I don't like their pants.
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We just don't think of France as a place for martial arts and fighters.
Except Cheick Kongo, of course. :p
I've done Savate before, good art and very mobile. There's a lot of chambering, and it's very much based on maintaining a beat to your movement.
Proper savate kicks very hard, and with very penetrating kicks.
We don't talk about it because it's French. No one wants to talk about the French.
And Fa Xing said penetrating!
Many people don't know that Savate also trains the "walking stick" as a weapon, case in point:
http://www.brolive.org/photo_gallery...irls.sized.jpg
French Savate is primarily a kicking art, but they also have some pretty good punching techniques as well. They do a lot of dancing like boxers too. I once had a discussion with a fine Savate artist, and he told me that he only kicked high when it was pretty much a guarantee. Mostly low kicks and sweeps, bringing an opponents defenses down to allow hand techniques to be more effective. After all said and done, I think I could have fought him, but would not have really wanted to.
Savate was created on the decks of French Ships that traveled trade routes in asia in the 16 and 1700s.
The French sailors were fascinated with the Asian fighting styles they witnessed and developed it from that. that is the broad 80.000ft view, but it is more or less what happened. IE: It is not particular to France and was adopted traditions that became particularly French.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-YPUqYsrjI
Never mind their pants. They got cool hats!
From 1924:
https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=fZ6AN8xOWv0