Savate, what is that?

Savate aka French Kickboxing or French Foot Fighting is a martial art

from France that combines boxing and kicks. In Savate only foot kicks are used as opposed to some arts allowing shins and knees to be used. Hence Savate is on of the few martial arts where it’s practitioners train with their martial arts shoes on. And for you new MMA fans out there, Savate was actually used in the first UFC tournament by Gerard Gordeau a Dutch Savate champion who defeated a Sumo wrestler and an American Kick boxer.

And while the name ‘Savate’ may not be familiar to you it has been featured in TV shows and movies including the children’s cartoon Ben 10, Jet Li’s Kiss of the Dragon and X-Men. Savate was originally developed as a form of street fighting and self-defense on the streets of Paris and Marsielle and has stood the test of time as a form of combat still used and taught today. However for most MMA fighters, Savate’s techniques may sound pretty limited with only 4 types of kicks and punches allowed. These include fouette – the roundhouse, chasse a front or side kick, revers a reverse or hook kick and coup de pied bas which is a leg sweep. Punches and hand strikes are limited to boxing style; jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts.

Different Types of Martial Arts

The Suri are a seminomadic people whose livelihood revolves around herding cattle. Each Suri male carries a long stick much like a bo staff —known as a “donga”— as he walks through the bush and tends to his cows.

The Suri people view themselves as warriors, and stick fighting plays a crucial part in their culture. It is also a major spectator sport. Huge crowds gather to watch the contests, which generally occur after the rainy season when food is plentiful and energy levels among the tribe are high. It is common for around 20 to 30 fighters from each side to participate, taking it in turns to fight one-on-one.

Taekwondo’s origins date back to the 2,000 years when it was created as a way of unarmed combat.It wasn’t until 1955 when Choi Hong Hi helped to modernize the art making it both a self defense and a sport.The unique feature of Taekwondo as compared to Karate, Judo, or Kung Fu is that is focuses on attacking the opponent with kicks.In 2008 it is estimated that there are over 50 million practitioners of Taekwondo.It also received a boost by the Olympics when it was added to the games in 2000.

Origins of Taekwondo