Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

520 Savate
puller]) into his savate. As the popularity of savate increased, more savatiers
(old spelling) began teaching formally. Due to the poor reputation
of savate at that time, the word sabotage was used in French for the act of
mugging someone and a savateur was considered a brutal thug.
Some of this disapproval changed during the time of the Lecour brothers.
The banning of swords within the city limits of Paris to restrict dueling
caused a great increase in interest in savate by the nobility and upper class.
The use of la canne (the cane) and the baton (walking stick) for self-defense
and to settle disagreements became common, and many noted swordsmen
took up la canne and savate. Hubert Lecour was a professional soldier and
maitre d’armes (master of arms) as well as a savateur who had taught
lancers in Spain the techniques of baton for defense when unhorsed. His
skill and ability to popularize the art gained him many students, such as
Alexander Dumas, Lord Seymour, and the duke of Orleans. The latter, a
noted duelist, is credited with introducing many rapier, saber, and court
sword techniques into la canne. Savate became so popular that Napoleon III
mandated its use in training soldiers. During this period, the sport of canne
de combat developed from the techniques of canne d’armes and fencing.
The association of savate with the French military led to savate’s exportation
to many of the French colonies. In addition, French and Basque
emigrants to North America carried the art with them. Depending on the
length and strength of the influence, savate survived in formal salles (Ivory
Coast, Algiers, French Indochina), as an informal art associated with boxing
or wrestling (South Texas, Idaho, Quebec) or as a local preference for using
one’s feet (Louisiana). The survival of zipota in South Texas among the
Basque settlers is well documented: Zipota maitre Isdro Chapa was a retired
boxing champion as well as a noted boxing coach in Laredo, Texas, who
trained his fighters in zipota for use in the streets. This art had been passed
down in the local boxing gyms for generations until one of his students, his
nephew Paul-Raymond Buitron III, renewed the ties to the European lineage
by studying in France. There is compelling evidence of its influence in South
America, as well. The high arcing kicks of chausson and its practice of kicking
with one hand on the floor for balance are believed to have been incorporated
into Brazilian capoeira. Great similarities are seen in the techniques,
salute, and dress of the old practitioners of chausson and capoeira. The presence
of chausson players among the sailors in Salvador, Brazil, has been established,
and French cultural influence was strong in Brazil in the 1900s.
Capoeira master Bira (“Mestre Acordeon”) Almeida said in a 1996 personal
communication with the author that the connection between the arts is probable
and “that Chausson is one of the grandparents of Capoeira.”
Hubert Lecour’s brother, Charles, like one of his teachers, Michel
Casseux, was fond of fighting and accepted challenges from fighters of any