and practical techniques to address the challenges of unpredictable and high-stress situations. However, like any martial art, it has its strengths and limitations when applied outside the ring.
Savate Defense is a self-defense-oriented adaptation of Savate, tailored for practical, real-world situations. It incorporates quick and effective strikes designed to neutralise threats, with a particular focus on defending against grabs, holds, and armed attackers. The style often utilises low kicks (coup de pied bas) targeting the knees and shins to incapacitate opponents. Its primary purpose is to provide practical self-defense skills for personal safety and security.
Strengths
Savate offers many effective techniques for self-defense, particularly its precise kicks, strategic footwork, and adaptability in close-quarters situations. The low-line kicks (coup de pied bas) and evasive movements (esquives) are practical for disabling or avoiding an attacker with minimal risk. Additionally, the inclusion of Savate Défense—a self-defense-oriented branch—adds grabs, throws, and locks, enhancing the art’s applicability in real-world scenarios. With its focus on blending offense and defense seamlessly, Savate is well-suited for situations requiring control, adaptability, and quick decision-making.
Limitations
However, while Savate Défense addresses some limitations of traditional la boxe française, such as its focus on sportive techniques, it may still lack the grappling depth of arts like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or the aggressive simplicity of Krav Maga. Kicks, while effective, require space and balance, which may be compromised in chaotic or confined environments. For complete self-defense readiness, Savate practitioners could benefit from supplementing their training with grappling or ground-fighting techniques, as well as weapons-based tactics to address a broader range of threats.
La Boxe Francaise Today
Global Reach and Growing Popularity
Today, Savate is practiced worldwide, with a growing base of enthusiasts from countries like France, the United States, Australia, and Finland. National federations in numerous countries are dedicated to promoting the art through tournaments, training programs, and community outreach. The sport’s accessibility makes it appealing to practitioners of all levels, from casual hobbyists to serious competitors.
Savate competitions predominantly take place in Europe, where the sport enjoys its strongest following and well-established federations.
Organisations
Several major international organisations play key roles in promoting and regulating Savate as both a sport and a self-defence discipline. These organisations work to preserve its traditions while fostering its growth on a global scale:
Europe
The Fédération Internationale de Savate (FIS) is the global governing body for Savate, overseeing international competitions, setting regulations, and promoting the sport worldwide. The Fédération Européenne de Savate (FES) focuses on advancing Savate within Europe, organising regional tournaments and fostering collaboration among European nations. Both organisations are key resources for those interested in exploring Savate further.
The United States
In the United States, Savate is governed by the United States Savate Federation (USSF), which promotes the art through training programs, competitions, and instructor certifications. The USSF works to increase Savate’s visibility and accessibility in the country while maintaining its connection to the sport’s global standards set by the Fédération Internationale de Savate (FIS).
Savate and Law Enforcement
In France, Savate holds a prominent place as both a cultural and historical martial art. It is also a practical self-defense system used by various divisions of the French Police, who incorporate its effective striking techniques into their training. In addition to unarmed combat, officers are trained to utilize batons and canes, reflecting Savate’s roots in practical self-defense. Their training includes scenarios for dealing with armed opponents and multiple attackers, showcasing the art’s adaptability for law enforcement.
The French police train in martial arts like Savate and Canne de Combat, valued for their practical striking techniques and weapon-based self-defense applications.
While deeply rooted in tradition, Savate continues to grow and adapt in the modern era. Its combination of artistic movement, practical application, and competitive spirit ensures its relevance as both a sport and a self-defense system. As it expands globally, Savate stands as a testament to the enduring appeal of martial arts that blend elegance with effectiveness.
Discussion
Savate, with its rich heritage and distinctive techniques, stands out as a refined yet robust martial art that combines the artistry of kicking with the precision of boxing. As we’ve explored, its structured training regimen caters to all levels, fostering technical skill, tactical prowess, and physical fitness. The cultural impact of Savate extends beyond the dojos and into popular media, underscoring its appeal and effectiveness both in real-life self-defence scenarios and in entertainment. Furthermore, the health benefits associated with practising Savate make it an excellent choice for those seeking a comprehensive workout that enhances both mental and physical health.
Whether you’re captivated by its competitive elements, intrigued by its unique place in martial arts history, or seeking a dynamic path to fitness, Savate offers something for everyone. As it continues to thrive worldwide, Savate not only honours its legacy but also evolves, adapting to the needs of new generations of martial artists.
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