For no other reason other than that I am French, I have always wanted to learn savate. I currently train in american or western kickboxing. I have found a school in my general area that offers savate once a week. My question is, is there much of a difference between the two? I am very happy where I currently train, and I was wondering if it's worth it to alter my training and incur the extra travel time and expense, if the two are relatively similar. The school that offers savate has a good reputation, but I am already a little leary, because they won't give me any information over the phone, insisting I come in for an appointment. Is savate pretty much just kickboxing with French terms?
I trained a few times with a Savate club based in Oxford. Savate and Western Kick Boxing are very similar in the types of techniques used and target areas, but Savate does have several distinguishing features: - French terminology (obviously! ) - Coloured gloves instead of belts to signify rank/experience - The use of shoes in sparring (not so dissimilar to boxing shoes) The type of Savate I dabbled in followed "assaut" rules, which is the same as semi-contact in Western Kick Boxing. The other rulesets in Savate are "pre-combat" (full-contact with full padding) and "combat" (full-contact, gumshields and groin guards only). I'd say give it a try for sure, whether you're French or not.
They are similar, but I think that kickboxing may have better technique than Savate, and more strategy involved in a fight. Kickboxing is also more popular world wide...
I don't think you can ever say that one martial sport has "more strategy" than another. I'd try both and see whether you like the instructor and training environment more or less.
Do Savate! it presents a possibility to meet French ladies, I have no further argument to present paul
There's a little more to it than that. As Van Zandt pointed out, Savate makes use of the shoe, and the kicking style reflects this. Kicks are performed using the point of the shoe to reach around the guard and focus the force on a small area. There is also a low shin-kick that uses the inner edge of the shoe, though I'm not sure if this is included in the sports style. Modern savate does employ the "chasse bas" shown shown here. The punches uses in modern savate are the same as western boxing. Savate emphasises evasion rather than "brute force blocking" (which was how I was taught in kickboxing). Rather than use a shin block, a savateur will pass the guard backward to evade. The active use of the "non kicking" hand is also different to kickboxing, although the swinging movements of the "classical" system have been altered by the modern savateurs. Some pictures of savate kicks can be found here. I have been studying the older, "defensive" style of savate for a couple of years. It includes the use of palms, elbows, knees, and almost exclusively low kicks. It's actually a pretty well-rounded defensive system, often associated with LaCanne, which I also learn. I won't dwell on these here though, since it seems you are interested in the modern style. In short, savate does have some significant differences from kickboxing. It's definitely worth taking a couple of classes to see what it has to offer. Whether you wish to pursue it depends on your motivation. If your focus is on tournament fighting, kickboxing will give you more opportunities, being far more commonly practiced. If you want self-defence, the older savate (and LaCanne if you wish) have much to offer. If you simply want to try something a bit different, you have nothing to loose!
There was a Savate episode in Fight Quest and the Savate fighters were very impressive. Tough training and very skilled. I like the fact that bouts are scored partly on style, very French!
I about fell over laughing when a couple of savate players entered a tournament I was refereeing. Their uniforms looked ridiculous, they were skinny little guys.......and then they proceeded to kick the crap out of the karate and tkd guys who spent the pre-competition time making fun of the two guys. Go savate and surprise the bejesus out of everyone when you compete.
Try it out. What's the worse thing that can happen? From what very little I have seen of it, I thought it was interesting.
So what happens when your a black 'glove' in Savate and your in a bout but you have no shoes? would it still help? I'm referring to old school Savate here
Then by all means go and do it. The nice thing is, you'll learn how to kick with shoes on, very handy in a real world "tight spot". I suppose it would be a great art for those who wear steel toed boots all day like me. But go and check it out rather than switch right off. You have to make sure you like the instructor and that he knows how to actually, you know, teach. And if he teaches canne and baton too, that's badass. I'd love to do French Baton. Best regards, -Mark
If it's "old school" savate - there are no tournaments. It's a self-defence style not a sport. If it's a modern Savate tournament you'll both have shoes.
Unless you habitually walk around without shoes, the only place I see that happening is at the beach - in which case, throw sand in their eyes! Seriously though, you would have to adjust your kicking style for barefoot, but you still have hand techniques. How often do you go barefoot?
Osu, Go for it, savate has well earned its reputation. Shoes or not won't make much of a difference in a SD situation... You'll likely run faster with shoes. Osu!
