Are you going to try Taido? If you don’t want to go to the Nordic countries or Japan, you can go to Peachtree Corners, Georgia; The only Taido school in America.
Watching a high level Savate fight is like watching young Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard. Wrestling and clinching isn't allowed so all the strikes are clean and crisp. I've never seen fighters from any other martial art who are as aware of their range and spacing.
A savate guy came to my Muay Thai class and I got to spar him a bit, and couldn’t land a hit on him because of how weird the movements and agile of the kicks, I wasn’t at all used to it and the sparring match was basically both of us dancing around each other and occasionally he would throw out these surprise high kicks that I didn’t even know were possible at the range they were thrown lol.
In Thai they throw mostly from the rear leg, it needs to travel a longer distance. Savate will throw off the front leg. This is probably what you were NOT used to. Instead of giant, looping, low roundhouse from the rear leg, you get whacked by a high heel hook around your guard from the front leg.
We trained Savate fighters specifically to fight Muay Thai fighters in the late 80's/early 90's. There was actually one sanctioned bout that our fighter won by KO. CA State Athletic Commission put a stop to it and that was that.
@@Thesavagesoulsfrom what I heard, ot started as a bar brawling involving a muay thai practitionner and a rather experienced French fighter that landed a "coup de savate" (savate is synonymous of shoes) in the head. This style of fighting is based on using the legs (front and back both) to control the fighting distance and hit with any part of the foot, from the kick to the top of the toes, and you can believe me, it hurts like hell to take a hit from the tip of the toes as all the energy from the movement is concentrated on tat point.
I'm gonna be annoying here and be the one to tell you that Nicolas has no h. I'm French, I'm also called Nicolas and I used to live in the US and no one would get that right. It's weird that's it's not spelled the same way in different languages I know...
it was french self defense for street fights. That's why you fight shoes on (at the time you had very hard leather shoes that could easily injure the opponent). You avoid clinch/close combat to avoid getting stabbed. You also have walking stick techniques that come from all over Europe
So I started wondering - all martial arts - Thai/Philipono/Hong Kong/Japanese they all often claim to be originating in streets. So why they don't wear shoes? Then I remembered that all south/east asia typically only wears flip flops.
Savage influenced Karate a lot believe it or not. It’s where the high kick came from and the formation style of training. The Japanese originally modeled their modern military off of the French which is where the influence came from.
I recently heard two separate people make this point. They said Okinawan karate did not really have high kicks, nor were there really (if I recall) side, roundhouse, or hook kicks. They said Gichin's son Gigo likely added this stuff to karate from Savate, along with point sparring. If true, the karate point sparring is ultimately from fencing!
Savate was originally fencing art, then fencing was banned, so instead of using the fencing weapon (forgot the name in English), they converted to using hands and legs.
@@XAE_A_Xii If I remember right originator of modern savate used street fighting techniques of Marseille and English boxing to create savate. Emphasis on kicks was result of legal loophole that punished striking real hard and said nothing about kicks. He also used hooked cane as weapon.
Savate is one of the most underrated kickboxing styles. The shoes change more than you would expect, also because you are kicking with the tip so suddenly the distance on which you block needs to be different. It's also a very footwork oriented style - quite elegant in fact- but that makes it a very good style for when you are for example smaller than your opponent, or your oponent is a constant forward pressure fighter. I personally really like it. To see some of the best savate in action, just look for Pennachio vs Dekkers where you can see a top savateur against a top muay thai fighter and you can really see the different approach towards fighting. And when I mean the shoes change a lot. When I did savate for the first time I already had a lot of experience in striking, be it karate, full contact karate or K1 style kickboxing. My opponent threw a roundhouse to the mid section/liver. I blocked on the distance as if the kick was thrown with the instep/shin. So basically, the width of my arm away from my body. The kick was thrown with tip of the shoe. So instead of blocking, that tip of the shoe simply penetrated my body before his leg hit my block. Wrong distance. Down I went. The shoe changed a lot a lot, the point of contact is suddently 20 cm closer than it would be with the instep/shin. Highly recommended to cross train in.
Apart from the fact of hitting the face with shoe being painful the movements with shoes on the ground also are more powerful, quicker and less tiring because shoe helps with power transfer to the ground. Asia very typically wears flip flops which don't help I guess that's why they do it barefoot. But good shoes just like in any sport can be huge advantage.
Savate is cool because it acknowledges that people actually wear shoes. Not only is the force painfully concentrated at the tip of the shoe (toe kick in the temple = lights out), but that extra distance really does sneak around your normal guard.
Because they kick with shoes and boots, this makes savate perfect for the streets. Combined with bare knuckle boxing and purring , it's a complete art .
I did Savate during 11 years in France and the difficulty mastering the technics finally made french boxers winning some competitions in kickboxing for example, where minimal distance, well armed kicks are not required. Beautiful sport, very classy, and very hard.
I live in France and i used to train kickboxing for self defense. But then I tought: I’m not bare foot on the streets. So I’ve started to learn savate(which by the way at least in Paris we call it French boxe) and it uses a lot more the parts of the foot to kick cause the foot it’s protected.
Many don't fully grasp what Bruce did. He wasn't trying to incorporate anything into JKD, he took what he considered was effective and made it even more so. So the JKD version of savate is actually an enhanced one.
@@Coldkill2001Karate may have been slightly inspired by Savate, we don't know it for sure (it's just a historical theory) but I don't agree with the statement as if Karate has just taken 100% of Savate kicks. I'm a karateka and can clearly see quite a lot of difference in the way Karate kicks compared to Savate.
One of my first mma coaches was huge on savate, it’s a very calculated and technical style with great movement. Although I’ve never formally competed or even trained in it I have respect for it
I think Jesse Enkamp once said, that when the Japanese looked for an answer on western boxing, they infused Okinawan Karate with the Savate kicks, they learned from French sailors. Btw.: I'd love to see an episode where you give victor a call and ask if you can come train with his stuntmen buddies.
Savate has influenced my kicking as a Karateka! Aside from learning from the videos of the late Professor Salem Assli, I've been studying from Professor Nicholas Saignac online too. Also I have books on Boxe Française Savate.
I trained savate for four years most of the time as the assistant coach of the kickboxing gym I trained at. This is the second video I’ve ever seen of training outside of my old gym. I’m very happy to see this video, I think a lot of people are completely unaware of savate’s existence.
I'm a mariner and I've trained combat sports for decades. At work we wear steel capped safety shoes and I've always wondered how devastating they would be. I can safely kick a solid steel structure with one, without feeling a thing.
Fun fact, Savate originated among French sailors. Allegedly picking up kicks they saw at ports in Asia. So you'd be continuing a fine tradition kicking someone at work with those work boots on.
No they didn't pick thé kicks from Asia, it's an old theory proved as false now. Actually it's almost the opposit because the french colonials influenced a lot south east Asia technics. Byt, Savate technics came from different sources, military, local civilian fight games, fencing kick technics for duels... We have thousands of descriptions of such kicks along french littérature history and AT thé begining of the XIXth century, masters started mixing it to create this martial art
Savate brought some great kicks to the world. There was no spinning hook kick until Savate showed up to the game. The best kicks in Taekwondo and Kenpo came from Savate.
Savate dudes claim everything is from them, I saw someone claim that bjj and capoeira was started by savate practitioners that traveled to Brazil, when bjj is a grappling art and capoeira was made by Brazilian slaves
@@MichiDelNoche or just maybe Savate has been around for a while and people travel. Who knows what started what. I had a Kung Fu master tell me that Kung Fu was just the "war" form of Yoga. As far as BJJ, I would venture that had zero to do with Savate.
@@MichiDelNoche well some kicks in capoeira came from sailors that played batuque in the ports. For example martello claim to be the one of such kicks. Many techinques of batuque was transeferred to capoeira. But we can't say who those sailors was, because no one keep a record of that. They could be french practitioners of savate, but they also could practice karate or something else. Or what is the most logical, same technique can be reintroduced by different practitioners of different martial arts
A number of the 80s videos starred Professor Salem Assli, my old savate teacher. He was a world class teacher and instructor of many other MA’s too. Died a couple years ago from a severe motorcycle accident that resulted in being too weakened when he got Covid and he succumbed to it. I miss him. He was a great ambassador of Savate, JKD, Kali, Capoeira, etc. he taught and was taught at the Inosanto academy for many years. Anyone wanting to study Savate should look up his stuff. He was awesome in 8 different ways.
Ian, I trained with Salem too. I got my silver glove from one of the early seminars in 1986 from Richard Sylla and Michel Roget at the Marina Del Rey Inosanto academy. Small world man...
I am a Spaniard living in France for more than 4 and a half years, and last year I started practicing French boxing, or "savate". In the past I practiced 9 years of traditional wu shu, and have tried other martial arts for short periods of time (Aikido and Brazilian Jiujitzu). The truth is that I am very happy with the "savate" combat system, as well as with the group and the instructor with whom I practice. Physically it is hard, because you use your legs a lot, and we fight in every practice, and it hurts, but it is satisfying. Greetings!
What a weird coincidence, it was only yesterday I watched Jesse Enkamp’s video on how the kicks in karate were taken from savate and now here’s another great video with a closer look at the techniques
Savate is historically the continuation of the duelling tradition in France, but with no swords this time, that's why it's very similar to fencing in a lot concepts. Most of the punching is taken from english boxing, the kicks is really what make Savate an outlier in european boxing styles
Yay, you tried my sport! It's a really great style, teaches you defense and accuracy very fast. But, yeah, I never understood shin conditioning when I was regularly doing savate without shin protection, I could barely walk after the first couple of sessions, but after that i didn't feel anything :)
Glad to see Seth had a great time with one of the great Savate teachers. At Sports University in France, Savate like Judo too is part of the many disciplines learned there in your sports student years.
Ha, always love watching Savate and it's so cool seeing you use it. As for Prof. Nicolas, I've seen him a ton over the years teaching and promoting Savate. So cool that he's still doing it. The sparring parts of the video were excellent, but I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that you got to meet Prof. Nicolas at an IHOP. Were you eating the stack of five buttermilk pancakes, the omelette, or the.... FRENCH TOAST?! ROFL! Oh boy, I deserve a Savate liver shot kick for that ;).
@@savateonline Excellent to read, Prof. Nicholas! Seriously, from the clips with Sensei Seth and Kevin Lee, you taught a great seminar. Thank you for sharing this information with us!
I did a JKD concepts/savate seminar back in the nineties, can't remember the savate guy's name. He was +shockingly+ quick. No one could keep up with his footwork and kicks at all. He'd been joking with my JKD instructor for a bit as they sparred and he asked "Where do you NOT want to be kicked?" My instructor said right ear and took a left left TKD stance that put his right ear almost directly away from the savateur. As you might imagine, he still got kicked in the right ear. It took a helluva a set-up but the savateur slipped an overpowered crescent while shin-kicking my instructor and that had him off-ballance enough to get popped in the ear. I have massive respect for savate and this video was awesome.
That thumbnail got a solid chuckle out of me. The outfits need work, but I'm always interested to learn more about martial arts I'm less familiar with. Great stuff as always, Sensei Seth!
The concept of 'touch and not be touched" actually derives from the fact that savate is a derivative of fencing. And with a sword, you certainly don't want to be touched. Or with a canne either. Also, wearing shoes, especially heavy ones, change feet into weapons you don't want to be hit by. The shoes you see here are now the norm, but back in the days, they were considered for training only. The real deal was more akin to military ranger boots. All in all, kudos for having give it a try despite the less than glamorous videos we can see online.
Ça me fait tellement plaisir de voir la Savate (ou BF pour Boxe Française) en vidéo. Ça fait deux ans que je l'a pratique et c'est tellement un plaisir. C'est très technique et on peut faire de très beaux sparring si on est deux personnes qui ont un niveau décent et qu'on connait la façon de combattre de l'autre.
@@b.v.4501 c'est un peu ça. J'ai pris beaucoup de coups mais tranquille, j'ai déjà boxé j'ai un pote pratiquant, bon petit niveau, on avait déjà fait quelques sparring donc je n'ai pas cette appréhension de prendre des coups, j'encaisse bien 😂 Le plus dur pour moi c'est de lever la jambe, j'ai perdu toute ma souplesse en quelques années. Et aussi le cardio ainsi que les bras qui tetanisent a force d'être en garde. Même en étant un maximum décontracté ça fini par piquer Mais tranquille, j'ai 4x2h chaque semaine donc a priori je devrais vite progresser. 😋
I just joined fight gym as a foreigner in some country. They thought I am french. Now I know why. I wasn't even aware that I use so much french style of fighting even if I berely train anything. For me savate on the first look is like somebody knows how to fight and don't know at the same time. But is smarter than many might think.
Savate's kicks seem more realistic and practical of how street fight works and yeah Savate definitely needs recognition again if anyone needs to improve their kicks go for Savate!
Savate has a whole other complimentary art in cane fencing! i'm a little surprised there was no mention of it, but otherwise this is a cool vid, good job!
@@johndoe-ri4nqNo. The French and Irish had their own cane fighting styles. Savate was originally practised by sailors (the combinations of a moving ship and kicking makes me really impressed). Why is probably lost to time, but avoiding punches makes sense, both in terms of staying able to do service on deck as well as fighting enemies with knives. They did use it to complement stick fighting in civilian life and probably occasionally in cutlass fignting, albeit that is extremely risky...
@@johndoe-ri4nq Bartitsu is an hybrid self-defence system which consists of London Prize Fighting Ring Rules Boxing + Traditional Savate (kicking + open hand slaps) + A Judo like Ju Jutsu style + La Canne Vigny (a more self-defence oriented form of La Canne De Combat).
I love to see Savate getting more attention! Perhaps the best part of it (at least to me) is assaut, the rule set for competing with controlled force. This makes practicing safer, so that you do not have to worry that much about your brain cells. Also it allows far more people to actually take part in to amateur competitions, since it is far less brutal. (But by no means easier or less exhausting) When it comes to combat sports, Savate assaut is more sport than combat, and thats how I like it.
@@vksasdgaming9472 I do not aggree that combat takes more skill than assaut. You do need to be willing to take a beating, just like regular boxing and the like. It changes the game drastically. You need different kinds of tactics and techniques in combat. In assaut, you can play around with the fancier moves, like multi kick combos or jumping kicks, more freely, since you do not get punished so hard for each mistake.
@@lauriilves744 Both have their uses in training, but my view is that combat total truly shows savateur's skill. Of course newcomers should not study that form yet as that will lead to accidents or insufficiient technique if physical advantages are noticeable. Why would big and burly savateur need better positioning if they just plow through everything with ludicrous haymakers?
@@vksasdgaming9472 sure, this is actually something that I lack experience to really be able to comment on. :) Just saying based on what I have seen from the best of assaut fighters and best of combat fighters. Both are exceptionally skilled, but it shows in different ways.
@@lauriilves744 My guess is that highest levels compete only in combat total. As in technical foundation is already established and true skill is measured there. Not enough to smack foe's torso with foot. Kick must have effect because light smack only makes them angry.
I did a one day seminar similar to what you presented. It was great! I'm a Muay Thai practitioner and I added two of Savate techniques to my arsenal. That is a very underestimated art. Their stamina is insane.
Ever since I seriously started training and reading on different martial arts etc savate has definitely added another layer to what’s being built and Bruce lee nailed it with the phrase “it’s like boxing with your feet” I had some fluidity with my kicks before I started training that but a little over a month into it and it was kinda surprising the dexterity I had when kicking it felt obviously more fluent lol but my roundhouse kick for example then going into a spinning hook kick felt like springy along with going from a roundhouse kick to a teep I don’t really know how to explain it, it was like I could feel a different force to what I felt before when I did those kicks
I call it "Leg Fencing". There is a very advanced Leg Fencing system in Wing Chun. Sadly, Lee never got to learn it... as its in the higher levels of the art. In fact, most WC practitioners often do not know it... because they often quit before getting that deep into the art. Ive seen enough in video clips, to be able to figure things out on my own.. with a bunch of sparring testing, of course. After learning and mastering it... I had a Muay Thai practitioner try to use his full power kicks against me.. and I was easily able to use my deflection methods, to nullify his best attempts. Later, I sparred against an MMA fighter... and had a particular round of Legs vs Legs (only kicks, and leg defense techs). It was a slaughter.. heh. They dont teach any kind of Leg fencing... so it was too easy to deflect his kicks... then immediately counter-kick him with a few rapidfire chained kicks.
@@johndough8115 it definitely does take some technique to pull that off most of the time you don’t see it because they’re countering off of their kicks but every now and then I do see guys checking kicks etc it’s not that uncommon and I have pretty good leg conditioning myself but I wouldn’t want someone going full shin with me lol it’s one thing on the calf or something but bone to bone is another level
@@itz_Elev8t In Wing Chun, there are Soft leg deflections methods.. that do not cause impact injuries to your own leg. Its not the typical "Leg Check" that you see in arts like Muay Thai, or Kickboxing. The Chinese combat masters realized, that while its good to have decent leg conditioning... that even the Best leg conditioning isnt going to stand up to more than a few kicks from an OP that has much greater leg mass and strength. Meaning.. if your leg is like half the diameter of his... his leg is going to end up destroying yours, real fast ! You sometimes see this issue in MMA / UFC... where one of the smaller dudes tries to kick a larger dudes legs... and end up breaking his own shin bone (This isnt a check example... but the point still stands) So, as a result... Soft Leg Interception methods were developed. It took me a little bit to figure it out for myself. But once I did figure it out.. that Muay Thai dude was unable to effect me at all. I asked him... "Is that as hard as you can kick?" And he told me, that he was giving it his all... but the tech just worked so well, that it just nullified everything.
@@johndough8115 and how do these work? like, can you describe the techniques? because it sounds very sus that they can just beat muay thai fighters with high level WC techniques but you dont see them in MMA
@@alexandertheok5649 First, if you catch the kick early on.. you can stop-kick (oblique kick) the thigh. However, once its past a certain stage, you extend your leg forwards, but twist it slightly at an angle inwards. Thus, when their leg make contact, its going to be their bone into your legs flesh (not bone to bone). As the impact start.. you allow your leg to move with their leg.. like a spring. The action is somewhat similar to the Bong Sau hand tech. There are other Leg Fencing methods too. A lot of these mirror the Hand techs, such as Tan Sau, Jut Sao, etc. (Energies: Spreading, Rolling, Jolting..etc. with the correct angles / methods). You dont see high level combat methods in MMA, because MMA chose to copy lower end sportized arts methods (and poorly at that). You also rarely see Masterclass level fighters in high level combat arts... sparring against lower level sport fighters. There are a lot of reasons... but the main one is... its to prevent harm to the sport artist. Also, we have different goals. I trained for realistic self defense capabilities.. not for trophies / ego games. The last time I tried to do a friendly demo with an MMA fighter... he got angered because he couldnt get a hit one me... and went full bore (against our previously agreed on "Medium" safe levels of power). This greatly amplified impact forces... and caused my light forearm deflection (10% max) to nearly shattered his wristbone / forearm. In less than an hours time, it had swelled up nearly double in size, and he was in great pains for many days to follow. It should be noted, that I am not an Amateur / Casual. I trained hardcore, 4 to +8 hrs every day.. 365 days a year. At that pace, and intensity, I reached Masterclass level results, between my 3rd and 4th year.. and by my 5th year, I had fully mastered Short range power, to Lethal levels, within less than 2 inch distances.
Hi from France. Savate was invented to learn to gentleman how to defend in the streets of Paris around the beginning of the 20th century. So they would use their shiny shoes, their cane (sometimes with a sword in it like a rapier), their hat and clothes, some armlocks techniques. It was very popular back then. But with the appearance of public lighting, it became less needed. It then became a sport and lost its "real life" components.
Glad you got to try it out. It would be great to see more Americans over at Savate tournaments (I, a Brit, was obliged to be team USA coach at the World Championships this year!!). Keep training and see you in the ring soon!
I love that this great Martial Art becomes more known and honored now. I was the first German who fought Combat Total (Full Contact) in Hamburg in the 80th, and was also later invited to fight in Paris under my Belgian Savate, Box Francais teacher Jean Pierre Julemont who was once European Champion. My Belgian Karate Sensei Geert Lemmens introduced his students to Savate and Le Cane (stick fighting). For my " Brevier du Initiateur (teaching license) I also had to fight in a competition in Le Cane. A painful memory. Overall I have only great and loving memories about my teachers and competitors
I used to read old Louis L'Amour western novels, and he would always throw in a little bit of savate into the fight scenes. Also love that "ABOLUTELY NO SHOES ON THE MAT" sign (edit: yeah never mind you stuck that in at the end) Also George St Pierre's "Batroc" character from the MCU is someone who is so good at savate that he is a super villain
My guess is Victor was showing you some kindness because advanced Savate guys can toe punch a hole in your liver pretty much anytime they want to. It's a great art with a very interesting history. Many of the techniques are designed to be done on the deck of a ship while holding a rope or rail.
Awesome video as usual , i always admire how you often get outta your comfort zone to try new things and share the experience with us , always a student to the game ... Thank you for the great work and efforts sensei
Savate is extremly underrated. When you feel for the first what a strong "fouetté" can do to your face or to your liver in a single blow.... its litterally horrible. It is not like others striking style which can ko you because its brutal. With savate most of the time when there is a down it is because it is too painfull and you cant handle it. This is also a kind of Ali style of boxing, very mobile, very flexible outboxing with a major rule of touch without being touched. You realize savate is made to use all the weaknesses of classic kick boxing/muay thai defense by using the shoes (which is close to reality), u'll probably never fight someone without shoes. Last training i've taken a front middle in the solar plexus.. kick really did not look impressive at all but a few seconds after it i had the pain and the difficulty to breath . It is really like sting, it is scary tbh.
I actually use that foot check ( the block with foot and in french) all the time. Halts forward momentum of an opponent and if you step out. It sets up a great roundhouse kick.
I love Savate. I did it when I was student. Many french boxer practice savate for others boxing style. Savate is so underatted but really efficient to defend yourself because you learn how to make distance, move and fly away. But only french knows.
Savate has always had a place in my mind since I watched that show I think it was on Discovery Channel yearsss ago when they measured the performance of athletes of different martial arts. Savate guy had a liver kick that measured the highest amongst the kicks of all other martial artists. To think they used to fight on the streets with hard shoes like army boots, you'd be dead if that got you. Scary stuff!
@sensei Seth, you really encourage any martial artist to open their eyes to all forms it’s great and has kept me open to all styles and have really found working with people to learn new ways forms and techniques my abilities come on so much quicker
Good Savate practitioners have a stupidly high body intelligence/leg control. It's also crazy to see Canne exhibitions, they move so fast and so fluidly.
Savate is actually where modern karate got a lot of its kicks from. No joke. The Japanese Empire collaborated with the French to develop modern karate as we know it
When in 1867 old Samurai Army was transformed into a modern Army. At first Japanese Empire hired french Military instructors, bin cause 1867 french Army was seen as worlds strongest Army. So perhaps in this years french and Japanese unarmed martial arts meet each other.
@@DWIP798 : The french had Savate (or ,la boxe francaise') a Mix of Parisiene Wrestling, Englisch Boxing and ,la chausure' ( kicking with wooden workmans Shoes). As German, and armchair expert, the wrestling part seems lost after standardization. Then there was Breton wrestling. And a Lot of Stick technics. La Canne, which is since standardization in 1970s only a competition Sport, a basque cane based Art ( containing the word makhila), and at least two styles of twohanded Sticks.
Somebody (maybe Jesse Enkamp), mentioned in one of his videos that a lot of the Oriental kicking skills were adopted from Savate trained sailors. That's so cool to think a bunch of sailors from Marseilles had such an impact around the globe.
Savate is very interesting. Learning how to kick with shoes could be a really good self-defense skill. I'm wondering if there's any truth to Jesse Enkamp's claims on how Savate influenced karate
I remember seeing the Savate teacher for the first time in a martial arts magazine as a kid. Cool to see him still teaching. I actually incorporated a lot of Savate techniques in my training because of that. Very underrated when it comes to street fighting tactics.
I remember the first time I sparred savate style at the JKD school I was at. We were moving around well, working the kicks and punches. All fine and dandy. Then my coach took an off angle and launched what I thought was a middle kick, so I just covered like I usually did: elbows tucked, change levels a bit and take it on my elbow end of my forearms. The toe of the shoe split my guard and hit me right in my solar plexus and sat me down. That's the huge difference: the shoe is a real thing to deal with
Savate is such a cool/fascinating art, glad you were able to make this video. Every time I have seen a video with Professor Nicholas its fantastic. Thanks for the awesome stuff Seth!
Nice, definitely seeing the Savate connection to JKD with those leg/kick blocks. I switched to chusoku mawashi geri, which have a similar angle to the savate roundhouse but done with the ball of the foot instead of the toes after I hyper extended my ankle a few years back and never went back to the regular roundhouse with the instep/shin. it's nice when you're picking up targets in tight spots and the extra range is a bonus.
MMA originally allowed shoes & technically still does under the unified rules, but it currently limits the techniques you can do if you wear shoes. Wearing shoes makes foot kicks more damaging and if stomping & kicking a downed foe is allowed then it negates much of the need to engage in ground & pound.
This really makes a lot of sense actually. Most styles train without shoes, but you rarely get into a fight without your shoes on. So it with combat boots, and you really have a good weapon in your feet. I never thought about it.
What's kinda crazy is the early history of Savate. Like french sailors developed it and fought on boats. Imagine the balance you need to do that. I don't know, I've always found that fascinating. That and using the toes and heels of the shoe to hit small areas.
I remember being introduced to Savate for the first time when I watched “Brotherhood of the Wolf” with Mark Dacasacos. Awesome flick if you haven’t seen it. Great video as always. I love the community with y’all you guys, Lee, WBT, Mike, Jesse. It’s really a great group. Keep it up.
Speaking of, I have blocked a punch with a punch in boxing. Granted it was only 1 time & possibly an accident but I will always say it was one of the most skillful experiences I had lol *if you’re curious, my opponent went for a looping left hook, and I through a short inside left hook to his elbow of the incoming punch. It caused his arm to widely swing open & I just continued the combo into a 2, hook
What cool way of fighting! Learning about different fighting styles really make me appreciate how versatile the human body can be in combat situations.
Seth this may be one of your best videos -Humble and humorous and a great showing of what Savat is. Congrats on the Blue Gloves, well deserved! If what I hear is true a lot of modern Karate Kicks are from Savat. Looking at how easy you picked up the basics of the kicks, how similar/same they are to Karate even today it's probably very true. But Karate kicks with shoes on so you can dig in your toes. The idea of finding the ideal ways of attacking but not getting hits land on you is not a novel thing, it's common sense for a street fight. What if someone has a knife, what if they got brass knuckles? Or what if they got steel toed shoes? Blocking hard would still hurt you and might injure or break something even. So you avoid it. But still no one can just dodge forever so it's more like avoiding as much as you can and still taking a few hits. In many ways it's similar to the idea with Southpaw boxing that In my opinion probably originated with bare knuckles and is more useful for self defense than say a Philly Shell (not saying it's not useable just less optimal).
One of the things I love about Savate is a lot of the terms they use are also used in ballet. Maybe that's why even the most brutal savate fights always look so elegant. Or maybe it's the tights! 😂
Originally savate is a french "self defense art" (i'm talking back in haut-de-forme hats time, when the thug you had to defend against werent crack addicted shooters), in those times clothes were very very different, starting with the shoes that were almost exclusively leather with really hard soles, making them perfect striking instruments, hence savate (that and proper frenchmen don't roll around in the mud). BUUUUUT, did you know it was originally also paired with a "weapon's art"? See, an ornate cane was a very common accessories for men, even when they didn't need it (kinda like people wearing fake glasses nowadays, fashion and all that). Of course anyone with a stick in his hands would have a rough idea on how to use it against an attacked, but they took it farther by working on making the most of the ornaments (kind of like putting metal at the end of a bo staff), and most importantly it was created to be used in conjonction with savate! There's no Ip-man crazy moves, but still, don't mess with the french.
I kinda had a low opinion once you said only punches and kicks, not that those are bad things but I always look at fighting styles from a "I'm fighting for my life" perspective. Watching the rest of the video though definitely some useful things to take away from the style it looked like! And of course learning new things is always cool.
Really entertaining video. When I used to train I had a fair few MMA coaches, but my first was a British Savate champion. Hands down the most frustrating person to this day to have a few rounds with, so so so quick. Add to this he was also extremely proficient in Muay Thai, as well as many other martial arts, he was just difficult. His footwork would make me feel like I'm trying to catch a ghost, and then he'd plant and reel off a nightmare combo with power and then be back on the move again. He used to say a fair few people on the British circuit would also cross-train fencing as it was extremely useful in regards to the footwork for savate. I don't really understand the fencing aspect personally but anyway, Savate... It's a difficult martial art to face.
Have heard people name-checking Savate but this is the first time I've seen any drills or sparring. It's not what I expected. It's more like what TKD should be ;-)
Almost every Combat art got degraded and sportized, post Industrial Revolution. Every year since... these arts have been continuing to be watered down, and corrupted from their original hardcore and lethal methods. The "Elite" dont want the Lemmings to have high level combat skillsets. They are too fearful of people rebelling against their systems of power and control. If you want to know the higher truths... look to the Eldest of Arts (Chinese arts). They are the least corrupted... but they are also harder to find, and much tougher to learn and master. And even then, there still have been corruptions and losses, that have occurred within many of these arts. The more of these arts that you research... the easier it is to figure out the missing pieces... as they tend to contain many of the same methods.
@@johndough8115 I can believe that. It's a similar story with those spiritual truths that different mystical traditions (within different religions) have in common. Hidden away and rarely valued or understood by the mainstream
@@jethrobradley7850 Well, lets put it this way... There are many wonderful people within the Churches.. but, there is also a lot of corruption within these systems. I personally believe in a higher power. I also believe Jesus was a real person, with special God given powers, as described. However, there are many things that I do not believe. The equation of Wrath... to a God described as "Love". Also... Its my belief though my own Journey and experience... that proper Silent Meditation sessions, are the TRUE non-corrupted form of "Prayer". When I was between the ages of 16 to 19.. I had a spiritual crisis. I then closed my eye, and asked God directly, to reveal the truths to me. This ultimately lead to a certain woman coming into my workplace... whom was into Newage beliefs. She pointed me to certain books.. and I picked up a few Guided meditation tapes to boot. I learned and practiced 1 hour daily meditation sessions. In fact, often I was doing two sessions per night. Once when I got home from work... and once before going to sleep. About the 3rd month of this... and I had developed the "Quiet Mind" state... where its either almost, or completely silent. My mind was no longer like a pack of wild puppies... pulling me in random directions, distracting me from my focus on the "Present" (the Gift). It was Life Changing. And amazingly, once achieved, its Permanent (the brain physically changes in connections and density... as recently proven via Scientists.. by using before and after MRI Brainscans). But I kept going. Each day, I was feeling more and more Happier.. with almost nothing that could come close to effecting my very improved mood. Eventually I got to the point where I was always happy, content, smiling. And by the end of the 3rd year, I experienced a waking stated of "Nirvana". It felt like I started to float into the air... and then it was like every single cell in my body was filled with Laughter and Pure Love and JOY. It was like a wave, flowing through me, from my feet to my head. It was so powerful, that I couldnt control myself from smiling wide... then bursting out into laugher. The experience only lasted about 60 seconds, but it was the most amazing 60 seconds of my life. I believe that most people are not able to connect with the Universe / God... because their minds are too busy (loud, out of control, not Listening)... and because of their internal levels of negativity. You have to wash away your stress, and negativity... gradually over time. Once that takes place... you become far more "Connected" to the "Source". That said, one has to be careful about Newage stuff... because there is a lot of Dangerous things within it... such as the books on trying to connect with "Angels" or so called "Spirit Guides". That is a Recipe for getting Possessed... by MALICIOUS "Lost Souls". The good souls will pass onto the next plane of existence, relatively quickly. Only the tormented lost souls, tend to stick around. The practice of Astral Projection, is also another very Dangerous practice. As while you are away... something else could manage to sneak In. Still, there is a lot of Positive, Universal Truths, within its various teachings. Also, the book on Breathing that I purchased, probably increased my lung capacity like 10 fold. It also would later serve me in my Martial Arts training.. Especially considering that Most all modern arts have LOST the proper "Combat Breathing" methods. That MMA teeth hissing breath.. is a far cry from the Real Deal. And the meditation, and quiet mind developments... also played a HUGE factor in my martial arts capabilities. Faster learning, as well as much greater Conscious bodily awareness + 3d spatial awareness. All of which multiplied with further Chinese arts training methods. Methods that many of the other Casual practitioners rarely practiced, and largely ignore.. due to ignorance and laziness. Cheers.
i never expected this to be even remotely original as a martial art. I was wrong. It has a practicality to it, i mean, imagine you wear steal toe boots for your work. 8-10 hours a day in those boots, some guy attacks you and you safely use the boot to keep distance and your foot is fine, but they’re not. Nice
Get 10% off my gloves! SENSEISETH10
Hayabusafight.com/senseiseth
best pic ever😂
How was it on the shins?
Are you going to try Taido? If you don’t want to go to the Nordic countries or Japan, you can go to Peachtree Corners, Georgia; The only Taido school in America.
PLEASE GO TO INOSANTO ACADEMY! I'd love to see you trying Silat and I bet Kevin would love to go with you on this also.
You should do a krav maga class and see if you can make it work!!!
Highly underrated kickboxing style. Wish it got more attention
I couldn’t agree more 🙏
I’m french and this sport is really underrated here
@@IdentifiantE.S I agree,
The more we share, the better
Didn't Ngannou start in a Savate Gym?
Watching a high level Savate fight is like watching young Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard. Wrestling and clinching isn't allowed so all the strikes are clean and crisp.
I've never seen fighters from any other martial art who are as aware of their range and spacing.
A savate guy came to my Muay Thai class and I got to spar him a bit, and couldn’t land a hit on him because of how weird the movements and agile of the kicks, I wasn’t at all used to it and the sparring match was basically both of us dancing around each other and occasionally he would throw out these surprise high kicks that I didn’t even know were possible at the range they were thrown lol.
In Thai they throw mostly from the rear leg, it needs to travel a longer distance. Savate will throw off the front leg. This is probably what you were NOT used to. Instead of giant, looping, low roundhouse from the rear leg, you get whacked by a high heel hook around your guard from the front leg.
We trained Savate fighters specifically to fight Muay Thai fighters in the late 80's/early 90's. There was actually one sanctioned bout that our fighter won by KO. CA State Athletic Commission put a stop to it and that was that.
@@SCinRB Dam that was TARGETTED! was there some hidden dojo beef or something that is worth of a 70ies movie?
@@SCinRBdamn i want to hear more about that story
@@Thesavagesoulsfrom what I heard, ot started as a bar brawling involving a muay thai practitionner and a rather experienced French fighter that landed a "coup de savate" (savate is synonymous of shoes) in the head. This style of fighting is based on using the legs (front and back both) to control the fighting distance and hit with any part of the foot, from the kick to the top of the toes, and you can believe me, it hurts like hell to take a hit from the tip of the toes as all the energy from the movement is concentrated on tat point.
Professor Nicholas was excellent. He was so clearly passionate and I loved that he put in the effort to get everyone's names
100%
I tried 😀
Thank you
He is also in really good shape. He did say 1988!!!
I'm gonna be annoying here and be the one to tell you that Nicolas has no h. I'm French, I'm also called Nicolas and I used to live in the US and no one would get that right. It's weird that's it's not spelled the same way in different languages I know...
I am watching this video as if I was there! That’s crazy!
Hi Kevin Lee
It’s almost like I can see you every so often in the background, or in the foreground sparring Seth. 😅 or in frame talking to Seth.
Same here😂
😂😂
This is the first vid I’ve seen of yours @sensiseth nice content. kev you had a good run mate. Focus on something else now brotha. Godspeed
it was french self defense for street fights. That's why you fight shoes on (at the time you had very hard leather shoes that could easily injure the opponent).
You avoid clinch/close combat to avoid getting stabbed.
You also have walking stick techniques that come from all over Europe
So I started wondering - all martial arts - Thai/Philipono/Hong Kong/Japanese they all often claim to be originating in streets. So why they don't wear shoes? Then I remembered that all south/east asia typically only wears flip flops.
Savage influenced Karate a lot believe it or not. It’s where the high kick came from and the formation style of training. The Japanese originally modeled their modern military off of the French which is where the influence came from.
I recently heard two separate people make this point. They said Okinawan karate did not really have high kicks, nor were there really (if I recall) side, roundhouse, or hook kicks. They said Gichin's son Gigo likely added this stuff to karate from Savate, along with point sparring. If true, the karate point sparring is ultimately from fencing!
Savate was originally fencing art, then fencing was banned, so instead of using the fencing weapon (forgot the name in English), they converted to using hands and legs.
@@XAE_A_Xii Rapier I think (une rapière en français).
Jesse enkamp "karate nerd" did a video about that
@@XAE_A_Xii If I remember right originator of modern savate used street fighting techniques of Marseille and English boxing to create savate. Emphasis on kicks was result of legal loophole that punished striking real hard and said nothing about kicks. He also used hooked cane as weapon.
Savate is one of the most underrated kickboxing styles. The shoes change more than you would expect, also because you are kicking with the tip so suddenly the distance on which you block needs to be different. It's also a very footwork oriented style - quite elegant in fact- but that makes it a very good style for when you are for example smaller than your opponent, or your oponent is a constant forward pressure fighter. I personally really like it.
To see some of the best savate in action, just look for Pennachio vs Dekkers where you can see a top savateur against a top muay thai fighter and you can really see the different approach towards fighting.
And when I mean the shoes change a lot. When I did savate for the first time I already had a lot of experience in striking, be it karate, full contact karate or K1 style kickboxing. My opponent threw a roundhouse to the mid section/liver. I blocked on the distance as if the kick was thrown with the instep/shin. So basically, the width of my arm away from my body.
The kick was thrown with tip of the shoe. So instead of blocking, that tip of the shoe simply penetrated my body before his leg hit my block. Wrong distance. Down I went. The shoe changed a lot a lot, the point of contact is suddently 20 cm closer than it would be with the instep/shin. Highly recommended to cross train in.
Apart from the fact of hitting the face with shoe being painful the movements with shoes on the ground also are more powerful, quicker and less tiring because shoe helps with power transfer to the ground. Asia very typically wears flip flops which don't help I guess that's why they do it barefoot. But good shoes just like in any sport can be huge advantage.
Savate is cool because it acknowledges that people actually wear shoes. Not only is the force painfully concentrated at the tip of the shoe (toe kick in the temple = lights out), but that extra distance really does sneak around your normal guard.
Because they kick with shoes and boots, this makes savate perfect for the streets. Combined with bare knuckle boxing and purring , it's a complete art .
I'm sure the gangbangers of the Parisian banlieues really fear this "perfect for the streets" "complete" martial art.
@@danielskipp1 If one of these guys from banlieue attacks one on one and without a weapon, he is attacking from behind.
I did Savate during 11 years in France and the difficulty mastering the technics finally made french boxers winning some competitions in kickboxing for example, where minimal distance, well armed kicks are not required. Beautiful sport, very classy, and very hard.
I live in France and i used to train kickboxing for self defense. But then I tought: I’m not bare foot on the streets. So I’ve started to learn savate(which by the way at least in Paris we call it French boxe) and it uses a lot more the parts of the foot to kick cause the foot it’s protected.
Fyi, the official name is "Savate boxe française", so both are correct
Hi , whats the gym called in paris ?
@@adrien2799 it’s not exactly Paris. But very nearby. EFC sport romainville. The coach is an old world kickboxing champion. Lovely guy
In Aix-en-Provence it's also called the same. Definitely recommend training with Aix Boxe Française if you're in the area
You can do all the attacks you do in kickboxing with or without shoes lol. That didn't make any sense at all.
1:55 yes Serbia is one of dominant in savate! I was traing savate and i love it still. Greetings from Serbia.
I remembered that Bruce Lee studied Savate and incorporated it into Jeet Kune Do. You can see it when he blocks kicks with kicks.
Also, sometimes when he kicks he would stump the leading foot, that is also an influence from Savate as well
Many don't fully grasp what Bruce did. He wasn't trying to incorporate anything into JKD, he took what he considered was effective and made it even more so. So the JKD version of savate is actually an enhanced one.
You did awesome Sensei Seth! It was awesome to meet you and I commend you on your versatility as a martial artist! Congrats on your Blue Glove!
Agreed. Thanks so much for your help during the testing. It was great to see you spar. Great technical display 🙏🔥🥊
The karate nerd did a video about how karate implemented the high Kicks from savate.
That was a very informative video. Loved that.
Yeah it is a really informative and well produced video. I loved it too. Wanted to try savate but there is no place where I live
Can you create a comparison about different types of kickboxing style like Muay Thai and American kickboxing and sanda and Dutch kickboxing and savate
Two savate videos, from Kevin to here in one day! Awesome to see how Seth applies savate to his karate. Super cool
It was so awesome to see him train 🙏
Modern versions of Karate actually use savate kicks. The Japanese actually learned them from the French
@@Coldkill2001I’m french and here this sport is really underrated
@@savateonline TY professor, I'm subscribing to your channel to learn more
@@Coldkill2001Karate may have been slightly inspired by Savate, we don't know it for sure (it's just a historical theory) but I don't agree with the statement as if Karate has just taken 100% of Savate kicks. I'm a karateka and can clearly see quite a lot of difference in the way Karate kicks compared to Savate.
One of my first mma coaches was huge on savate, it’s a very calculated and technical style with great movement. Although I’ve never formally competed or even trained in it I have respect for it
Who was your coach?
Your coach is a 🗿
I think Jesse Enkamp once said, that when the Japanese looked for an answer on western boxing, they infused Okinawan Karate with the Savate kicks, they learned from French sailors.
Btw.: I'd love to see an episode where you give victor a call and ask if you can come train with his stuntmen buddies.
Yes, a training like a stuntman video!
something like that, the Video you are talking about must be this one from Jesse
th-cam.com/video/sQUh5tVWd-E/w-d-xo.html
Savate has influenced my kicking as a Karateka! Aside from learning from the videos of the late Professor Salem Assli, I've been studying from Professor Nicholas Saignac online too. Also I have books on Boxe Française Savate.
Well Savate influenced Karate.The Jap took a lot from French boxe
Hope we get more Savate content, this was cool!
I trained savate for four years most of the time as the assistant coach of the kickboxing gym I trained at. This is the second video I’ve ever seen of training outside of my old gym. I’m very happy to see this video, I think a lot of people are completely unaware of savate’s existence.
I'm a mariner and I've trained combat sports for decades. At work we wear steel capped safety shoes and I've always wondered how devastating they would be. I can safely kick a solid steel structure with one, without feeling a thing.
Fun fact, Savate originated among French sailors. Allegedly picking up kicks they saw at ports in Asia. So you'd be continuing a fine tradition kicking someone at work with those work boots on.
No they didn't pick thé kicks from Asia, it's an old theory proved as false now. Actually it's almost the opposit because the french colonials influenced a lot south east Asia technics.
Byt, Savate technics came from different sources, military, local civilian fight games, fencing kick technics for duels... We have thousands of descriptions of such kicks along french littérature history and AT thé begining of the XIXth century, masters started mixing it to create this martial art
same here with my security boots to inspect photovoltaic plants in work. Saludos from a chilean electrical engineer / savate's Tireur
Savate brought some great kicks to the world. There was no spinning hook kick until Savate showed up to the game. The best kicks in Taekwondo and Kenpo came from Savate.
Savate dudes claim everything is from them, I saw someone claim that bjj and capoeira was started by savate practitioners that traveled to Brazil, when bjj is a grappling art and capoeira was made by Brazilian slaves
@@MichiDelNoche or just maybe Savate has been around for a while and people travel. Who knows what started what. I had a Kung Fu master tell me that Kung Fu was just the "war" form of Yoga. As far as BJJ, I would venture that had zero to do with Savate.
@@MichiDelNoche I’ve never heard of that 🤔
@@MichiDelNoche well some kicks in capoeira came from sailors that played batuque in the ports. For example martello claim to be the one of such kicks. Many techinques of batuque was transeferred to capoeira. But we can't say who those sailors was, because no one keep a record of that. They could be french practitioners of savate, but they also could practice karate or something else. Or what is the most logical, same technique can be reintroduced by different practitioners of different martial arts
Koreans learned kicks from their folk martial art Taek Kyon which is all kicking techniques.
A number of the 80s videos starred Professor Salem Assli, my old savate teacher. He was a world class teacher and instructor of many other MA’s too. Died a couple years ago from a severe motorcycle accident that resulted in being too weakened when he got Covid and he succumbed to it. I miss him. He was a great ambassador of Savate, JKD, Kali, Capoeira, etc. he taught and was taught at the Inosanto academy for many years. Anyone wanting to study Savate should look up his stuff. He was awesome in 8 different ways.
That he was. There was no one quite like Salem, and North America lost their greatest reference to the art. Hope you've kept your journey alive.
He was my Professor as well. RIP Salem.
Ian, I trained with Salem too. I got my silver glove from one of the early seminars in 1986 from Richard Sylla and Michel Roget at the Marina Del Rey Inosanto academy. Small world man...
I am a Spaniard living in France for more than 4 and a half years, and last year I started practicing French boxing, or "savate". In the past I practiced 9 years of traditional wu shu, and have tried other martial arts for short periods of time (Aikido and Brazilian Jiujitzu). The truth is that I am very happy with the "savate" combat system, as well as with the group and the instructor with whom I practice. Physically it is hard, because you use your legs a lot, and we fight in every practice, and it hurts, but it is satisfying.
Greetings!
What a weird coincidence, it was only yesterday I watched Jesse Enkamp’s video on how the kicks in karate were taken from savate and now here’s another great video with a closer look at the techniques
That was a great episode.
Savate is historically the continuation of the duelling tradition in France, but with no swords this time, that's why it's very similar to fencing in a lot concepts.
Most of the punching is taken from english boxing, the kicks is really what make Savate an outlier in european boxing styles
Yay, you tried my sport! It's a really great style, teaches you defense and accuracy very fast. But, yeah, I never understood shin conditioning when I was regularly doing savate without shin protection, I could barely walk after the first couple of sessions, but after that i didn't feel anything :)
Glad to see Seth had a great time with one of the great Savate teachers.
At Sports University in France, Savate like Judo too is part of the many disciplines learned there in your sports student years.
Currently writing my A-level project for French on Savate, crazy bro
Bon courage, lâche pas! ;)
Let me know if I can help
Ha, always love watching Savate and it's so cool seeing you use it. As for Prof. Nicolas, I've seen him a ton over the years teaching and promoting Savate. So cool that he's still doing it. The sparring parts of the video were excellent, but I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that you got to meet Prof. Nicolas at an IHOP. Were you eating the stack of five buttermilk pancakes, the omelette, or the.... FRENCH TOAST?! ROFL! Oh boy, I deserve a Savate liver shot kick for that ;).
I did go for pancakes 😜
@@savateonline Excellent to read, Prof. Nicholas! Seriously, from the clips with Sensei Seth and Kevin Lee, you taught a great seminar. Thank you for sharing this information with us!
This is awesome. I didn’t know that much about it.
the only time I kind of saw it was in the first UFC.
I did a JKD concepts/savate seminar back in the nineties, can't remember the savate guy's name. He was +shockingly+ quick. No one could keep up with his footwork and kicks at all. He'd been joking with my JKD instructor for a bit as they sparred and he asked "Where do you NOT want to be kicked?" My instructor said right ear and took a left left TKD stance that put his right ear almost directly away from the savateur. As you might imagine, he still got kicked in the right ear. It took a helluva a set-up but the savateur slipped an overpowered crescent while shin-kicking my instructor and that had him off-ballance enough to get popped in the ear.
I have massive respect for savate and this video was awesome.
I love the concept of trying all these arts! Almost like a kind of martial arts journey
Chassé-bas sur genoux opposé, fouetté joue, et fin.🕺 bienvenus à Marseille 😊
That thumbnail got a solid chuckle out of me. The outfits need work, but I'm always interested to learn more about martial arts I'm less familiar with. Great stuff as always, Sensei Seth!
The concept of 'touch and not be touched" actually derives from the fact that savate is a derivative of fencing. And with a sword, you certainly don't want to be touched. Or with a canne either. Also, wearing shoes, especially heavy ones, change feet into weapons you don't want to be hit by. The shoes you see here are now the norm, but back in the days, they were considered for training only. The real deal was more akin to military ranger boots.
All in all, kudos for having give it a try despite the less than glamorous videos we can see online.
Ça me fait tellement plaisir de voir la Savate (ou BF pour Boxe Française) en vidéo. Ça fait deux ans que je l'a pratique et c'est tellement un plaisir. C'est très technique et on peut faire de très beaux sparring si on est deux personnes qui ont un niveau décent et qu'on connait la façon de combattre de l'autre.
j'ai mon premier cours le 14 septembre qui vient, à 35 ans.
Je vais m'éclater ^^
@@tomselek7560D’abord ils vont t’éclater et ensuite tu vas t’éclater 😅
@@b.v.4501 c'est un peu ça.
J'ai pris beaucoup de coups mais tranquille, j'ai déjà boxé j'ai un pote pratiquant, bon petit niveau, on avait déjà fait quelques sparring donc je n'ai pas cette appréhension de prendre des coups, j'encaisse bien 😂
Le plus dur pour moi c'est de lever la jambe, j'ai perdu toute ma souplesse en quelques années.
Et aussi le cardio ainsi que les bras qui tetanisent a force d'être en garde.
Même en étant un maximum décontracté ça fini par piquer
Mais tranquille, j'ai 4x2h chaque semaine donc a priori je devrais vite progresser. 😋
@@tomselek7560 Tout va revenir !!! Et si tu ne tombes pas sur un club de bourrins, tu vas même kiffer dès le début 👌🥊
I just joined fight gym as a foreigner in some country. They thought I am french. Now I know why. I wasn't even aware that I use so much french style of fighting even if I berely train anything. For me savate on the first look is like somebody knows how to fight and don't know at the same time. But is smarter than many might think.
Savate's kicks seem more realistic and practical of how street fight works and yeah Savate definitely needs recognition again if anyone needs to improve their kicks go for Savate!
Yep, kicks actually look more like typical street altercation
Savate has a whole other complimentary art in cane fencing! i'm a little surprised there was no mention of it, but otherwise this is a cool vid, good job!
Never heard of it, what is it?
@@sinfinite7516La Canne De Combat
Was it Bartitsu?
@@johndoe-ri4nqNo. The French and Irish had their own cane fighting styles.
Savate was originally practised by sailors (the combinations of a moving ship and kicking makes me really impressed).
Why is probably lost to time, but avoiding punches makes sense, both in terms of staying able to do service on deck as well as fighting enemies with knives. They did use it to complement stick fighting in civilian life and probably occasionally in cutlass fignting, albeit that is extremely risky...
@@johndoe-ri4nq Bartitsu is an hybrid self-defence system which consists of London Prize Fighting Ring Rules Boxing + Traditional Savate (kicking + open hand slaps) + A Judo like Ju Jutsu style + La Canne Vigny (a more self-defence oriented form of La Canne De Combat).
I love to see Savate getting more attention! Perhaps the best part of it (at least to me) is assaut, the rule set for competing with controlled force. This makes practicing safer, so that you do not have to worry that much about your brain cells. Also it allows far more people to actually take part in to amateur competitions, since it is far less brutal. (But by no means easier or less exhausting) When it comes to combat sports, Savate assaut is more sport than combat, and thats how I like it.
There is also combat semi to harder contact and combat total for full-contact bouts, but those demand more skilled practicioners.
@@vksasdgaming9472 I do not aggree that combat takes more skill than assaut. You do need to be willing to take a beating, just like regular boxing and the like. It changes the game drastically. You need different kinds of tactics and techniques in combat.
In assaut, you can play around with the fancier moves, like multi kick combos or jumping kicks, more freely, since you do not get punished so hard for each mistake.
@@lauriilves744 Both have their uses in training, but my view is that combat total truly shows savateur's skill. Of course newcomers should not study that form yet as that will lead to accidents or insufficiient technique if physical advantages are noticeable. Why would big and burly savateur need better positioning if they just plow through everything with ludicrous haymakers?
@@vksasdgaming9472 sure, this is actually something that I lack experience to really be able to comment on. :) Just saying based on what I have seen from the best of assaut fighters and best of combat fighters. Both are exceptionally skilled, but it shows in different ways.
@@lauriilves744 My guess is that highest levels compete only in combat total. As in technical foundation is already established and true skill is measured there. Not enough to smack foe's torso with foot. Kick must have effect because light smack only makes them angry.
I did a one day seminar similar to what you presented. It was great! I'm a Muay Thai practitioner and I added two of Savate techniques to my arsenal. That is a very underestimated art. Their stamina is insane.
Ever since I seriously started training and reading on different martial arts etc savate has definitely added another layer to what’s being built and Bruce lee nailed it with the phrase “it’s like boxing with your feet” I had some fluidity with my kicks before I started training that but a little over a month into it and it was kinda surprising the dexterity I had when kicking it felt obviously more fluent lol but my roundhouse kick for example then going into a spinning hook kick felt like springy along with going from a roundhouse kick to a teep I don’t really know how to explain it, it was like I could feel a different force to what I felt before when I did those kicks
I call it "Leg Fencing". There is a very advanced Leg Fencing system in Wing Chun. Sadly, Lee never got to learn it... as its in the higher levels of the art. In fact, most WC practitioners often do not know it... because they often quit before getting that deep into the art. Ive seen enough in video clips, to be able to figure things out on my own.. with a bunch of sparring testing, of course. After learning and mastering it... I had a Muay Thai practitioner try to use his full power kicks against me.. and I was easily able to use my deflection methods, to nullify his best attempts. Later, I sparred against an MMA fighter... and had a particular round of Legs vs Legs (only kicks, and leg defense techs). It was a slaughter.. heh. They dont teach any kind of Leg fencing... so it was too easy to deflect his kicks... then immediately counter-kick him with a few rapidfire chained kicks.
@@johndough8115 it definitely does take some technique to pull that off most of the time you don’t see it because they’re countering off of their kicks but every now and then I do see guys checking kicks etc it’s not that uncommon and I have pretty good leg conditioning myself but I wouldn’t want someone going full shin with me lol it’s one thing on the calf or something but bone to bone is another level
@@itz_Elev8t In Wing Chun, there are Soft leg deflections methods.. that do not cause impact injuries to your own leg.
Its not the typical "Leg Check" that you see in arts like Muay Thai, or Kickboxing.
The Chinese combat masters realized, that while its good to have decent leg conditioning... that even the Best leg conditioning isnt going to stand up to more than a few kicks from an OP that has much greater leg mass and strength. Meaning.. if your leg is like half the diameter of his... his leg is going to end up destroying yours, real fast !
You sometimes see this issue in MMA / UFC... where one of the smaller dudes tries to kick a larger dudes legs... and end up breaking his own shin bone (This isnt a check example... but the point still stands)
So, as a result... Soft Leg Interception methods were developed.
It took me a little bit to figure it out for myself. But once I did figure it out.. that Muay Thai dude was unable to effect me at all. I asked him... "Is that as hard as you can kick?" And he told me, that he was giving it his all... but the tech just worked so well, that it just nullified everything.
@@johndough8115 and how do these work? like, can you describe the techniques? because it sounds very sus that they can just beat muay thai fighters with high level WC techniques but you dont see them in MMA
@@alexandertheok5649 First, if you catch the kick early on.. you can stop-kick (oblique kick) the thigh. However, once its past a certain stage, you extend your leg forwards, but twist it slightly at an angle inwards. Thus, when their leg make contact, its going to be their bone into your legs flesh (not bone to bone). As the impact start.. you allow your leg to move with their leg.. like a spring. The action is somewhat similar to the Bong Sau hand tech.
There are other Leg Fencing methods too. A lot of these mirror the Hand techs, such as Tan Sau, Jut Sao, etc. (Energies: Spreading, Rolling, Jolting..etc. with the correct angles / methods).
You dont see high level combat methods in MMA, because MMA chose to copy lower end sportized arts methods (and poorly at that).
You also rarely see Masterclass level fighters in high level combat arts... sparring against lower level sport fighters. There are a lot of reasons... but the main one is... its to prevent harm to the sport artist. Also, we have different goals. I trained for realistic self defense capabilities.. not for trophies / ego games.
The last time I tried to do a friendly demo with an MMA fighter... he got angered because he couldnt get a hit one me... and went full bore (against our previously agreed on "Medium" safe levels of power). This greatly amplified impact forces... and caused my light forearm deflection (10% max) to nearly shattered his wristbone / forearm. In less than an hours time, it had swelled up nearly double in size, and he was in great pains for many days to follow.
It should be noted, that I am not an Amateur / Casual. I trained hardcore, 4 to +8 hrs every day.. 365 days a year. At that pace, and intensity, I reached Masterclass level results, between my 3rd and 4th year.. and by my 5th year, I had fully mastered Short range power, to Lethal levels, within less than 2 inch distances.
This video is popping off! 50k in 1 day is awesome... your videos are setting new standards Seth 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I like the storytelling changes, sensei!!
Hi from France. Savate was invented to learn to gentleman how to defend in the streets of Paris around the beginning of the 20th century. So they would use their shiny shoes, their cane (sometimes with a sword in it like a rapier), their hat and clothes, some armlocks techniques. It was very popular back then. But with the appearance of public lighting, it became less needed. It then became a sport and lost its "real life" components.
Glad you got to try it out. It would be great to see more Americans over at Savate tournaments (I, a Brit, was obliged to be team USA coach at the World Championships this year!!). Keep training and see you in the ring soon!
For those in Dallas area there is one savate gym in plano called left hook boxing
I love that this great Martial Art becomes more known and honored now. I was the first German who fought Combat Total (Full Contact) in Hamburg in the 80th, and was also later invited to fight in Paris under my Belgian Savate, Box Francais teacher Jean Pierre Julemont who was once European Champion. My Belgian Karate Sensei Geert Lemmens introduced his students to Savate and Le Cane (stick fighting). For my " Brevier du Initiateur (teaching license) I also had to fight in a competition in Le Cane. A painful memory. Overall I have only great and loving memories about my teachers and competitors
I used to read old Louis L'Amour western novels, and he would always throw in a little bit of savate into the fight scenes.
Also love that "ABOLUTELY NO SHOES ON THE MAT" sign (edit: yeah never mind you stuck that in at the end)
Also George St Pierre's "Batroc" character from the MCU is someone who is so good at savate that he is a super villain
Haha yeah I also commented and then saw that at the end!! Oops
Sensei Seth is absolutely an MMA player now. He's got experience in so much. Living the dream, keep making these vids happen.
That's great. Such a friendly and open minded environment. And I love how Sensei seth is always tryinf new martial arts. That's really inspiring.
My guess is Victor was showing you some kindness because advanced Savate guys can toe punch a hole in your liver pretty much anytime they want to. It's a great art with a very interesting history. Many of the techniques are designed to be done on the deck of a ship while holding a rope or rail.
Awesome video as usual , i always admire how you often get outta your comfort zone to try new things and share the experience with us , always a student to the game ... Thank you for the great work and efforts sensei
Savate is extremly underrated.
When you feel for the first what a strong "fouetté" can do to your face or to your liver in a single blow.... its litterally horrible.
It is not like others striking style which can ko you because its brutal.
With savate most of the time when there is a down it is because it is too painfull and you cant handle it.
This is also a kind of Ali style of boxing, very mobile, very flexible outboxing with a major rule of touch without being touched.
You realize savate is made to use all the weaknesses of classic kick boxing/muay thai defense by using the shoes (which is close to reality), u'll probably never fight someone without shoes.
Last training i've taken a front middle in the solar plexus.. kick really did not look impressive at all but a few seconds after it i had the pain and the difficulty to breath .
It is really like sting, it is scary tbh.
I actually use that foot check ( the block with foot and in french) all the time. Halts forward momentum of an opponent and if you step out. It sets up a great roundhouse kick.
Awesome!
Do you lift up your toes when you hit the shin?
I love Savate. I did it when I was student. Many french boxer practice savate for others boxing style. Savate is so underatted but really efficient to defend yourself because you learn how to make distance, move and fly away. But only french knows.
Savate has always had a place in my mind since I watched that show I think it was on Discovery Channel yearsss ago when they measured the performance of athletes of different martial arts. Savate guy had a liver kick that measured the highest amongst the kicks of all other martial artists. To think they used to fight on the streets with hard shoes like army boots, you'd be dead if that got you. Scary stuff!
@sensei Seth, you really encourage any martial artist to open their eyes to all forms it’s great and has kept me open to all styles and have really found working with people to learn new ways forms and techniques my abilities come on so much quicker
Done kickboxing/karate for over 10 years and I must say this is the first I’ve heard of this before haha was very interesting
Good Savate practitioners have a stupidly high body intelligence/leg control. It's also crazy to see Canne exhibitions, they move so fast and so fluidly.
Savate is actually where modern karate got a lot of its kicks from. No joke. The Japanese Empire collaborated with the French to develop modern karate as we know it
When in 1867 old Samurai Army was transformed into a modern Army. At first Japanese Empire hired french Military instructors, bin cause 1867 french Army was seen as worlds strongest Army. So perhaps in this years french and Japanese unarmed martial arts meet each other.
@@brittakriep2938 if I remember correctly this more or less exactly what happened
Imagine how much of a blast those guys had together, Japanese discovering other countries' martial arts, and the other way.....
@@DWIP798 : The french had Savate (or ,la boxe francaise') a Mix of Parisiene Wrestling, Englisch Boxing and ,la chausure' ( kicking with wooden workmans Shoes). As German, and armchair expert, the wrestling part seems lost after standardization. Then there was Breton wrestling. And a Lot of Stick technics. La Canne, which is since standardization in 1970s only a competition Sport, a basque cane based Art ( containing the word makhila), and at least two styles of twohanded Sticks.
Somebody (maybe Jesse Enkamp), mentioned in one of his videos that a lot of the Oriental kicking skills were adopted from Savate trained sailors. That's so cool to think a bunch of sailors from Marseilles had such an impact around the globe.
Savate is very interesting. Learning how to kick with shoes could be a really good self-defense skill. I'm wondering if there's any truth to Jesse Enkamp's claims on how Savate influenced karate
It started out as a self defense art!
I remember seeing the Savate teacher for the first time in a martial arts magazine as a kid. Cool to see him still teaching. I actually incorporated a lot of Savate techniques in my training because of that. Very underrated when it comes to street fighting tactics.
I remember the first time I sparred savate style at the JKD school I was at. We were moving around well, working the kicks and punches. All fine and dandy. Then my coach took an off angle and launched what I thought was a middle kick, so I just covered like I usually did: elbows tucked, change levels a bit and take it on my elbow end of my forearms.
The toe of the shoe split my guard and hit me right in my solar plexus and sat me down.
That's the huge difference: the shoe is a real thing to deal with
Savate is such a cool/fascinating art, glad you were able to make this video. Every time I have seen a video with Professor Nicholas its fantastic. Thanks for the awesome stuff Seth!
Nice, definitely seeing the Savate connection to JKD with those leg/kick blocks. I switched to chusoku mawashi geri, which have a similar angle to the savate roundhouse but done with the ball of the foot instead of the toes after I hyper extended my ankle a few years back and never went back to the regular roundhouse with the instep/shin. it's nice when you're picking up targets in tight spots and the extra range is a bonus.
One of my favorite martial arts, thanks.
Legit I would love to see how MMA would change if they included shoes. Most people walk around in shoes and it completely changes everything.
MMA originally allowed shoes & technically still does under the unified rules, but it currently limits the techniques you can do if you wear shoes. Wearing shoes makes foot kicks more damaging and if stomping & kicking a downed foe is allowed then it negates much of the need to engage in ground & pound.
This really makes a lot of sense actually. Most styles train without shoes, but you rarely get into a fight without your shoes on. So it with combat boots, and you really have a good weapon in your feet. I never thought about it.
What's kinda crazy is the early history of Savate. Like french sailors developed it and fought on boats. Imagine the balance you need to do that. I don't know, I've always found that fascinating. That and using the toes and heels of the shoe to hit small areas.
It was about time man!! Love Savate.
Nicholas is a legend.
I remember being introduced to Savate for the first time when I watched “Brotherhood of the Wolf” with Mark Dacasacos. Awesome flick if you haven’t seen it. Great video as always. I love the community with y’all you guys, Lee, WBT, Mike, Jesse. It’s really a great group. Keep it up.
Speaking of, I have blocked a punch with a punch in boxing. Granted it was only 1 time & possibly an accident but I will always say it was one of the most skillful experiences I had lol
*if you’re curious, my opponent went for a looping left hook, and I through a short inside left hook to his elbow of the incoming punch. It caused his arm to widely swing open & I just continued the combo into a 2, hook
Congratulations, Brother!!! A lot of your karate and kickboxing skills transferred over!
I was just watching a video about savate. Thats awesome seth drops another fucking banger
Haha I was anticipating this video after seeing Kevin Lee's video with you in it.
Professor Nicholas is the G.O.A.T. though I would be remiss if I need to say a shout out to the late Professor Salem Assli.
Nice to see both Salem and Nicholas.
RIP Professor.
What cool way of fighting! Learning about different fighting styles really make me appreciate how versatile the human body can be in combat situations.
I can't believe seth didn't ask him about how he feels about the videos
Seth this may be one of your best videos -Humble and humorous and a great showing of what Savat is. Congrats on the Blue Gloves, well deserved!
If what I hear is true a lot of modern Karate Kicks are from Savat. Looking at how easy you picked up the basics of the kicks, how similar/same they are to Karate even today it's probably very true. But Karate kicks with shoes on so you can dig in your toes.
The idea of finding the ideal ways of attacking but not getting hits land on you is not a novel thing, it's common sense for a street fight. What if someone has a knife, what if they got brass knuckles? Or what if they got steel toed shoes? Blocking hard would still hurt you and might injure or break something even. So you avoid it. But still no one can just dodge forever so it's more like avoiding as much as you can and still taking a few hits. In many ways it's similar to the idea with Southpaw boxing that In my opinion probably originated with bare knuckles and is more useful for self defense than say a Philly Shell (not saying it's not useable just less optimal).
Savate looks awesome, at least it's realistic as you don't kick barefoot at outside. 👀
If you watch the recent video by jesse enkamp, he also explains karate learned the high kick from savate!
One of the things I love about Savate is a lot of the terms they use are also used in ballet.
Maybe that's why even the most brutal savate fights always look so elegant.
Or maybe it's the tights! 😂
Originally savate is a french "self defense art" (i'm talking back in haut-de-forme hats time, when the thug you had to defend against werent crack addicted shooters), in those times clothes were very very different, starting with the shoes that were almost exclusively leather with really hard soles, making them perfect striking instruments, hence savate (that and proper frenchmen don't roll around in the mud).
BUUUUUT, did you know it was originally also paired with a "weapon's art"? See, an ornate cane was a very common accessories for men, even when they didn't need it (kinda like people wearing fake glasses nowadays, fashion and all that). Of course anyone with a stick in his hands would have a rough idea on how to use it against an attacked, but they took it farther by working on making the most of the ornaments (kind of like putting metal at the end of a bo staff), and most importantly it was created to be used in conjonction with savate!
There's no Ip-man crazy moves, but still, don't mess with the french.
So positive, truly a nomad and artist of life. Good on your pilgrimage and osu brother.
I kinda had a low opinion once you said only punches and kicks, not that those are bad things but I always look at fighting styles from a "I'm fighting for my life" perspective. Watching the rest of the video though definitely some useful things to take away from the style it looked like! And of course learning new things is always cool.
Really entertaining video. When I used to train I had a fair few MMA coaches, but my first was a British Savate champion. Hands down the most frustrating person to this day to have a few rounds with, so so so quick. Add to this he was also extremely proficient in Muay Thai, as well as many other martial arts, he was just difficult. His footwork would make me feel like I'm trying to catch a ghost, and then he'd plant and reel off a nightmare combo with power and then be back on the move again. He used to say a fair few people on the British circuit would also cross-train fencing as it was extremely useful in regards to the footwork for savate. I don't really understand the fencing aspect personally but anyway, Savate... It's a difficult martial art to face.
Savate introduced kicks to most martial arts around the world.
Congratulations on earning your Blue Glove!! 💯
Savate seems really fun. But I also wanted more tights 😂
Whoever put up that "Absolutely no shoes on the mat" sign had no clue what was coming for them
Have heard people name-checking Savate but this is the first time I've seen any drills or sparring. It's not what I expected. It's more like what TKD should be ;-)
Almost every Combat art got degraded and sportized, post Industrial Revolution. Every year since... these arts have been continuing to be watered down, and corrupted from their original hardcore and lethal methods. The "Elite" dont want the Lemmings to have high level combat skillsets. They are too fearful of people rebelling against their systems of power and control. If you want to know the higher truths... look to the Eldest of Arts (Chinese arts). They are the least corrupted... but they are also harder to find, and much tougher to learn and master. And even then, there still have been corruptions and losses, that have occurred within many of these arts. The more of these arts that you research... the easier it is to figure out the missing pieces... as they tend to contain many of the same methods.
@@johndough8115 I can believe that. It's a similar story with those spiritual truths that different mystical traditions (within different religions) have in common. Hidden away and rarely valued or understood by the mainstream
@@jethrobradley7850 Well, lets put it this way... There are many wonderful people within the Churches.. but, there is also a lot of corruption within these systems.
I personally believe in a higher power. I also believe Jesus was a real person, with special God given powers, as described.
However, there are many things that I do not believe. The equation of Wrath... to a God described as "Love".
Also... Its my belief though my own Journey and experience... that proper Silent Meditation sessions, are the TRUE non-corrupted form of "Prayer".
When I was between the ages of 16 to 19.. I had a spiritual crisis. I then closed my eye, and asked God directly, to reveal the truths to me. This ultimately lead to a certain woman coming into my workplace... whom was into Newage beliefs. She pointed me to certain books.. and I picked up a few Guided meditation tapes to boot.
I learned and practiced 1 hour daily meditation sessions. In fact, often I was doing two sessions per night. Once when I got home from work... and once before going to sleep.
About the 3rd month of this... and I had developed the "Quiet Mind" state... where its either almost, or completely silent. My mind was no longer like a pack of wild puppies... pulling me in random directions, distracting me from my focus on the "Present" (the Gift).
It was Life Changing. And amazingly, once achieved, its Permanent (the brain physically changes in connections and density... as recently proven via Scientists.. by using before and after MRI Brainscans).
But I kept going. Each day, I was feeling more and more Happier.. with almost nothing that could come close to effecting my very improved mood. Eventually I got to the point where I was always happy, content, smiling. And by the end of the 3rd year, I experienced a waking stated of "Nirvana". It felt like I started to float into the air... and then it was like every single cell in my body was filled with Laughter and Pure Love and JOY. It was like a wave, flowing through me, from my feet to my head. It was so powerful, that I couldnt control myself from smiling wide... then bursting out into laugher. The experience only lasted about 60 seconds, but it was the most amazing 60 seconds of my life.
I believe that most people are not able to connect with the Universe / God... because their minds are too busy (loud, out of control, not Listening)... and because of their internal levels of negativity. You have to wash away your stress, and negativity... gradually over time. Once that takes place... you become far more "Connected" to the "Source".
That said, one has to be careful about Newage stuff... because there is a lot of Dangerous things within it... such as the books on trying to connect with "Angels" or so called "Spirit Guides". That is a Recipe for getting Possessed... by MALICIOUS "Lost Souls". The good souls will pass onto the next plane of existence, relatively quickly. Only the tormented lost souls, tend to stick around. The practice of Astral Projection, is also another very Dangerous practice. As while you are away... something else could manage to sneak In.
Still, there is a lot of Positive, Universal Truths, within its various teachings.
Also, the book on Breathing that I purchased, probably increased my lung capacity like 10 fold. It also would later serve me in my Martial Arts training.. Especially considering that Most all modern arts have LOST the proper "Combat Breathing" methods. That MMA teeth hissing breath.. is a far cry from the Real Deal.
And the meditation, and quiet mind developments... also played a HUGE factor in my martial arts capabilities. Faster learning, as well as much greater Conscious bodily awareness + 3d spatial awareness. All of which multiplied with further Chinese arts training methods. Methods that many of the other Casual practitioners rarely practiced, and largely ignore.. due to ignorance and laziness.
Cheers.
i never expected this to be even remotely original as a martial art. I was wrong. It has a practicality to it, i mean, imagine you wear steal toe boots for your work. 8-10 hours a day in those boots, some guy attacks you and you safely use the boot to keep distance and your foot is fine, but they’re not. Nice
La France est présente 💪🏻💪🏿