The Beauty of Savate - Savate Dismantles Muay Thai 

Teep/front kick in savate(french) is "chassé frontal" chassé meaning "to chase away" and frontal just meaning "front". We also use the term chassé for side kick "chassé lateral" . Savate is very codified in training and some competition format. Some restrictions compared to muay thai to name a few : All kicks must be with any part of the foot and fully extended. Checking is prohibited, so you must either block or evade kicks, so savate practitioner will favor stepping back, angle or switching stance to evade kicks. Oh and you can get a penalty if you throw too much punch and not enough kicks. And no backfist.

I wish Savate had more exposure. Such an awesome and underrated kickboxing style

In France our sport is no longer as popular as it used to be in the 1980s or early 1990s, because many great savate boxers went to kick boxing or muay thai to earn a living in the 1990s early 2000s. Still this one of the best striking combat sport for mobility, range management and combos I know of. There's also savate stick fighting (with or without kicks) called canne de combat savate, this discipline is also fading away...MMA is everything for the new generation of french fighters.

The French Guy had great fight IQ. He was dominant the whole time.

Pennachio’s range transitions were amazingly smooth. He was throwing attacks in anticipation of range changes and landing them routinely. Beautiful.

I met Francois Pennacchio (pronounced Pennakkio) in 1995 when he fought Ramon Dekkers, I was the official photographer ring side for the FENASCO (Federazione Italiana Sport da Combattimento). I was both a kickboxer/Thaiboxer and Savateur, and thanks to learning his techniques watching his combat videos I won my first amateur fight! He is a great legend.

Make sure to watch Pennachio's fight with Ramon Dekkers: that is a classic. In Savate, the shoe is turned into a weapon, which is a game changer when it comes to kicking.

Savat is a real cool style. I think it compliments traditional boxing real well.

MT guy is really telegraphic, the savateur read it a mile away every time and has a very linear and tight stance to throw his punches and kicks. It is a classic fight to show students what it is to have a tight and relaxed stance.

Savate guy was great. I did notice he had trouble in the clinch with MT-guy's knees, so Savate-guy eventually just started pushing all clinches into the ropes until the ref split them up.

The front kick to the face is « chassé frontal haut ». Pennachio was a real champion in savate, then in kickboxing. Fought against Ramon Dekkers too. Great fighter with a unique style. What a treat to see this fight with a good quality video, should be from the mid 1990s.

Savators are well known for speed, and accuracy. The shoes traditionally worn by practitioners of Le Boxe Francias are not unlike ballet shoes. Catching a TOE to the liver, was among my most fantastically painful experiences.

Savate guy was very very good, really high level fighter, very versatile, patient and adapted to the muay thai guy's aggressiveness and toughness with a counter-striking style and went to the attack when his opponent was hesitating thus causing him to go back to attacking carelessly. Flawless strategy choice. Also those kicks he blocked, notice how after taking a step back he blocked with the elbow against the muay thai guy's foot most of the times, he really didn't get hurt, on the contrary it's amazing how the opponent kept doing it, it must hurt like crazy. Also while clinching he kept the opponent too close to do any thai clinching tricks and knew how to work the clinch, he actually used it once in the fight when the muay thai guy tried to grab him and he crossfaced him. That fight was an educational experience, I'm taking notes on strategy.

Pennacchio really fine tuned his anti-muay thai game using the savate tool set after fighting a number of them over the years.

Had a full day seminar with François in the early 2000s. He had disappeared from the circuit but my savate trainer tracked him down. Most mind blowing standup seminar ever.

Savate is underrated.

Remember, Karate grabbed alot of Savate kicks because Karate originally never had High kicks and fencing style kicks we have today. Savate is an awesome art!

I wanted to learn Savate because I come from a French family. It was never available (the US has, like, 12 silver gloves teaching classes). So I took up Karate as a substitute because Jesse Enkamp taught me that Karate borrowed its kicks from the French. Now I do Kyokushin, and I can't say I'd have it any other way.

I remember seeing a lot of pictures in magazines back in the day of Savaté. I always found it badass, beautiful, and kind of exotic, but this is the first time I see a full contact combat like this. And yes, it looks awesome. I know it's the archer, not the arrow, but this martial art looks great and spectacular, especially in a good warrior like the one in the video.

Un François qui combat bien et qui gagne en plus , ça fait vraiment plaisir .

This savateur is simply just a way better fighter and in better shape.

A Savate practitioner was the runner up in the first UFC tournament. And arguably took out the toughest competitors prior to the finals

Bruce Lee actually actually admired Thai boxers and savate. He said he found some advantages in karate and disadvantages .

Very true about the shoes making a huge difference . Savatuers will put that hard toe right in your liver . It's a great technique to practice because unlike the shin or top of the foot , it can get around the opponents arm if they are covering . Some styles of Karate use the ball of the foot on a roundhouse kick for similar effect.

I trained savate during 3 years at university (in France). I loved the front kick (chassé) so much

Wow, watching this fight I was blown away, total newfound respect for Savate

this guy had a fight with ramon dekkers!!!! is a masterclass in counters and sweeps

I first learned of Savate on the history channel show called Human Weapon

I train Muay Thai and Dutch Kickboxing. Although I've never trained in Savate, whenever I spar my footwork resembles Savate more than Thai Boxing. I've trained Capoeira for a number of years and the Capoeira mindset of being light on the feet and not being a static target transfered over to other disciplines naturally. Definitely would like to learn Savate though.

Thanks for posting these amazing fight. High Level of Savate and Kick Box.

Guys, both of these guys are super good. None of us could last three minutes with this. Both good fighters. No Muy Thia better or worse than Savate. I have fought all sorts. I can no longer kick due to knee injuries. Great fighters? They are the great fighters. That's it, regardless of style. Seriously. Great fight. Very good. I'd be done in one round...but I am 71, I still train myself and others. We change as we get older and we do what we can with what we have. One more comment: since I can no longer kick, I surely cannot allow my opponents to get distance so I charge most of the time. The most dangerous spot is to be at the end of some powerful kick. As I step in it's harder for those kicks to have their power on me. Not easy, not always effective, but my only strategy at this stage of life. I cannot allow my opponent distance. Stepping in works...but it's tricky.

I'm not a great savateur (made yellow glove but very rusty), but another thing is you see him using the rear leg kick (longer range than the lead leg) to buy the range to throw the right-side long-hook/cross. That's part of the flow, having an attack you can throw regardless of the range *and* having each feed the next attack or chamber/check in the series.

As a French legionnaire, my grandfather had extensive training in catch wrestling and savate . He frequently reminded me that everything old eventually becomes new and that a warrior is someone who has been trained to subdue his adversary. to safeguard himself, his loved ones, and others in need

What a great fight! Thanks!

I'm actually starting savate. So I'll be able send some footage soon.

The Savate guy was in a different league Beutiful combos.

It's never a question of which style is superior. It's about which individual has the greater skill.

Thanks for the video.

There was a series on NatGeo I think where two guys travelled around the world doing different martial arts. One episode was on Savate and I was blown away at just how brutally effective it is as a combat form.

Thank you for your service, sir

I trained savate for four years mostly as the assistant coach at the kickboxing gym I went to. I always loved the movement, and the sheer amount of kicks in savate compared to other styles.

A savate practionner is called a "tireur", like a shooter.

The Savate fighter was utilising combos and had great defence as well.

Gread vid, nice commentary.

I find Muay Thai ugly to watch, Savate is much more pleasing to the eye.

A comment about savate as a "martial art", not as a sport: I have a few friends in the french air force, and before siting in a plane or training with firearms, they practiced savate. It is still used in the french military

Hey so, the first video is the 2004 french savate finals. Farid Khider was (and still is) a very, very good savateur and actually, a multi discipline expert since he also trained in muay thai and kickboxing.: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bJ3ShfZJNFg.html The second is sadly of quite horrendous quality, but this is the same Farid Khider fighting against Yuya Yamamoto under K-1 rules, and there we can see how his multi-discipline training works for him. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ccy27WCwxKk.html Hope you enjoy them!

Savate definitely needs to be more popularized and expanded more in the USA followed by Combat Sambo, Kyokushin, Eskrima/Kali/Arnis, Pencak Silat, Hapkido, & Japanese Jujutsu for street self defense. Because Tae Kwon Do & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu aren't realistically to help defend yourself and Savate's Kicks seem more effective than Tae Kwon Do and i apologize if my opinion wasn't pleasant.

That was a good fight, I never heard of Savate, but it looks great, flowing strikes in bunches and landing is always the best.

Savate man jammed the MT's roundhouse with his hip before that take down, insanity.

good video thank you dunkey

I'm hooked on this channel

is this the muay thai guy's first pro fight? half of his kicks are so telegraphed it's astounding and he drops his hands almost every time he kicks. he may as well just say "okay i'm gonna kick your right leg in 3..2...1...

Savate is lookin' good. They flow like smooth boxers who can deliver beautiful kicks as well. My respect for Muay Thai also. It really depends on the person.

Look François Pennacchio ( champion du monde Savate Boxe Française ) vs Ramon Dekkers ( champion du monde Muay Thai ) . Combat en Kickboxing . Mais , tu vas beaucoup aimer la différence de style de combat de 2 écoles de pensée et d' approche du combat bien différents . Salut

The Savate fighter is using principles developed by renaissance fencing masters. In fencing this is called a counter-tempo attack. Pennacchio’s kick strikes his opponent in the head before the sweeping roundhouse lands. He uses a smaller tempo than his opponent. Then, in the 2nd tempo, Pennacchio delivers his punch while Muay Thai guy’s leg is still out in space. Of course in rapier fencing the opponent winding up for a big cut ends up with a foot of steel sticking out the back of his head because our savvy fencer has delivered a quick straight thrust in counter time. For those who are interested, many rapier manuals have excellent drawings depicting all of this in gory detail.

My gf is a marseille native and her pelvic flexibility is fabulous. God bless Savate

Savate guy has amazing balance, footwork and sense of distance. I'm a Muay Thai guy, but I enjoy watching this.

Intercepting kick with your own kick is definitely an underrated technique (and high skilled too). You could do surprise follow up attack to so many people with it because they were not expecting it, which is understandable because not many people do it.

Savant is awesome I might take it up, I took Greco Roman Wrestling, Tangsoodo, Sambo/Systema & a bit of Judo & boxing. Want to take a little Savant 🙏👍

The savateurs mobility and positioning is fresh.

He's like a modern version of great Champion Andy Hug with those face high front push kicks and an attempt at a Hugian axe kick. Really liked watching his Savate style. He's a very, very good fighter.

"Teep" can refer to both the pushing and the stabbing front kick, whereas "push kick" mostly refers to pushing front kick. Of course, people use it both ways in both cases, but I think "push kick" more clearly indicates the type of kick it is, and separates it from "stab kick".

I want savate ASAP this is crazy this trend about this french martial art I m very proud

I’m going to France over the summer, hoping to visit a Savate gym. 🙏🏻

By nit being too "flowy" Savate guy did not waste energy so he did not get tired out. Also it seems like he uses kicks to setup punches.

I trained savate for years in france, had a green glove degree, then started training kick boxing at its beginning there, in the early 80's. I remember training, although it really was a fight, with a muy thai guy once, after he had done a round against my teacher, then WAKO world champion, Zénaf, and caused a lot of trouble with his round leg kicks. The problem for the Thai guy when he tried his low kicks on me is that I was trained for them, and met each of his kicks with a side kick (chassé bas) in the knee, which really statled him. Years later I was training a kick boxing champion, and tought him to do a short round-kick to the liver, hitting with the ball of the foot, which does a lot of damage, thus adapting a savate kick. Last but not least, the chassé technique can be adapted to the front kick, by lifting the knee almost to the chest, all the while bending the upper-body forward, instead of front, then back, as in muy-thai, which gives a much more powerful thrust. Tried it on an overzealous and very agressive woman champion, aged 17, strong girl, when I was 50, and sent her flying away. When I watch UFC fighters today, I miss serious, efficient kicks, in most of the fighters, and most of all what I learned years ago: good hand-foot combinations. I trained judo as a kid, and later learned enough BJJ to beat a black belt judo master twice by rear choke when I was 40. So I have respect for the ground game of UFC champs. I could never beat them there. I don't think I am a much better boxer either, although me and my brother both were serious punchers. But i could still shock any UFC champion with some low side kicks, round foot-ball kicks to the liver or solar plexus, and with powerful front kicks.

Hunan guy here. Love thew ork.

What a fight!

Incredible style!

8:56 You were mid commentary but man what a beautiful kick!!

You have to do Francois Pennacchio vs. Sebastián Farina next.

Back in the old in Muay Thai, we used low kicks (shinbone) to hit the opponent shinbone, nowadays, it's primary middle kick shinbone against the opponent higher part of the leg.

It would be interesting to see a tournament with Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Savate, ITF TKD and Sanda fighters.

Highly recommend a blend of static and dynamic stretching for flexibility and various hip flexor/quad extension exercises (as well as actually drilling the kicks) if you want to get that high lead leg front kick!

If you want to experience full savate elegance and technicality just check out Sébastien Farina fights, this guy was insane in flow state.

I've always thought "Kick-boxing" was sort of a gyp back in its early days, but, this Savate guy moves like I had imagined a kick-boxer should move when I first heard the term.

Geez this is old. I saw this livetv

I guess it depends on the rules. A big part of Muay Thai is knees, clinch work, elbows and throws. Take away all that, and regular kickboxers (with the same amount of training) will generally have an advantage.

I say this a layman, meaning the technical details elude me, but it's amazing how it looks so delightfully French. Like a guillotine, the elegance is so distracting that its ruthless efficiency almost goes unnoticed. I imagine competing against one of these guys would give me the sense I was being mocked.

As someone who does Okinawan kenpo karate as my base/main i respect and like savate

La savate, is a popular word for " boxe française" ( french boxing ) , they use to add technicals self defense with " la canne" et le " bâton ", in the old days... you would find some vidéos or books about all of this on RU-vid and the net

Savateur looks like he has a lit Gauloise and a chilled Coreff waiting for him in his corner.

Look at stamp fairtex's recent victory. She landed her kick with the foot which seems like it penetrated into the liver. A lot of kicks and up landing with the foot in pro fighting. Not sure it's a good idea to aim for that though. Feet are quite fragile

Savate is a very formidable combat sport

The savate guys skill level is way above the other dude.

I just heard that Ed at Metrolina Martial Arts has Savate expereince. He would be a great person to talk to, I think.

Savate fighter displayed excellent footwork and movement. Very light on his feet. The MT guy on the other hand was very flat footed which led to slow reaction times and inability to cut angles.

At the end of the day , it is about the fighter themselves on how good they are in their art..

I love savate and you in that Luffy hat

Savate distance mgmt perfect. Much faster, more fluid. Better timing. Beautiful.

Savate is beautiful to watch, i love the elegance of its moves and it's higly technical. Fun fact: All karate spinning kicks come from savate, original okinawan karate was a simple and practical self defence martial arts, without fancy moves, spinning kicks contaminated karate when in Japan, japanese karatekas started to learn savate from european sailors to do a safe sparring and included it in their karate routine, mixing the two styles.

Sure wish there was a coach in my area.

This was a great fight. I could be wrong. But my intuition tells me that wasn't the 1st time the Savate fighter went against a Muy Thai fighter. He seemed experienced and knew when to counter the Thai fighter's kicks and punches. Also I can recognize some of the Savate guys movements being similar to Muy Thai. As if he adapted to it with knowledge of Muy Thai. I think he prepped really well for that particular fight. Kickboxing competitions are no joke. You have to be super tough to be in that ring. Kudos to both fighters. Very good match.

These are good kicks evasive movement counters , and streight punches , the first time I saw effective evasive manouvers , side kicks and push kicks , and think about it what would it be like if the whole arsenal of kicks and punches get included , timing , and agility and strength training get included back fists , and streight blast techniques , or even trapping

The better more experienced fighter always wins. It’s not the art that’s better!

The punch combinations after the kicks are soo underused and undertrained today

Those up the middle kicks to the face must be nearly unique to savate. I think now if I were young again I'd want to practice it.

Does it depend on the main personal individual fighting style or is Savate just a more naturally fluent style over Muay Thai. If not does the fluency and skill set depend on the individual use of the fighting art?

Look up the 2014 article in Black Belt magazine, "Savate: From the Back Alleys of France", by Salem Assli.