Savate schools, classes, dojos, in Japan - About Savate:
The French style of fighting with the hands and feet, known as Boxe Francaise (French Boxing), was assimilated by Charles Lecour (1808-94), the son of a French baker, in 1832. Prior to that time, a method of fighting existed in old Paris where the combatants kicked one another with their everyday shoes on. The common name for a street shoe at that time was savate, which simply meant 'old shoe'. The name savate, therefore, became associated with this particular method of street-fighting.
