Savate
A French striking sport in which one kicks with the foot in a shoe and boxes with the hands. Its modern form was given by Charles Lecour and Joseph Charlemont in the 19th century.
Quick Facts
FranceCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Comparisons
Catalogs & Databases for Savate
About Savate
Savate, in French also boxe française, is a French striking sport in which one kicks with the foot in a shoe and boxes with the hands. It has roots in Parisian street savate and in the Marseille chausson, sources place them in the 17th or 18th century. In 1825 Michel Casseux opened the first establishment for a regulated form that prohibited headbutts and grappling. His student Charles Lecour learned English boxing after 1838 and combined it with the kicks of savate. In 1845 he opened with his brother Hubert in Paris the first school of French boxing and the cane. In 1877 Joseph Charlemont published Traité de la Boxe Française, the first work that codified punches and stances.
Read more
Competition uses four kicks (fouetté, chassé, revers, coup de pied bas) and four punches (direct avant, direct arrière, crochet, uppercut). The FF Savate rules specify the striking surfaces: kicks only with defined parts of the shoe, punches with the front part of the fist. Elbows, knees and the clinch are not among the permitted strikes. Assaut is scored by technique and precision without the use of force, combat also by the effectiveness of hits. Grades are marked by the colour of the gloves (gants): blue, green, red, white, yellow and silver. The international federation FISav was founded in 1985, at the 1924 Olympic Games savate was a demonstration only and it is not in the Olympic programme. The French federation also runs canne de combat and savate défense as separate disciplines.
History
Savate, also called boxe française in French, has its roots in Parisian street savate with heavy footwear and low kicks and in the Marseille chausson with high kicks and open-hand strikes. Sources place them in the 17th or 18th century. According to FF Savate, Michel Casseux (1794–1869) opened the first Parisian school around 1820 for a regulated form without head butts, eye gouging and grappling. The history of FF Savate names him as the first to list Parisian combat styles. His pupil Charles Lecour watched the fight between Owen Swift and Jack Adams on 5 June 1838, studied English boxing in London and combined it with savate kicks. In 1845 he opened, with his brother Hubert, the first school of French boxing and stick fighting in the Passage des Panoramas in Paris and introduced gloves into training. The term boxe française was used in 1840 by Théophile Gautier.
How it differs
According to the French inventory of intangible cultural heritage, savate works only with the feet and fists: the fists are used for punches, the feet for strikes and also for stopping the opponent's attack. The special shoe used for kicking distinguishes it most clearly from other striking sports with kicks. The history of the French Savate Federation (FF Savate) describes boxe française as a discipline that, unlike English boxing, stresses distance, precision and elegance, and in which hits should touch rather than crush. This is the federation's own description of its sport.
Read more
WAKO federation kickboxing has ring disciplines of three two-minute rounds. Full contact permits hits to the head and torso above the waist, low kick adds kicks to the legs, and K-1 rules additionally allow knees after a grip on the neck. Savate has two formats. According to FF Savate, in assaut force is excluded and seeking a knockout is forbidden, and technique, style and precision are judged. In combat force is permitted, a knockout is possible, and effectiveness and fighting spirit also score. At the French championship helmets are forbidden in assaut, while protection is mandatory in combat. Combat requires a certain grade, for example Élite A needs gant de bronze. The federation's separate discipline is canne de combat, fighting with a chestnut stick in a circle 9 metres in diameter with no weight categories.
Technique
The technical foundation was laid by Joseph Charlemont, whose Traité de la Boxe Française of 1877 was the first work codifying punches and stances. Competition uses four kicks (fouetté, chassé, revers, coup de pied bas) and four punches (direct avant, direct arrière, crochet, uppercut). The FF Savate rules of 2026 specify the striking surfaces: fouetté with the toe or the instep, revers with the sole, chassé with the heel, coup de pied bas with the inner edge of the foot and punches with the front part of the fist. Kicks may go to the front and side of the head, to the trunk and to the lower limbs, punches to the head and trunk. Prohibited are strikes to the groin, nape, back and crown, for women to the chest and for men punches below the waist, that is below the iliac crests. The rules do not list elbows, knees and the clinch among the permitted strikes, and holding and pushing are penalised.
Training
Training is derived from two forms of encounter. According to the FF Savate rules, assaut scores technical mastery, style and precision and force is excluded from scoring, combat also judges the effectiveness of hits and fighting spirit. In initiation the instructor may, according to FF Savate, adjust the space, duration and intensity of exercises while keeping the safety rules. The cane canne de combat is often part of training, purely competitive preparation may omit it. We have not been able to document the structure of an ordinary lesson, the frequency of training or the form of conditioning.
Ranks and progression
Grades are marked by the colour of the gloves (gants). According to the 2026 Règlement sportif of FF Savate, initiation includes gant bleu and vert, perfectionnement gant rouge and blanc, maîtrise gant jaune, and expertise argent technique 1° to 3°. Children in the pré-poussins and poussins categories have discovery grades kangourou 1° to 3°. According to the French inventory of intangible cultural heritage, the glove grades were formally introduced in 1955–1956. Grades directly determine access to competition. Assaut is open from gant rouge with the coach's consent, and combat is open to holders of gant jaune and gant de bronze, with gant de bronze requiring gant jaune, at least the first junior year and more than one licence season. The glove required for competition varies by country outside France and we have not found a single international grading system.
Who it suits
According to the Règlement sportif 2026, FF Savate divides competitors into pré-poussins (7–9 years), poussins (10–11), benjamins (12–13), minimes (14–15), cadets (16–17), juniors (18–20) and seniors from 21 years. Veterans start, depending on the discipline, from 35 or 40 years and in combat need the special consent of the federal physician. FISav organises youth World Championships in assaut alone, that is without force. Assaut is fought only between opponents of the same sex. For women the rules prohibit kicks and punches to the chest and punches below the waist. We have not found children’s rules on strikes to the head and on protective gear, an injury study of children or a position of physicians on savate for children. We have not found an injury study with incidence in savate even for adults, only a 1999 review by A. Monroche without numbers is available.
Competition
Competitive savate has two formats. Assaut scores technique, style and precision without force, combat also the effectiveness of hits and fighting spirit. According to the Règlement sportif of FF Savate from 2026, fights run 3 to 7 rounds of 1:30 or 2:00 with a one-minute break, Élite A in combat 5 × 2 minutes. The national federation FFSB was founded in 1903, in 1975 it was replaced by FFBFS et DA, and today’s FF Savate runs savate boxe française, canne de combat and bâton, savate forme and savate défense. The international FISav was founded on 23 March 1985 and is a member of AIMS. It organises the World Championships of seniors in assaut, combat and canne de combat, of youth in assaut alone.
Gear
Shoes are a compulsory part of the equipment, because the rules specify which part of the footwear is used to kick. Competition clothing includes an intégrale or a vest and savate trousers, plus boxing gloves. The FF Savate rules list a mouthguard and hand wraps as compulsory for championships. A helmet is worn in junior competitions and in the first rounds of combat, in assaut at FF Savate championships it is prohibited. In combat, of the protectors only groin protection and a mouthguard remain. Whoever also practises canne de combat needs a cane for it. The relative cost of equipment is medium, because even assaut requires gloves, special shoes and protectors.
Philosophy
FISav lists as its values ethics, aesthetics, education and effectiveness, combined with fair play, discipline and respect for the rules and for people. The educational direction is also carried by the format assaut, in which technique, style and precision are scored and force is excluded from scoring. According to the French description of the disciplines, the rule variants pull savate toward an educational sport, whereas Muay Thai toward a combat one. We have not found a religious or ceremonial framework of savate. Lecour’s school was attended in the 19th century by Eugène Sue, Alphonse Karr, Théophile Gautier and Alexandre Dumas.
Today
Besides competitive savate boxe française, FF Savate today runs canne de combat and bâton, savate forme, savate défense and sport pour tous. Savate défense practises responses to a grip and a strike with a partner simulating an attack, the reactions are to be defensive and proportionate. The federation has four sport-santé certifications approved by CNOSF in 2019, among the target groups are people after spinal cord injury, with anorexia, with trisomy 21 and seniors. The programmes exclude hard impacts and require a medical prescription. Savate practitioners who competed in MMA include Gerard Gordeau, heavyweight world champion in savate (sources give 1991 or 1992) and finalist of UFC 1, and Cheick Kongo. We have not found a study of the fitness benefit of savate or documented use in the army or police.
Did you know
According to Britannica, the word savate comes from a Middle French expression for an old shoe and entered English in 1862. According to the history of FF Savate, savate was practised until 1800 in the poor districts of Paris. In 1856 a state decree banned fighting sports and boxe française was temporarily renamed adresse française, and the ban was lifted in 1860. From 1852, according to the French inventory of intangible cultural heritage, it was taught at the military school in Joinville as the first fighting sport. At the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924 savate with canne de combat was only a demonstration sport. The name Savate boxe française was adopted by the French federation in 1998, the first world championship in combat took place in 1991 and in canne de combat in 2004 on Réunion. The honorary glove Gant d'Or goes to someone who has served savate for ten years and has held Gant Vermeil for two years.
Styles & Branches
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.
Grappling component of savate from 19th-century Paris that, according to Green, hid its techniques. Since 1992 it has been called savate défense, according to Le Monde.
An associated discipline of the French savate federation focused on defence within the bounds of legitimate self-defence. Formerly savate bâton défense, it also uses the side-handle baton.
Frequently asked questions
What is savate?
Savate, in French also called boxe française, is according to the French Savate Federation a combat sport that combines kicks and punches and builds on precision, control, footwork and feints. The world governing body since 23 March 1985 has been the International Savate Federation (FISav).
Why is savate fought in shoes?
Savate is fought in boxing gloves and in special shoes used for kicking. According to the French inventory of intangible cultural heritage, the shoe is the most distinctive element that sets savate apart from other striking and kicking sports. The inventory does not explain why kicks are made in shoes specifically.
How are levels marked in savate?
Levels in savate are marked by the colour of the gloves (gants), for example blue, green, red, white, yellow and silver technical. The French commission formally introduced them in 1955 to 1956, and under the rules of the French Savate Federation they determine eligibility to compete.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.