Savate Savate Savate (), also known as boxe française, savate boxing, French boxing or French footfighting, is a French combat sport that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of English boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Only foot kicks are allowed, unlike some systems such as Muay Thai, which allow the use of the knees or shins. "Savate" is a French word for "old shoe or boot". Savate fighters wear specially designed boots. A male practitioner of savate is called a tireur while a female is called a tireuse. Savate takes its name from the French for "old shoe"
Savate in junior competitions and in the early rounds of Combat (full contact) bouts. In competitive or competition "savate", which includes Assaut, Pre-Combat, and Combat types, there are only four kinds of kicks allowed along with four kinds of punches allowed: Savate did not begin as a sport, but as a form of self-defence and fought on the streets of Paris and Marseille. This type of savate was known as Savate de Rue. In addition to kicks and punches, training in Savate du Rue (Street Savate) includes knee and elbow strikes along with locks, sweeps, throws, headbutts, and takedowns. The International