Savate

Savate, also known as French Boxing or French Foot Fighting, is a French hybrid martial art and full-contact combat sport that combines principles of western boxing with a wide variety of kicking techniques. Unlike kickboxing which allow knee and/or shin strikes in competitive bouts, savate involves kicking exclusively with one's feet, but participants can nonetheless target any part of the body. The sport is also notable for requiring footwear to be worn by the competitors, as would be expected from individuals fighting in the streets. A male practitioner of savate is called a "tireur" while a female one is a "tireuse".
Savate de rue, the term used to differentiate the original martial art meant for self-defense from the subsequent combat sport, is an overarching hand-to-hand combat discipline that incorporates knee and elbow strikes as well as joint locks, sweeps, throws, headbutts and takedowns, in addition to punches and kicks.

Etymology

Savate takes its name from the French for "old shoe" or "old boot", referencing heavy footwear.

History

The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century. Savate was then a type of street fighting common in Paris and northern France.
According to one theory, in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, his soldiers publicly displayed their "aptitudes" by kicking their prisoners' behinds. The punishment was known as “Savate”, which can be translated as “old shoe”.

Origin

Savate originated in France in the 17th century and was practiced by some sailors in the southern port of Marseille. According to historians, it was developed and learned by sailors on board the ships during their trips to the countries of the Indian Ocean and China Seas. Subsequently, in every bar fight in French ports, it was common to see savate kicks. Sailors called this type of combat "Chausson", in reference to the slippers normally worn on board.
Contact with African and Brazilian fighting styles also occurred through interaction between French sailors and martial arts practitioners in the country's colonial holdings. French naval ships between 1820 and 1833 travelled from France to ports in Brazil, Martinique and Madagascar.

Early history

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 this kicking style was developed in this way to allow the fighter to use a hand to hold onto something 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 the jeu marseillais, and was later renamed chausson. In contrast, at this time in England, kicking was seen as unsportsmanlike.
Traditional savate was a northern French development, especially in Paris' slums, and always used heavy shoes and boots derived from its potential military origins. Street fighting savate, unlike chausson, kept the kicks low, almost never targeted above the groin, and they were delivered with vicious, bone-breaking intent. Parisian savate also featured open hand blows, in thrusting or smashing palm strikes or in stunning slaps targeted to facial nerves. Techniques of savate or chausson were at this time also developed in the ports of northwest Italy and northeastern Spain—hence one savate kick named the "Italian kick".

Reform

The two key historical figures in the history of the shift from street fighting to the modern sport of savate are Michel Casseux and Charles Lecour. Casseux opened the first establishment in 1825 for practicing and promoting a regulated version of chausson and savate.
However, the sport had not shaken its reputation as a street-fighting technique.
Charles Lecour created a modern edition of the martial art by 1830. Charles Lecour incorporated boxing techniques with kicking techniques and showed how to use them together. He was the first to see savate as both a sport and self-defense system. Charles Lecour was the first to add English boxing gloves to the martial art which allowed his students to train their punches without injuring their hands.
Charles Lecour was exposed to the English art of boxing when he witnessed an English boxing match in France between English pugilist Owen Swift and Jack Adams in 1838. Lecour also took part in a friendly sparring match with Swift later in that same year. Lecour felt that he was at a disadvantage, using his hands only to bat his opponent's fists away, rather than to punch. He trained in boxing for a time before combining boxing with chausson and savate to create the sport of savate. At some point la canne and le baton, stick fighting, 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. Charles continued his father's work and in 1899 fought an English boxer named Jerry Driscoll. He won the match with a round-kick in the eighth round although the English said that it was a kick to the groin. According to the well known English referee, Bernard John Angle of the National Sporting Club, in his book My Sporting Memories, "Driscoll did not know what he was taking on" when he agreed "to meet the Frenchman at his own game". Angle also said that, "The contest ended in Jerry being counted out to a blow in the groin from the Frenchman's knee." He further alleged that "the timekeeper saved Charlemont several times". After the fight Driscoll bore no grudges, considering the blow to have been "an accident". The French claimed victory for their man by stoppage, following a round-kick to Driscoll's stomach.

Codification

Savate was later codified under a Committee National de Boxe Française under Charles Charlemont's student Count Pierre Baruzy. The Count is seen as the father of modern savate and was 11-time Champion of France and its colonies, his first ring combat and title prior to the First World War. Savate de Défense, Défense Savate or Savate de Rue is the name given to those methods of fighting excluded from savate competition. The International Savate Federation is the official worldwide ruling body of savate.
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. In 2008, savate was recognised by the International University Sports Federation – this recognition allows savate to hold official University World Championships; the first was held in Nantes, France in 2010. The 25th anniversary of the founding of the International Savate Federation, in March 2010, was celebrated with a visit to Lausanne, to meet with International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge. FISav President Gilles Le Duigou was presented with a memento depicting the Olympic Rings. In April 2010, the International Savate Federation was accepted as a member of SportAccord – a big step forward on the road to Olympic recognition.

Modern practice

Despite its roots, savate is a relatively safe sport to learn.
Today, savate is practiced all over the world by amateurs from Australia to the U.S. and from Finland to Britain. Many countries have national federations devoted to promoting savate.
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 colours. Savate uses glove colours to indicate a fighter's level of proficiency. Novices begin at no colour.
The qualifications for competition vary depending on the association or commission. In the French Federation a yellow glove can compete, and in Belgium a green glove can compete. In the United States, the competition levels start at novice. In Russia there is no requirement for a specific glove colour in order to compete.
The ranking of savate: Boxe Française is divided into three roads that a savateur can choose to take.

Technical road: blue glove, green glove, red glove, white glove, yellow glove, silver glove I, silver glove II and silver glove III. Prior to 1985 silver glove I, II, III did not exist. There was only one technical silver glove Rank . After 1985 the silver glove technique was broken into 3 subcategories I, II and III and no longer included Canne de Combat. The "yellow pommel" is the "New GAT " of Canne de Combat.

GAT vs GAT# Patches: Pre and Post 1985 patches distinction:

The few remaining pre-1985 Silver Glove Rank wear a unique "GAT" rectangular patch rank on their uniform and are probably over 59 years old. The GAT was required for professorship.
Post 1985 Silver glove Rank wear a rectangular patch rank with either "GAT1", "GAT2" and "GAT3".

Similarly, the former FFBFSDA Professorship of BF-SAVATE requirements included Canne de Combat. New Savate "instructorships" tests do not have these requirements. Both sports have split although still under a same federation. These sports can be used in combinations together.

Competition road: bronze glove, silver glove I, silver glove II, silver glove III, silver glove IV and silver glove V.
Teaching ranks: initiateur, moniteur and professeur. These ranks require additional knowledge than just savate. Examinations includes anatomy, regulations of savate, education training, first aid certification, savate techniques and other.
Referee ranking: Juge arbitre stagiaire, Juge arbitre

In some clubs there is also a rank of aide-moniteur, while in other associations there is no rank of initiateur. Eight to twelve years of training on average are necessary for a student to reach professeur level; eight years average depending on skills. In France the professional professeur must have a French state certificate of specialized teaching. These diplomas are university level education in sports with specialisation in savate . The international federation, however, is still allowed to award professeur to non-French nationals without requiring such rigid system of education. French nationals have to submit and succeed to the rigid system of education and prove themselves in competition as well as being respected by peers, in order to have a slight chance to become a DTD. Like any sport federations in France, the French and International Federation of Savate are under the control of France Ministry of Sport and Youth. This makes these two federations extremely powerful federations on the world scene. These two federations have followed a set of national traditions.
Nowadays, savate is just a term meaning Savate-Boxe Française. In the 1970s the term "savate" was rarely used in France to refer to the formalised sport: people mostly used the term Savate boxe française, Boxe-Française Savate, B.F, B.F.S., S.B.F. or simply boxe française. The term savate remains in use mostly outside France or when speaking a language other than French.
The global distribution of schools today is best explained through their stylistic approaches:

La Savate-Boxe Française : the technical abilities of both savate's major kicking arsenal and English boxing were merged into a definitive sport of combat.
La Savate Défense : was first presented by Professeur Pierre Chainge, then produced into Self-Defense by Eric Quequet in 2000. After the French Federation dismantled Prof. Chainge and placed Michel Leroux in charge of the formations. It is based on La Boxe Française Savate, La Savate of the late 19th century, La Lutte Parisienne and the discipline* of La canne de Combat *includes also Le Bâton Français, Le Couteau, Le Poignard, La Chaise and Le Manteau.
Re-constructed historical savate: some savate has been re-constructed from old textbooks, such as those written in the late 19th or early 20th century. As such, this form of savate would be considered a historical European martial art. Re-construction of these older systems may or may not be performed by practitioners familiar with the modern sport and is not at present likely to be particularly widespread.
La savate forme : Cardio-kickboxing form of La Boxe Française-Savate.

These are the different stylistic approaches of the French arts of pugilism in the world today.