Savate in Europe outside France - Where to train savate?

In this blog post I present savate training clubs and other places where you can train savate in Europe outside France. In France training places are so many that their listing is too long.

If you know some savate training place in Europe (excl. France) outside this list please add it using the comment field below. All additions are very valuable.

The savate training clubs in Europe outside France:

Savate Clubs in Belgium:
Belgium has tight cultural and language connections to France so it's not surprise that savate is common in Belgium. There are several savate training clubs in Belgium:

• L ASSAUT BRAINE L’ALLEUD, BRAINE L’ ALLEUD
• JM IMPACT LLN, LOUVAIN LA NEUVE
• LE GAULOIS, AUDERGHEM
• MIKE'S GYM, BRUXELLES
• TOKYO GYM, BRUXELLES
• FREE TIME, BRUXELLES
• ULB, IXELLES
• BRIGADE DU TIGRE LAEKEN, LAEKEN
• MJS UCCLE, UCCLE
• AVIA BOXING CLUB WOLUWE, WOLUWE
• CHARLEROI LE TIREUR, CHARLEROI
• JM IMPACT LOVERVAL, LOVERVAL
• MARCINELLE, MARCINELLE
• LES P'TITS TIREURS, MARCINELLE
• SCORPION BOXING TOURNAI, TOURNAI
• SAVATE BOXING TOURNAI, TOURNAI
• TORNACUM SAVATE, TOURNAI
• BOXING ACADEMY, TOURNAI
• BC HAMOIR, HAMOIR
• EFS HUY, HUY
• EUROPE SAVATE CLUB LIEGE, LIEGE
• MALMEDY ESQUIVE, MALMEDY
• PEPINSTER SAVATE, PEPINSTER
• ESBF SERAING, SERAING
• BOXING CLUB DE SPA, SPA
• BC BARVAUX, BARVAUX
• TIGER COUVIN CLUB, COUVIN
• TIGER FOSSE LA VILLE CLUB, FOSSES LA VILLE
• TABORA SAVATE NAMUR, NAMUR
• GRIMBERGEN FREE TIME, GRIMBERGEN
• LEUVEN SVL, LEUVEN
• MECHELEN DE NEKKER, MECHELEN
• BC VILVOORDE, VILVOORDE

Source: http://www.savate-belgium.be/wordpress/clubs/

Savate Clubs in the United Kingdom
Savate training is rather active also in the UK. The UK based Savate Clubs I know are:

• Bow Boxe, London
• City Combat Savate, London
• London Savate, London
• Birmingham Savate, Birmingham
• Cambridge Savate, Cambridge
• Cambridge & Universities Savate and Cane Fighting Society (CUSCS), Cambridge
• Dorset Savate, Dorchester
• Guildford Savate, Guildford
• Oxford Savate, Oxford
• Savate Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Keith, Scotland

Savate Clubs in Germany:
There are some savate clubs in Germany I know. There can be more savate clubs in Germany but some of them have only German websites and my German skills are pretty rusty so I cannot really update their status. The ones I found are:

• Savate Canne Baton, Frankenberg/Eder
• Savate Aachen, Aachen
• Savate-Club Buhlbronn e.V., Schorndorf/Buhlbronn
• BSV Glückauf Moers-Kapellen e. V.

Savate Clubs in the Netherlands:
There are two savate clubs in the Netherlands I know:

• Vos-Gym, Amsterdam
• Savate Apeldoorn, Apeldoorn

Savate Clubs in Hungary:

• University Boxing Club Savate Szakosztály
• Park Fit Újpest Savate Szakosztály
• Lőrinci Francia-box Klub
• Red Corner Fight Club Savate

Savate Clubs in Finland:
There is one very active savate club in the capital region: Savate Club Helsinki, Helsinki

Savate Clubs in Sweden:
Carlscrona Savate Club, Karlskrona

Savate Clubs in Slovenia:
Savate.si, Ljubljana

Savate Clubs in Lithuania:
Panfight Gym, Vilnius (Not original savate but thai-savate, combination of thai-boxing and savate)

Savate Clubs in Italy: There seems to be savate organization in Italy but I don't have up to date info where in Italy there are active savate clubs.

As mentioned above, if you know any other active savate club in Europe (excl. France) please add it the list by using comments section below.

Boxing bags and boxing pads in savate training

If you want to train savate outside some training club you need some training staff. I prefer training at the savate training club where they have boxing bags and pads but some people prefer training at home or somewhere else so here are few words about savate training tools.

Boxing bags - The heavier the better

Boxing bag is one of the main training tools needed in savate training. There are no special boxing bags designed for savate training. They are just normal boxing bags that you can find at every boxing club. The main things about the boxing bags are weight and height. My personal opinion is that the heavier the bag is the better and the longer the bag is the better. I justify my opinion with the following points:

• The heavier the bag is the harder hits and kicks it can take without starting to wave or jump wildly. With heavier bags you can train alone. With lighter bags you need someone to hold the bag when you train. If your girlfriend or boyfriend wants to do that you are lucky.
• Heavier bag doesn't have any drawbacks. I would buy the heaviest possible my roof can carry if I would buy one.
• The longer the bag is the more opportunities you have to practice kicks at all levels. Good back should at least cover the height between your knees and head. Then you can make kicks to all three levels used in savate. If bag is shorter you need to adjust it's height between the kicks to different levels and that's just time consuming and annoying task.

Boxing pads

Some people like to train in pairs using small pads that are like small pad attached to the glove. See picture below:

I don't find these small pads very useful when you train punches. You can train punches to your pairs gloves as well. There are two advantages. First you have to punch more carefully to the right place if your pair shows the right place with his/her boxing gloves. Your training is also more real match like simulation if you both wear boxing gloves. If the other one uses these pads it's just the other one who punches and the other one who receives punches.

Where I find pads very useful, especially bigger ones than in the picture above, is the training of savate kicks. One of the best ways to train savate kicks is to train with pair that has pad (or two pads) and he/she shows you where you have to kick. There are hundreds or thousands companies that produce these simple boxing pads. Most of the pads are named and marketed as thai-boxing pads but they are very useful in savate too. If you want to buy these pads I think it's not much point in paying any extra about the brand or logo in the pad. I would buy just some random brand that has good price and right size for my training needs. There are hundreds of different sized boxing pads on sale at AliExpress. If you want to buy boxing pad I would recommend you to check their selection from the link-banner below.

Good savate shoes - Best shoes for savate

If you are training savate more than just testing if it's good sports for you, you most likely want to buy savate shoes. Savate shoes are same shoes as any boxing or kick-boxing shoes. You don't have to buy your shoes before your first savate training sessions but usually savate shoes are needed when you start practicing kicks using more power or to the higher levels. Their main differences to the general indoor sports shoes are: they should protect your toes better and they should rise higher to protect your ankle.

Everyone has very different feet so I'm not going to give you any other savate shoe advices than test and try several shoes before you buy your own pair of shoes. When you test your savate shoes pay attention to these two things:

• How well does the shoe fit and keep your toes together. This is difficult to explain but good savate shoe should protect your toes and keep them tightly together without being uncomfortable or too tight. This decreases the risk that you damage or break your toe bones when you kick. Breaking your toe bones is one of the injury risks in savate.
• Good savate shoe has very difficult task to protect your ankle without being too tight. Savate shoe should be tight enough to protect but let your ankle to move almost all moves as it does without a shoe. This dilemma is not easy to solve. If you have tight shoes that grip your ankle tightly they may protect your ankle but the downside is that you cannot move your foot as you should in savate. Good savate shoe is the tightest of those shoes that don't limit the ankle movements significantly.

There are several good savate or boxing shoe brands. At the moment I wear Rival shoes but Everlast, SDI and many others are very good. Don't think about the brand but the fit to your feet.

Cheapest savate or boxing shoes

When I wrote about the boxing gloves and hand wraps I wrote that AliExpress is one possibility to find the cheapest hand wraps and boxing gloves. For shoes I wouldn't recommend AliExpress or actually any web-shop because you cannot test the fit to your feet. You can find cheap boxing shoes on AliExpress and they may be ok quality but how can you be sure they fit your feet well? This is the reason why I never buy boxing shoes online but if you want to take the risk of badly fitting shoes then you can go and search cheap boxing shoes from AliExpress, seen link-banner below:

Savate boxing gloves - Right boxing glove size? - How to wrap your hands for savate?

If you are starting your savate training, the first thing you need are the boxing gloves. At the beginner level you can start with any indoor sports shoes and indoor sports clothing but boxing gloves are something you need very soon to practice.

Good boxing gloves for savate?

For savate you don't need any special savate boxing gloves. You can use any normal boxing gloves. There are many brands that sell boxing gloves and prices start from 20€ and naturally there is no upper limit. However I can say that you need to practice very long before you will get any advantage of boxing gloves that cost more than 100€. There are many good boxing gloves at the price range 50-90€. I prefer Metalboxe brand's boxing gloves but to be honest there are many other brands (Lonsdale and Everlast for example) that sell good boxing gloves as well. More important than the brand is the right size of your boxing gloves.

What is the right boxing glove size?

Boxing glove sizes refer to the weight of the boxing glove. Below I listed what are the best sizes for different boxers:

• 4 oz boxing gloves are very rare. To be honest I don't think I've ever seen that size boxing gloves. They are for babies and toddlers that weigh less than 20kg. If you want your baby to go to the babyboxing you may want to buy these but there are not many shops that sell these.
• 6 oz boxing gloves are the normal children size boxing gloves. Usually 6oz sizes are recommended if child weight is below 25 or 30kg. If it's more than that I would go for 8 oz size.
• 8 oz is right boxing glove for bigger kids, teenagers and very small adults (weight below 60kg). My female training colleague who is appr. 160 cm tall and very skinny uses 8 oz boxing gloves just like my friend's small teenage son. If boxer weighs 25-60kg this is most likely good size.
• 10 oz boxing gloves are right size for average size women and smaller than average size men. I think 10oz is the most sold boxing gloves for women.
• 12 oz boxing glove is the standard size for average size men. I think 12oz boxing gloves are the most sold boxing gloves for men.
• 14 oz boxing gloves are for big men and for those who prefer heavier gloves because they like the feeling it gives to the training.
• 16 oz gloves are for over 100kg boxers and for those who prefer heavier gloves because they like the feeling it gives to the training.

Don't forget the hand wraps!

Hand wraps are small but extremely important part of the boxing training. Their function is to both protect your hand and protect your boxing gloves from your sweaty hands. There is no way to wash inner parts of your boxing gloves and if you use them without hand wraps they will very soon start smelling extremely bad because your hands become sweaty when you train. So it's very important to use hand wraps each time you use boxing gloves. Of course it's also important to wash your hand wraps frequently.

There are two kinds of hand wraps:

1. Easy to wear inner gloves that are like simple fingerless glove. They don't provide much protection to your hand but they protect your glove from sweaty hands. They are ok if you train mainly techniques and don't use full power when you practice punches. They are easy to wear and protect your glove.
   
2. Real hand wraps that you literally wrap around your hand. They protect your hand far better than those simple inner gloves. I strongly recommend you to use these real hand wraps in all training even though it takes few minutes more to wrap your hand because they protect your hand much better. What I also like to emphasize is that these are really the only option if you are doing some intensive boxing training and you are training punches using full or even almost full power.

How to wrap your hands for savate and boxing

Good hand wraps are useless if you don't use them in the right way. Actually there are several good ways to wrap your hand but in the video below you see a very good basic method how to wrap your hand before savate training:

What if I don't have much money and I want to find the cheapest boxing gloves and hand wraps? - The cheapest boxing gloves and hand wraps

As I mentioned earlier I prefer Metalboxe boxing gloves but to be honest the brand isn't very important especially in the beginning. If you want to find very cheap boxing gloves and hand wraps you can find them extremely cheap for example from the AliExpress online shop, see linkbanner below. I have bought my all hand wraps there and also boxing gloves for my children.

Savate basics: Lessons 1-6 cover punches and first kicks (savate video course)

If you want to learn savate without any prior experience I have collected you the basic savate video course that covers punches and the easiest kicks. This is the basic level that any adult can reach no matter how sporty you are. These first parts of the savate are not very difficult or require exceptionally good conditions. When you master these first punches and kicks you can start practicing more difficult techniques but here are the basics:

Savate basics video course:

Savate lesson 1: the basic boxing stance
Savate lesson 2: the Jab (lead hand straight punch)
Savate lesson 3: the right cross (rear hand straight punch)
Savate lesson 4: the hook (punch)
Savate lesson 5: Chassé frontal (straight kick, can be done with both lead and rear foot)
Savate lesson 6: Fouetté bas (kick that can be done with both lead and rear foot)

After these 6 lessons you master the savate basics. You know the easiest punches and kicks so that you can start training. These techniques are sufficient to start physical exercise for example training with boxing bags or against the trainer who uses boxing pads where you target your punches and kicks.

Start training combos - remember the right distance

Once you can make each punch and kick one by one it's time to start making combos. One of the basic combos is the combo with straight punches: first you hit the jab and immediately after that you punch the right cross. You can modify this to 2xjab+right cross etc. Only your imagination is the limit when you train your own combos.

However there is one important thing you must remember when doing combos. It's the right distance. To make a hook you have to be very close, to make straight punches (jab and right cross) distance should be length of your hand and to make successful kicks the right distance is even longer.

I hope my video course helps you to train savate better.

Happy and sweaty savate training sessions!

Savate training: Lesson 6 - Fouetté bas (lower level fouetté kick)

We are now learning the second savate kick called fouetté. To be precise we start from the low level fouette called fouetté bas. Fouetté can be kicked to three levels: low (feet), medium (chest/stomach) and high (head). We start from the fouetté bas which is the low level fouetté kick because it's the easiest fouetté kick to learn.

All fouetté kicks to three levels are explained and presented in the video below:



Fouetté bas and median are not usually very difficult to learn but they need some training. If you start to train them you must remember two common mistakes beginners very often make:

• Don't forget to cover you face. When you concentrate on kicking it's easy to forget that you hands and gloves should stay where they are in the basic boxing stance. They should cover your face and not go around to keep your balance and open your face for potential punches or kicks.
• Keeping the balance when kicking and after kick. Getting back to balanced basic boxing stance immediately after the fouetté kick is usually the most difficult part for beginners. They get their leg up and kick pretty ok but after the kick their balance is so shaky that they are open for opponents counter attack. Please pay attention to your balance when you practice fouetté.

Savate training: Lesson 5 - Chassé frontal

Now when you should know basic boxing stance and some basic punches (jab, right cross and hook) we can learn our first kick. The first and easiest savate kick is called Chassé frontal. Chassé frontal kick can be done by both lead and rear foot. In the video below you see how chassé frontal is done.



Chassé frontal is not very difficult to learn but few common mistakes for beginners are:

• You forget to cover your face when you kick chassé frontal. Your hands and gloves should stay in the same position where they are in basic boxing stance all the time when you kick. I see too often beginners who kick pretty well but open their hands to keep their balance when kicking.
• You kick ok but you don't get immediately in balance after this kick. This leaves you open for opponents punches and kicks. Pay attention in keeping your balance controlled when you kick chassé frontal.

Savate training: Lesson 4 - The hook

After straight punches it's time to learn the hook. Hook punches can be thrown either by your lead or rear hand. A hook is usually aimed at the chin but sometimes also to your lower body. Before watching the video where Ray Medel teaches you the hook I'd like to emphasize you the importance of using the kinetic power of your whole body. The power of the hook punch should mainly come from your body and not from your hand muscles.



A hook is a powerful punch that in can be used for knockout in the boxing competitions.

Savate training: Lesson 3 - The right cross (rear hand straight)

Before the right cross you should have learned the basic boxing stance (Lesson 1.) and the Jab (Lesson 2.). If you have learned them at least on basic level, it's time to learn the right cross. The right cross is straight punch you make with your rear hand (the more powerful hand).

The right cross is similar punch as the jab but the difference is the hand. The jab is a punch you hit with your weaker hand to keep your opponent away from you. The right cross is more powerful punch you hit with your stronger hand and you usually use more power than in the jab. In the video below Ray Medel teaches you how to use the right cross:

Savate training: Lesson 2 - The Jab (Lead hand straight punch)

In my previous savate blog post I presented the basic boxing stance. Once you have learned it, you can start learning how to punch. The first punch we learn is called the jab. The jab is the most important punch in boxing and most of the boxing and savate courses start from the jab. The jab is punch where you use your lead/front side hand. If you are right hand person left is your lead/front side and for left hand people right hand is lead/front hand. So it's your weaker hand you are using for the jab.

In the video below a Mexican boxing and savate trainer Ray Medel teaches you the Jab and also reminds you about the basic boxing stance.



The tactical use of jab is usually to defend yourself and keep your opponent away from you. When you punch the jab towards you opponent's head, you force him/her to keep the distance. You should avoid the jab towards opponents body because it will leave your own head too open and there is risk that you get a punch in your face.

Savate training: Lesson 1 - Basic boxing stance

Savate training: Lesson 1 - Basic boxing stance

If you want to start training savate, the first lesson to learn is simply how to stand. Basic boxing stance means how you stand and keep your hands when training or competing in savate. The basic boxing stance refers to the position you should keep when you are not punching or kicking. The basic boxing stance in savate is in practice the same as in regular boxing so if you are familiar with boxing you know hot to stand. If you are not familiar with the basic boxing stance you can find instructions in the video below. This video is not savate but normal boxing but the basic boxing stance is the same in both sports.



Now when you have watched the video few words to summarize and clarify some points:

• In savate we don't talk about right or left hand or foot. We talk about lead/front and rear where rear is your stronger side and lead/front the other side. Simply if you are right hand person left is your lead/front side in basic boxing stance and lead/front hand is your left hand. If you are left hand person right is your lead/front hand.
• When you are not punching your hand cover your face and help you to avoid your competitor to punch you. Your gloves should not touch your face but are very close to your face.

Once you have learned how to stand you can move forward to lesson 2. where you learn the most important punch in savate and boxing. It' called the jab. Jab will be covered in my next blog post.

We will later talk about the savate clothing but these basic lessons you can learn wearing any clothes suitable for indoor sports.

Savate video - Savate French Championships 2015

Savate is naturally most well known in its home country France where the level of national competitions is the highest in the world. However savate is trained globally and today French championships doesn't anymore mean same as world championships. For those who are not familiar with savate this video about French championships 2015 is good introduction about this great sport.

What is savate? - French boxing (boxe française)

What is savate? So many people have asked me this question since I started training savate 2010. I sometimes find it easier not to tell people about my hobbies to avoid this question but let's try to explain this very briefly.

Savate=French boxing=boxe française
Wikipedia says savate is a French martial art that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques. So savate is one form of kick-boxing.

Savate takes its name from the French for "old shoe" (heavy footwear, especially the boots used by French military and sailors), and it's history is in the street fighting techniques of the early years of 19th century. Especially kicking techniques were popular in the Marseille harbour city thanks to strange legislation of those days. Fighting and hitting with closed fist lead to higher penalties under the local law than kicking. In this short presentation we can summarize that savate history starts from the port of Marseille and Paris's slums in the 19th century.

Very slowly savate shifted from brutal street fight to regulated sports. In the history of savate two persons have important role in developing save into a regulated moderns sports activity that is trained in several countries. Michel Casseux and his pupil Charles Lecour are mentioned in many sources as significant influencers in developing this sport.

Today most of the schools and boxing clubs that offer savate training use some (or very often many) of the approaches below:

• Savate training based on current rules of official savate competitions
• Savate defence training which is self-defence technique based on savate but uses some techniques not allowed in official savate rules
• Savate forme training is savate training with focus on cardio-training without targets to compete in savate
• Also some clubs offer re-constructed historical savate training

All these savate traingins include same techniques but the main difference is in the motivation and targets of the training:

• Savate forme is excellent sports for those who want to learn savate and get in the good shape. Savate forme is very effective training method.
• Savate defence is for those who want to learn self-defence but not compete in savate in the boxing ring.
• Savate (as it is competed) is good training but usually people who train this have some thoughts about competing in the ring some day.

Is savate dangerous?
The answer to the question, is savate dangerous, varies naturally depending on what form of savate you are planning to train. Savate forme is not dangerous at all. It has surprisingly low rates of accidents and I would say it doesn't have higher risks than any sport in general. Wrist and ankle problems are possible but not very likely and serious damages very rare. Savate at competition level isn't riskier than boxing in general and savate defence risks I would compare to judo or karate risk levels. I haven't competed in savate but trained it now for 6 years and I haven't had any serious accidents. After some first training sessions I had wrist pains but I very soon learned that learn the technique before you use power is the right training method in savate and problems were gone after that.

Is savate difficult?
Savate is difficult at competition level but what I like very much is the fact that you can reach a sufficient technique level needed for serious training pretty fast. It's possible to learn basic techniques in elementary training classes in few weeks or months. After these basic courses you are not pro but you master the techniques well enough to do serious training and develop yourself. This easy start makes for example savate forme very easy sport to start just to get in better shape. For example I started savate without any boxing background at 10 weeks (one hour twice a week) elementary training course and after that I was able to do all boxing techniques and all kicks at lower and medium levels. The higher level kicks are something you may need to practice longer.

This is savate very briefly. In my next postings I will explain the savate techniques both boxing and kicking.