Universally

You don't “play” savate. Savate is not a noun. Savate is a verb. It is something you do, less so is it something that is. Savate only exists when it is being practiced and predicated. It does not exist in a printed book, manual, computer website, or DVD. The people who do not understand this keep asking the same question: “Why hasn't savate taken off in the U.S.???? “

I know many people who practice “eclectic martial arts” or “blended martial arts” or “mixed martial arts.” Some have even told me that, “ I am searching for the `truth' in martial arts, so I just do whatever works.” From these individuals, I get endless streams of parroted platitudes that come in a chapter-and-verse fashion from any given work authored by Bruce Lee, Dan Inosanto, or someone else in the Jeet Kune Do crowd. Yet in their actual practice sessions, I see many students performing bits and pieces of several martial arts without any one single unifying purpose - at least none that any of them can verbalize or conceptualize.

I meet people here in Chicago who have said to me, “Savate? Oh yeah, we do that. It's a part of Jeet Kune Do.” I interpret their logic as such: So, if I do a few moves from that art despite never having actually trained in it, that makes me a practitioner - a Savateur. You know, as a nurse I do many of the same procedures that licensed and board certified physicians and surgeons do. That does not mean that I am practicing medicine or surgery. Moreover, if I said that I did, the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation would want to have a little chat with me. It is an arrogance and a conceit that has people offering themselves up as something they are not.

My personal favorites are those individuals who “do savate” every two years or so whenever the International Federation of Savate is having their assault world games. For 3-6 months every two years or so, they will train in competitive assault techniques. They will start calling their round kick a “fouette.” They will start calling their side and front kicks “chasses.” They will order tenues & integrals from Sport 7 in Paris to look just like those guys from Club Clichy or Choissy Le Roi. They might even take a Berlitz course in French. They will strive to look and act the part. They will travel to Europe and call themselves the “American Savate Team.” And then (as it always happens this way) they will step into the ring with a REAL savate practitioner and get their rear ends handed to them. The French and the Belgians will get no small amount of comic relief from the `Ricans' trying to play at being savateurs. They love making a mockery of Americans and with targets this easy, it's like beating up on a short bus load of little retarded boys.

I was at their “US Championship” in Pennsylvania back in 2006. There were two bouts. TWO BOUTS!! This does not a national championship make. You cannot duck the best fighters in your country by not advertising your sectionals, regionals, and national championships and THEN call your people national champions. We had a meeting afterwards during which all attendees were asked the question: “Why is savate not taking off in the US and what can we do about it?” I have to tell you. I was gob smacked. I wanted to dump by breakfast on my head. I thought: “Are they serious???” The answer was staring them in the face.

I spoke up and asked what everyone was doing to promote the sports and art of savate right now. Some told me they were taking a class twice a week to prepare for the World Games. Some told me they were teaching. I asked: “Are you teaching savate?” I got several answers. Some said they were teaching Jeet Kune Do and adding “savate concepts and attributes.” One gentleman told me that he taught class to kids. “Savate class for kids? That's great. Kids are the future of the sport and art.” But no, he was teaching Korean martial arts because this particular instructor was a member of a Korean arts federation. Teaching savate just would not fly. I tried to garner interest for a teaching program for sport savate that would be geared toward children and youths ages 8-18. I got absolutely zero takers. It was like I was trying to peddle cookies filled with flesh-eating bacteria.

The short answer to why savate “has not taken off in the US” is quite clear. If people are not practicing it, nothing will happen. If people are not teaching it, nothing will happen. If people are not publishing about savate, nothing will happen. If people are in it all for themselves and their own vanity, nothing will happen and above all, if there is no will to teach children and youths what the sport and art is all about, nothing will happen.

It is now 2008. There will be another Assault World Games this year. The same people will do the same thing they did in 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, and 1998. The same things will happen, and the same results will ensue. To which I say, God bless `em. Go for it people. If you think you can do the same thing every two years and expect a different result, then have at it but where I come from, that is one of the definitions of insanity.

Patrick Gavin is an Initiateur of the International Guild of Danse de Rue Savate. He actively teaches Danse de Rue Savate and its sports in Chicago, Illinois. Patrick has fought in USA SAVATE sanctioned bouts since 1999, Becoming Us Champion Twice and beating the Belgium's in the US and in Belgium.

Chicago savate club Illinois savate association and federation of savate USA SAVATE