Savate These are the different stylistic approaches of the French arts of pugilism in the world today. In official competitions, competitors wear an "intégrale" or a vest and savate trousers. They wear boxing gloves (with or without padded palms) and savate boots. Savate is the only kicking and punching (only) style to use footwear, although some other Combat sports, such as Shoot Fighting and some forms of MMA sometimes also wear grappling type shoes/boots. Savate boots can be used to hit with the sole, the top of the foot, the toe, or the heel. Sometimes a helmet can be worn, e.g.
Savate (heavy footwear, especially the boots used by French military and sailors) ("cf." French-English loanwords sabot and sabotage and Spanish cognate "zapato"). The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century. Savate was then a type of street fighting common in Paris and northern France. In the south, especially in the port of Marseille, sailors developed a fighting style involving high kicks and open-handed slaps. It is conjectured that this kicking style was developed in this way to allow the fighter to use a hand to hold onto something for