Thats what there designed for, how often do you see the military in bare feet. Makes sense for a self defense situation as well.
only TKD kicks work...only Muay Tai kicks work...only kung fu kicks work...only left hook punches work, no can defend a left hook.
I'm sorry if I seem disrespectful... but I am... I mean the kicks that look liek something out of a medieval guide book to MA, where they raise their rear hand up and everything. How could they work?
of course they work, most techniques of moving quikcly with limbs at your opponent work, to what degree compared to other is the question.... and my answer to that question is yes, they are to be rated, low powerfull kicks, tested in full contact fights, of course they are going to work, if they didnt the competitions would be kind of void of any meaning. regards Tommy
Seriously, how often do you go about barefoot? Unless you're at a beach, I'd say Savate kicks are more practical than TKD/Karate/Muay Thai kicks, simply because the utilize the shoe to your advantage. The whole arm extension thing always struck me as a bit wierd (to people actually do that in Savate competitions?) I'm watching a video of a Savate fight right now, the fighters don't seem to bring their hands out any more than other kickboxers. I'd love to study savate, or at least take a seminar on it. It seems like knowing how to properly utilize your own shoes is something every kicker should know. Edit: Does anyone hear study savate? What type of footgear do you usually use for sparring?
Mr McClaw is correct, you will hardly ever fight barefoot and the hand in the air pose, its a dated technique, now only seen in savate the art, not savate the fighting sport.critisizing that is like saying boxing used to be ineffective because they used to have their hands by their waist and extended outwards, arts eveolve, as it is now, savate is a verry sucsessfull and effective kickboxing art. regards Tommy
Savate Hi Naz Savate is very effective, with many of the kicks designed to use the toe of the shoe. (shoes in the late 17,18, and 1900's would have been very heavy & clog-like and would have done a lot of damage) In the old-style the hands were thrown back to generate a 'torque' motion in the body/hips for a more powerful kick. Anyone interested in Savate should check out... http://www.cambridgemartialarts.freeserve.co.uk/savate.htm Louie
Haha, yes, look at those stupid boxers, always training to punch while any kicker will kick their asses. Box you morons, box :Alien: ! In all seriousness though, I'm not dissing Savate fighters (I heard they're quite good), but that particular kick... being able to kick with your shoe is important... so what about a teep kick to the face? isn't it more painful?
Of course they don´t work without shoes. I mean, when I take my shoes off, all my kicking skills dissappear. Must be because of this. When I teach people, I tell them to kick with instep at start for roundkick, because point of the shoe can be quite pain. In thrusting kicks I stress the correct position of heel, so they can use them without shoes. And FYI, in modern BF-Savate, nobody throws hand back, except few purists. It does help with balance, but then again, opens you to counterattacks.
generally i wear squash shoes. not too antisocial. savate specific shoes are hard soled, so there is generally a nice hard point at the toe. actually, quite a lot of people i spar with wear squash shoes... there have been a few occasions when i've found the words 'hi-tec' printed back to front on various body parts. and no, we don't stick our hands out behind us. unless we want to get punched. plenty of sparring convinces you otherwise.
