Savate

Savate (French pronunciation: ​[saˈvat]), also known as boxe française, French boxing, French kickboxing or French footfighting, is a French martial art that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques.

Only foot kicks are allowed unlike some systems such as Muay Thai, Silat and Yaw-Yan, which allow the use of the knees or shins. Savate is a French word for "old shoe". Savate is one of the few styles of kickboxing in which the fighters habitually wear shoes (another example is Ukrainian Combat Hopak). A male practitioner of savate is called a tireur while a female is called a tireuse.

Early history

Savate takes its name from the French for "old shoe" (heavy footwear, especially the boots used by French military and sailors) (cf. French-English loanwords sabot and sabotage and Spanish cognate zapato). The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century. There are also many types of savate rules. Savate was then a type of street fighting common in Paris and northern France.

Savate (film)

Savate (also known as The Fighter) - is a 1995 martial arts western starring Olivier Gruner, promoted as the allegedly true story of the world's first kickboxer.

Plot