Hello all, just saw an interesting video from Jesse enkamp about karate "stealing" kicks from Savate. Obviously high kicks aren't recommended for self defense and they were added later but never thought about savate and karate connection. I don't know much about savate Just want to get peoples thoughts.
Very interesting observation by Jesse.
I know nothing about savate, but the similarities presented in the video are striking.
By the way Jesse quotes from a book by Donn F. Draeger. Does anybody know which book that might be?
I really enjoyed that video and I think he makes a strong case for Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi using Savate as the inspiration for the kicks discussed.
Despite claims to the contrary, karate has always been something of a “magpie” when it comes to the methods of consensual violence which are absent from the traditional kata; and the same with cultural acquisitions too. We see photos of the old masters adopting the guards of old school boxing; boxing footwork; judo’s clothing and belt system; three and five step practises borrowed from Judo and Kendo (which are a very bad fit for karate); the adoption of the “do-ethos” from Judo … which in turn got the idea of sports of character development from the English education system; and so on.
You go back a little further and we know the karate of the kata was also a fusion of methods from all over the place.
Karateka has always been evolving and changing, and it’s always been happy to take what is deemed useful from other systems. That’s the true tradition. The idea that karate was, or should be, fixed and unchanging does not stand up to any scrutiny.
When anyone remarks, “That’s not karate!”, there are three valid responses:
1) Not yet … but it will be!
2) Maybe not your “karate”, but it is ours.
3) It was … and will be again!
All the best,
Iain
On this topic .... http://ryukyu-bugei.com/?p=6356
Most bo kata are designed for right-handers. There one kata, Yonegawa no kon, which has the left hand forward. It seems to be derived from (ultimiately western) bayonet practice: