does anyone know of the hand techniques used in savate before the conglomeration with english pugilism? i have heard they consisted of mainly slaps,palm heels and eye jabs although i cannot verify this and my memory is rather bad. after reasearching backhold wrestling savate will be my new area of study in the WMA so if anyone here is knowladgeable on this please direct me too them. regards Tommy
I recall seeing an article a while back (gonna say about '94, I was still in junior high) that detailed the history of Savate. The pictures & demos were of Nicolas Saignac, but I think the text was taken from a book by John Corcoran. In the first couple of paragraphs, they mentioned that when the original "Savate" was formulated, the kicks were kept low (below the knee, I think), the hands were held open and low to protect the groin, and palm strikes were used to the face and head. Now please excuse any error, I'm repeating this from memory, but it was one of my favorite articles for a while and I must have read it about a dozen times. So, to my recollection, open-hand strikes (I think specifically "palm strikes", but???) were used in early Savate.
Savate Slap! Hi Tommy, I've also read similar stories of savate only employing open hand methods of striking until 'English' boxing was introduced. I've a feeling this probably refers to the competition/sport version of Savate and not the street style which would likely include closed fist punches... Fist-fighting was not limited to England... punches, fingerjabs & elbow techniques can be seen in Dutch & German manuals of the 16-1700's, and the Irish & Scots who were the traditional allies of the French, also have a long history of pugilism. Louie
I read an article many years ago in Black Belt magazine about the history of Savate. One of the theories posited was about a law at the time that dealt harsh punishment for streetfighting with the closed fist. In this theory, Savate evolved it's use of kicks and open-hand strikes (primarily slaps and palms), to avoid the law. I have never seen proof of the law, though. Meh. But here is a really good website with some historical articles on Savate: http://www.savateaustralia.com/
I don't know if this will help, but go to the aformentioned site, click skill, and there is an article on oen hand savate. To me, this looks similar to some of the techniques employed by the 'French Apache'.
