Chausson
A Provençal foot game that J. Charlemont described in 1899 as an old game popularly called savate or chausson. Opponents touched with the toe and only slapped with the hands.
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About Chausson
Chausson marseillais is an old Provençal game played with the feet. In his book L'art de la boxe française et de la canne (1899), J. Charlemont describes it as a fight that had been played since time immemorial in Marseille, Aubagne, Toulon and a few smaller places and that consisted of opponents touching each other with the toe. According to him, little is known about its origin, and it must be very old. Green (Martial Arts of the World, 2001) states that the term chausson, named after the footwear worn on ships, was used in the middle of the 18th century for the fighting techniques of French, Spanish and Portuguese sailors. According to him, the more northern style of fighting with the feet came to be called savate and the southern one chausson, with chausson being more of a game or sport and savate more combative. Charlemont states that about twenty years before his book was published, a certain Isnard became champion of Provence. According to him, punches gave boxe française a serious advantage over the old method, popularly called savate or chausson. The French Wikipedia states that since 2019 chausson in France has been looked after by the Comité national de Chausson marseillais and that its best-known heir is chauss'fight, codified in Marseille in 2007.
History
Green states that the term chausson was used in the middle of the 18th century for the fighting techniques of French, Spanish and Portuguese sailors and took its name from the footwear worn on ships. Charlemont writes in 1899 that little is known about the origin of chausson marseillais and that it must be very old. According to him, a painter of maritime scenes told how, in English captivity on prison ships, he often watched chausson bouts between French prisoners and Englishmen, who fought only with their fists.
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According to Charlemont, chausson was later improved by English boxing, which was brought to Marseille by prisoners returning from the prison ships. About twenty years before his book was published, a certain Isnard, who abandoned showy flourishes and tried to really hit his opponent, became champion of Provence. According to Charlemont, his opponents accused him of wanting to kill chausson. According to Charlemont, punches are attributed to Charles Lecour, who learned English boxing in Paris from the English boxer Adams. Green, by contrast, mentions two years in England with the boxer Owen Swift. The French Wikipedia states that in 1896 Michel Ginoux, whom it describes as the last great specialist of chausson of the 19th century, lost a bout that Charles Charlemont won, and that this shook the reputation of chausson. The federation FFSbf&DA writes on its website that Colonel Amoros defined savate in 1834 as a popular fight in which, to prevent injuries, savates or chaussons without soles and nails are worn.
How it differs
Green describes chausson and savate as parallel styles, northern savate and southern chausson. Charlemont speaks of an old method with the popular names savate or chausson, over which boxe française has a serious advantage thanks to punches. The French Wikipedia states that kicks with a hand resting on the ground are among the savate techniques as a legacy of chausson marseillais, and that in the thirties and forties of the 19th century savate was for several years called chausson in Paris, in order to shed the reputation of a sport of hooligans.
Technique
According to Charlemont, hits in chausson counted only from waist to shoulders and chin to forehead, and hits to the neck and arms did not. The opponents attacked in turns, each waiting until the other finished. They sought spectacular footwork rather than hits. The bout always began with a series of spinning kicks (coups de pied en tournant) performed in turns, and the more there were, the greater the applause. According to Charlemont, hand strikes were only slaps with the back or palm, on the chest and very rarely to the face. Green writes about the high arcing kicks of chausson and kicks with one hand on the ground for balance. The French Wikipedia also mentions shin strikes, grips, kicks with the hands on the ground and kicks with the back to the opponent, and gives trousers below the knee and a blue or red sailor's shirt as traditional clothing.
Today
Green states that chausson is today counted as part of the savate style called Savate Danse de Rue. According to the French Wikipedia, chausson in France has been looked after since 2019 by the Comité national de Chausson marseillais, based in the 4th arrondissement of Marseille. Its best-known heir is, it says, chauss'fight, recognised and codified in Marseille in 2007, which belongs not to the savate federation but to FFKMDA.
Did you know
Green cites a personal communication from 1996 in which the capoeira master Bira Almeida (Mestre Acordeon) called chausson one of the grandparents of capoeira. According to Green, the high arcing kicks and the kicks with a hand on the ground are assumed to have made their way into Brazilian capoeira. Charlemont called all salutes derived from the theory of chausson marseillais ridiculous. The federation FFSbf&DA writes that the term boxe française was introduced in 1840 by Théophile Gautier in the work Le maître de chausson, and the French Wikipedia dates the work to 1842.
Frequently asked questions
How was chausson marseillais played?
According to Charlemont (1899), the opponents touched toes and attacked in turns. Hits counted only from the waist to the shoulders and from the chin to the forehead, and the hands were used only for slaps, most often on the chest.
Was chausson the predecessor of savate?
The sources do not say clearly. Green describes chausson and savate as parallel styles, southern and northern. Charlemont speaks of an old method with the popular names savate or chausson, which boxe française surpassed thanks to punches.
Is chausson practised today?
According to the French Wikipedia, the Comité national de Chausson marseillais has looked after it since 2019, and its best-known heir is chauss'fight, codified in Marseille in 2007.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.