I think there is a guy in Chicago who teaches Savate?
How could I forget Nic Sagnaic! He's out in Cali also. Excellent teacher and savateur, from what I've heard.
sf2:
hey, good to see you on the forum. You still in cornell or are you back in NYC?
JKDfighter:
I feel the same way about savate. I'm actually glad it's not popular, because it gives you the edge, especially against MT fighters.
"Has anyone ever tried sparring Thai/Boxing/Savate fashion? I found that Savate changes the equation substantially. Working Thai Boxing into the mix becomes much more difficult because of the different angles that Savate provides. From my experience, it's more difficult to close in and clinch because of the low chasse and coup de pied bas kicks"
This is so true. My classmate, savatefighter2, used the coup pied bas extensively in his thai match. Everytime they clinched, he threw the coup pied bas in succession against his opponent's shin. By the 2nd and 3rd rounds, the guy wasn't moving too well anymore.
I heard a great story about Saignac:
A guy books a private with Saignac, which mainly consists of sparring. He gets to the ring, and he sees Saignac working some poor sod in there. They go about 5-6 rounds. While the guy is watching Saignac beat up this poor guy, he's thinking "I'll smoke him because he'll be tired when he's done!" The poor sod leaves the ring, exhausted and almost unable to talk. He says to the guy "good luck!"
So the guy goes into the ring; Saignac hasn't taken a break. Bell rings, and they go. For 5 rounds the guy simply couldn't find Saignac. He landed maybe 1 strike a round! In the meantime, Saignac is peppering him silly with low kicks, one-two's, body shots, the works. By the 5th round he's ready to die!
He leaves the ring, just as exhausted as the other fellow. As he starts changing into his street clothes...he sees ANOTHER fresh guy, getting into his gear, looking like he's ready to smoke Saignac! Of course, he faired no differently than the others.
All this while Saignac is taking drags from a cigarette between rounds.
WarGod:
how long have you been training savate? I started with a TKD background also, but I didn't transition as smoothly as I expected. How'd your transistion go?
4Ranges,
I studied Savate under Mr. Harris for the past several months. I'm not claiming to be an ace at it or anything though, but slowly, I'm learning to appreciate the efficacy of the style. I recently discovered that I couldn't work straight boxing/Thai boxing against someone who uses Savate methods, so I began using a lot more lateral footwork with the chasse, foutte, the fakes, etc....and lo and behold, I could hit them and close in!
Apart from the tools of Savate, it's a GREAT way to practice lateral movement, something I believe all stand up fighters could benefit from. Even if they don't want to continue with it later on, the movement should stay a huge part of their style.
My transition wasn't too difficult, but I spent several years in a TKD school where full-contact sparring was the norm. Our forms(kata) weren't very good, but who cares? I always bugged the teacher for ways to improve my kicking abilities so he had me work my leg and hip strength with ankle weights and stretched me out on a stretch machine (ouch). As a result, it wasn't very hard to hold my leg up when using Savate's fakes.
I enjoyed reading the posts about Nicholas Saignac. It sounds like him. He cured me of having too much weight on my front leg...
In Chicago, try thr Degerberg Academy for "Savate". Don't know who but know that they "were" doing it at one time.
Mark Stewart www.I-JKD.com
Would the Duby tapes be a good intro for beginners? And is savate an effective art even for those of us with short legs?
Thanks for the info, markijkd. I might swing on up to them sometime, but they seem a little too McDojo for my tastes. I've heard there's a Danse de Rue school somewhere too, but I'm not really sure what their focus is.
::shrugs:: I'd love to learn Savate, but if I'm not convinced I'm going to get quality instruction, I'm not going to waste my time.
Wow, i'm lucky enough to experience some savate in a weeks time, its always pissed me off a bit that there is none in sydney, after this thread I'm really phsyced (and i was already pretty excited)
Great thread. I just started Savate as well and originally thought it was 'gay' until I got schooled...lol. Anyway, here's a link with visuals:
http://www.onlineonair.com/savate/page1.html
Savate people
Any schools you can recomend in France for us UK people who have done very little Savate but would like to try it with some people who can really do it?
Boyscout,
Sporting Club Choisy le Roi. Great experience training there. Tiny club, but has produced a crapload of french and world champs in the past few years. It is in Choisy-le-Roi, a suburb 30mins outside of Paris. In fact, many of the best clubs in France are located in the Parisian outskirts. The two most famous clubs are probably Clichy and Bobigny. Apparently Bobigny club is huge and modern, worth checking out. I didnt have time to go to Bobigny when I was in Paris, but I plan on going back.
Listen to sf2. He know what he's talking about.
Thank you SF2
Trivia: Savate is mentioned in the sci fi book "starship troopers", evidently its one of the arts the soldiers were trained in......
Hello all,
I train in Savate in the western suburb of Paris and I'm actually getting my white glove soon.
I'm pleased that you guys are so interested in Savate as it is not well-known outside of France.
It is true that we emphasizes a lot on lateral movement, almost after every kick we sidestep to launch another kick or punch.
I've actually tried to fight against a MT fighter who clinched me. I'm used to the clinch but I find it easy to throw several coup de pied bas to the same leg and to get out of the clinch with a nice low chassé to the knee.
I think that Savate has things that MT doesn't have and vice versa. I did myself a mixture of both sport combats and find it very effective. However I just LOVE the savate kicks, they feel so good and each time i go back after 2 hours straight of training i can't even walk!!!!!! but it feels so good.
It is true that Clichy, Choisy-Le-Roi and Bobigny are good schools, most of the competitions in savate are in Paris or on the outskirts.
Train Hard
Regards
Edd
Edd:
welcome to the forum! That's awesome that you're getting your white glove soon.
Which club do you train at in Paris?
hello,
I train in St Germain, a small town 30km away from Paris. It's called Trait d'Union Etoile St germanoise. You probably don't know it but we are a class of approx. 30 people from 16 to 45 years old with 5 instructors and a lot of fun and jokes!!!
I train 2-3 times a week in thic club depending on my schedule.
Regards
Edd
we seriously need savate in new england.
Guy Chase teaches Savate in Boston...
www.guychase.com
Mark Stewart