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“Savate or ‘French Kickboxing’ can be traced back to the
18th century when sailors from the port of Marseilles practiced a sport known as
"Chausson".
Chausson was a purely a kicking sport. It is thought that kicking techniques were taken from fighting systems seen whilst visiting the eastern oriental countries. By 1820 the sport had grown in popularity throughout France and some "open" hand strikes had been added. In 1830 Charles Lecour, introduced the punching techniques seen in traditional English boxing after loosing a bout to English boxer Owen Swift. This was the birth of modern Savate. In the years leading up to World War I, the sport was at the height of its popularity and appeared as a demonstration sport in the 1924 Paris Olympics. During World War II in the 1940's, many great champions were lost; savate suffered a serious decline and was almost lost forever.[1] |
