Savate

[Kungfoolery]

Hi Burt

I am curious as to your opinions on savate. I have dabbled in it and enjoy it alot, but haven't been able to train much due to lack of instructors.

Hey..by the way...what is a good way to progess when the number of instructers is limited?

(I snuck in 2 questions)

[Burton]

I really love savate. It translates very well into street oriented fighting, as the kicks are done with a shoe on, and pinpoint accuracy is emphasized. A quick shot with the toe of the shoe into the groin of an attacker is a very useful tool. (I actually used this in my first confrontation after starting training.) I suggest finding a friend who wants to train and just practice. There must be some good videos too. Salem Assli did almost all of his savate training in the U.S. without any instructors. He went to France to take the test, and got the highest score ever. There... two answers! Aloha, Burton

[Kungfoolery]

I really love savate. It translates very well into street oriented fighting, as the kicks are done with a shoe on, and pinpoint accuracy is emphasized. A quick shot with the toe of the shoe into the groin of an attacker is a very useful tool. (I actually used this in my first confrontation after starting training.) I suggest finding a friend who wants to train and just practice. There must be some good videos too. Salem Assli did almost all of his savate training in the U.S. without any instructors. He went to France to take the test, and got the highest score ever. There... two answers! Aloha, Burton

Burt

Thanks for the quick reply. I have volume one of Salem's old Panther series and it is very good. I did take a class with him a long time ago and he was very cool and even came up to me (he never met me before) and said 'Thanks for taking my class.'

I never knew that he was primarily self taught. That's pretty interesting.

[treelizard]

Anybody got any videos with Savate vs. Muay Thai players? That is something I would love to see!

[ShawnJKD]

Kungfoolery, where are you located?

[DragonsWay]

Savate does not have the bone crushing power of Muay Thai but they say if you get hit with a Savate kick you feel really sick and ill, and don't feel like fighting on. Overall Savate is kickboxing except they use the toe more than instep or shin. Haow good it is against top kickboxers I am not sure, never heard of a pure Savate fighter in K1 or such events, there have been some that have done little Savate but not seen any that really move and kick like a Savate person. If the top Savate guys could go into K1 or adapt their skills to oit, they would make a lot more money than fighting in Savate.

[ShawnJKD]

The problem is that Savate kicks are designed to be delivered with a shoe, and none of these MMA style events (UFC, K1, ect) allow you to kick if you wear shoes. If they did, not only would Savate fighters appear, but you would see other stylist adapting Savate kicks into their repetoir. If you are fighting without shoes then the shin kicks of Muay Thai are certainly a better bet.

Another issue is that most Savate fighters are not skilled punchers. The way Savate/Boxe Francaise tournaments are currently scored is weighted towards kicking. So, Savate fighters would have to focus more on sharpening their punching skills if they were entering an MMA style competition.

[Burton]

That is correct.

[DickHardman]

sport savate which has lots of rules and is very limited is quite different than self defense savate which incorporates stick, knife, shoe and even chairs as weapons.

and im not sure how accurate that statement about savate practitioners havining weak hands is. i think they actually train a lot of boxing.

[ShawnJKD]

Boxing is a part of Savate - added when a Savate fighter was badly beaten by a boxer in the 1800's (might be later) - but Assault competition is weighted towards kicks and thus those who practice Boxe Fracaise as opposed to Savate per se, tend to have weak hands. Scoring in competition is 1 pt for leg kicks, 2 for body, and 3 for head. There is no limit to the number of points you can earn for kicking combinations. Punching is scored at 1pt per punch, with a maximum of 2 pts for combinations. So, Assault fighters see hands as something to wave in the opponent's face before scoring with kicks. I've trained with French fighters who have said just that.

That does not mean that there are not Savate/Boxe Francaise fighters who have gone on to work their boxing skills. Full contact Combat fighters certainly work the hands.

[Jujujason]

Anyone interested can see lots of cool savate matches on youtube. Just do a search for 'boxe fracaise savate'.

[fire cobra]

Yeah some good Savate stuff on You Tube.

A couple of years ago one of my Muay Thai fighters fought against a excellent Savate practitioner under Muay Thai rules,we couldnt hit him(hardly!) not for the want of trying either!
the Savate evasion skills and kick/punch combos are very good,its a art well worth studying in my opinion.

[bodhisattva]

Some years ago, I was fortunate to have a week-long session with Daniel Duby. Some of you may know him as one of the co-founders of the first Savate school in the US. He considers himself first and foremost a JKD man, but his true gift os with Savate. All of our workouts were in street clothes, and he wore cowboy boots. It should go without saying that his kicks did considerably more than make me feel sick and ill. He is astonishingly accurate and deceptive with his kicks, and when he landed them, it was like getting hit with a stun gun. Try and imagine even a friendly, well-controlled tap behind your ear with the toe of a cowboy boot. Or a nice, deeply sunken toe shot to the liver.

With shoes on, savate is an impressive kicking art. Maybe one of the very best.

Kungfoolery,

SBGi has some great savate DVD's by Daniel Duby. If you don't have an instructor, you should start there.

I really don't know much about Savate, but isn't it designed for people wearing boots not just shoes?

I've heard it said it was the French Sailor's art of defense.. I wondered about that.. I thought "How could some guy kick so much on a rocking ship?"

Anyone?

[kngfu]

The problem is that Savate kicks are designed to be delivered with a shoe, and none of these MMA style events (UFC, K1, ect) allow you to kick if you wear shoes.

The first UFC had a cool fight between a Savate guy and a sumo. He kicked the sumo's toothout. Not sure where to find it I saw it years ago.

[Jujujason]

Shawn, what you wrote is totally true. I wish the UFC fighters fought with a uniform similar to Russian Sambo. The fights would be more exciting from a spectator's point of view (there would be a greater number of throws/takedowns, chokes, footwork, savate style kicks in addition to Thai style kicks and more armbars) and safer because there'd be more submissions by choke and one couldn't rely on the 'sweaty arm' defense against armbars. Just my opinion. Any comments? J~