About Savate

I often get asked about the fighting style I mostly train in. Savate is a French form of kickboxing that has its roots in kicking techniques brought back by French sailors visiting Asian ports in the 18th century. It was further developed by Marseilles bravos who used it to defend themselves on the streets, but later refined by Parisian gentlemen who incorporated British boxing techniques. By the end of the 19th century “Le Boxe-Francaise” aka “Savate” was quite in fashion among the men (and a few women) of society and it became the national fighting art of France. It was taught to French military and police personnel but Savate was almost entirely wiped out when WWI and WWII killed off most of its practitioners. This uniquely French fight technique managed to survive and it’s been having a sort of renaissance throughout the world lately. Bruce Lee acknowledged Savate’s effectiveness and incorporated several of its kicks into his own style, Jeet Kun Do.

Savate looks decidedly different from other kickboxing styles in that it’s somehow elegant. I have been practicing Savate for 9 years and love the sport, having competed in about 10 amatuer fights (with a record of 6-4).  Take a look a the the clip above to get an idea of what full contact Savate can do.

4th Session

Tracy, Mike, Dan, Ryan, Alex, George, John and Liz

Great turnout this session! Joining in the fun were Tracy (from the Twitterverse), Mike Outsmeguine (WiFi Toys), Dan Tischler (BBC WorldWide America), Ryan (Exec. Producer of MTV’s “Exiled”), Alex Albrecht (Diggnation, Project Lore, The Totally Rad Show), John Meadows (Savate tournament fighter), and Liz Shannon Mller (New TeeVee). We focused on Muay Thai and Savate techniques so there was a lot of punching, kicking, spinning, push-ups, and sparring. Everyone left happy and tired after two hours of training on a windy Sunday morning. Please join us next time!

More photos from this session and past meetings are here.

We Survived

Mike, Dan, Casey & George

Mike, Dan, Casey & Rudy were awesome.

The inaugural gathering of W2FC was a “smashing” success! We went over kickboxing basics and by the end of the two hour session everyone looked smooth as they delivered punch and kick combos. Lots of sweat, some dry heaving and a few tired muscles was the price to step outside of Sunday’s brunch zone and try something new.

We’ll do this again real soon. Thanks everyone for a really great time.

Welcome to Fight Club

Web 2.0 Fight Club is about collaboration and training among different martial arts practitioners who inhabit the web community. It’s not about banging, but instead about educating others in your fighting art. So far we have interested participants who have trained in boxing, muay thai, kenpo, tae kwon do, savate, kuk sool won and few other  esoteric arts. Over the course of several meetings you will have the opportunity to train and be trained by others.

We will drill and work pads until we grow comfortable with each other and our varying styles. Then we will have to the option to do some light contact sparring. No one will be required or pressured to spar. That will always be voluntary.

Our first meeting will held Sunday September 28, 2008 from 10am to 12 noon at Clover Park in Santa Monica. Please wear comfortable workout clothes (e.g., shorts and t-shirts but no gis) and wrestling shoes or cross-trainers. If you own any of the following it would be appreciated if you could bring them: jump-rope, boxing gloves, hand wraps, Thai pads, focus mitts and kicking shields. Since we’ll be outside for two hours, make sure to bring lots of water. If you think you might like to try sparring, please bring a mouthpiece, shin guards and groin protection.

The format for our first meeting will be as follows:

Warm-up,

Stretching,

Basic hand drills

Hand combinations

Kick fundamentals

Kicking drills

Hand and feet combinations

Advanced techniques

Stretching and cool down

Most of the drill and combinations will be done with partners and everyone will be constantly switching so you get a chance to train with everyone.

You will sweat, get a great workout and learn some new techniques. Mostly, it will be a lot of fun and you’ll meet lots of friends from the Web 2.0 and L.A. Twitter community. See you there.