Savate Paperback – March 1, 1983

Must say I loved Bruce Tegner's original books on Savate, they are five star books! This is more the modern style of Savate, Tegner's original books was more the Kickboxing Savate style from Quebec, Canada, an older and fine style. This book follows and uses the current style of Savate taught now in France and is the same style shown as the popular book "Boxe Francaise Savate: Martial Art of France".

Savate fighting is a French martial art of extremely efficient unarmed combat which uses the hands and feet as weapons. It is somewhat similar to karate with graceful and elaborate kicks, which are less rigid than the karate fighter's. As well, the striking methods closely resemble those of western boxing. At the time of publication this was the only book written in English on this fighting form, and for as old as this book is, it was and remains a credible text for historical study and practical how-to application.

SAVATE isn't that common these daysSo this book gave a good introductionNice showy moves although some of them seem hard to execute

Received item (book) as promised thanks, would gladly do future business!

I haven't trained Savate but always been curious about this version of martial art. As a student of karate and boxing I found that many of the techniques presented in Tegner's book is similar to what I learned doing the other styles. Without having more to go on than what I learnt from this book I found this discipline to be like an upgraded version of boxing. However, I remember seeing a French championship in Savate on TV a few years ago and when watching it Savate seemed much more related to Kickboxing than regular boxing. Guess it's difficult to give an all-inclusive description/introduction about a whole discipline in a book? I'm sure it's works better as a complement to existing students of Savate than to newbies.

Bruce Tegner had an older version of this book, where he actually demonstrated the techniques, and it even had tips on defending against a knife. Although there are better books on the subject, I would try to find the out of print version, rather than waste time on this. This book was just watered down karate.

The first edition of this book covered the basic kicks and punches of Savate. The new revised edition provides a more detailed look at this French martial art. One of the things I have always liked about Bruce Tegner's approach to the martial arts is his explanation in a non-mystical way, the essence of a particular martial art system.This book covers the basic exercises, foot movements, stance, punches and kicks of Savate. Like any book involving physical skills, without combining the information with actual hands-on training with an instructor, it will not be easy to learn the intricate details of Savate. In conclusion, this is a book for anyone interested in the martial arts. Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Shotokan Karate for Self-Defense: Combat Karate for the street).

Although this book provides a nice, but brief, review of the history of Savate, the way that the techniques are presented is not, in my opinion, true to Savate. The traditional names for the techniques are often not used. This is especially true for the kicking techniques, as the way in which they are presented is more consistent with westernized "kickboxing" than traditional Savate. However, the book does offer some nice sparring drills and even some solo routines to follow. I think a "kickboxer" would find this book of greater value than someone specifically interested in Savate.