:Articles :Training Savate in France By Armando Basulto
originally printed in Dec. 2000 ARSIC newsletter

It has never been an easy task to find authentic Savate instruction in the United States. This should not come as a great surprise considering that in this century, the art of Savate was almost wiped from the earth by the two World Wars that decimated Europe. Many of the teachers, fighters and students were killed during this period. As late as the 1960s, there was reportedly only about 300 practicing Savateurs worldwide. Now of course, the art of Savate has seen resurgence all over Europe and the world, and there are many sources for Savate training in the United States. The valuable work of organizations such as ARSIC, will keep Savate alive for future generations. Yet there will always be a great value in a pilgrimage to the training salles of France, the birthplace of Boxe Francaise Savate.

I have been fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to train at different Savate Clubs in and around Paris, and in June, when I returned as part of the USA Savate Team to fight in the World Cup, I then had a variety of places to choose from that felt like home. This is one aspect of training you will appreciate immediately, no matter where you go, you will be received as a brother-in-arms and a friend due to a shared love of the art of Savate.

In Paris, I trained at BF Masseran (in the 7eme) which is a very large club located near the Hospital Des Invalids. This club has several different active competitors as teachers and coaches. They also have a full time boxing coach on staff that teaches a boxing class in the ring while the BF class runs on the main floor. The club is basically a very large mirrored dance studio. No frills or fancy equipment; people just show up, glove up, and start to train. The training is very intense. The average Boxe Francaise Savate class in France runs about 2 to 2½hours. The class is continuously moving as the bell rings to announce every 2-minute round. The main instructor at Masseron, Yonnel Kurtz, makes sure that everyone is working at their best. There are no separate Women and Men's classes; everyone trains and spars together and I pity the person who underestimates the power these women conceal in their Savate shoes!

The club that I felt most like an "adopted son" and quickly felt like a member was the very tough CHOISY-LE-ROI club in the Paris suburb of the same name. This club, even though very small and out of the way, has produced many champions. The current World Lightweight Champion, Gilles CHERUBIN and current World Women's Champion, Virginie LESCURE, both train and fight out of this gym. The main instructor here is Gille LE DUIGOU, who was both a champion of Boxe Francaise and Boxe Anglaise. His assistant coach, Jose, is a tough taskmaster but a wonderful guy when he's not training you for a fight. I learned a lot about the training of a BF Savate fighter from Jose and I will be very indebted to him forever.

The training at Choisy-le-Roi was very tough since they train fighters first; the casual student just has to keep up. The average workout is about 2 hours long with continuous rounds ringing every 2 minutes. After countless rounds of warm-up rounds with your partner, you move quickly to lots of rounds working the technique or concept of the evening. Then, when you feel you can barely stand, everyone must do a round of Assaut with everyone there. I though it was all over after all this and limped off to take of my gloves when the Gilles yelled out "Allez!" and then the warm-down began. This consisted of approximately 200 sit-ups, 100 leg lifts and other assorted abdominal exercises and then some stretching so everyone can crawl home without pulling a muscle!

What is very important to learn about Savate from training in France is how much an understanding of the culture will help you in your training. Boxe Francaise Savate is a French art; NOT a derivative of the Asian arts, and to approach the training as if you were training in Karate or Tae Kwon Do, will not let you fully appreciate all the beautiful nuances of the art. The way an experienced Savateur can "play" with his opponent using cunning and wily footwork, or the way a trainer bonds with his fighter like a brother, are all things that one needs to experience by immersing oneself in everything that is France. After long training sessions, we would stay up at Gilles' house till the early hours drinking and discussing Savate, fighting and the beauty of a "well placed shoe".

The International Federation, located in Paris, is always very helpful and helping visiting Savateurs connect with the right people. If you are serious about learning Savate, make the trip, at least once in your life, to experience the simple beauty of sweating in a French salle de Savate.

For more information, feel free to contact me at bjjsavate@yahoo.com.