Welcome!

Welcome to the Canadian Savate Federation, a not-for-profit association promoting the practice and appreciation of the sports of savate, boxe-française and the associated disciplines in Canada.

What is “savate”?

Our art is best known as an elegant but intense style of kickboxing in which the fighters wear shoes (savate being a French word for “old shoe.”) Savate originated in in France and can be traced back to the early 1800’s.

Modern savate includes the growing international kickboxing sport (boxe-française savate,) a self-defense curriculum (savate défense,) and two weapons arts (“la canne” and “le baton”).

Who practices savate?

In Canada, savate is currently practiced at locations in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax.

National savate federations exist in 37 other countries and are part of the international savate federation.

Savate in Canada:

• Seven competitions were offered in Canada in 2007, including our first international event in Montreal which included participants from the US and Belgium.
• At the 2007 World Championships we achieved our highest medal placements ever in combat and our first gold medal in international savate competition.
• Our first domestic instructor formation session was held (in Montreal.)
• We had our first national competition outside of Quebec: the Canada Cup held in Toronto in May of 2007.
• The Board of Savate Canada has passed an organizing bylaw creating a stronger and more representative structure to represent Canadians involved in savate.
• We improved our board communications and governance.
• We welcomed a new university club: the Université de Montréal.