Boxe française · Canne de combat
Boxing with the feet, and with manners.
French boxing and the fighting cane since 1926: kicks in shoes, punches in gloves, and a salle where everyone salutes before they begin. Your first leçon is on the house.
Les leçons
Six ways into the salle
01Savate assautThe whole art at touch-speed: the fouetté, the chassé, the revers and the punches, scored for precision and style rather than power. Where everyone begins.Beginners · light contact · 60 minutes
02Savate combatFull contact, three rounds, a referee in white. For members who want to test the work against another club — always with a maître in the corner.Red glove and above · competition
03Canne de combatThe walking-stick art that grew up beside savate: wide, fast, swirling strikes with a chestnut cane, masks on. Graceful to watch, harder than it looks.All levels · the cane · 60 minutes
04Women’s savateThe same art, the same gloves and the same salle, on two evenings that are yours. Half of our current competition team began here.Women only · Tuesdays and Thursdays
05JuniorsBalance, coordination and the salute. Juniors learn the kicks and the manners first and never spar before the maître says so.Ages 8–15 · 45 minutes
06Leçons particulièresOne maître, one student, one hour: preparation for a glove grading, a comeback after an injury, or a quieter way to begin.Private lessons · by appointment
Un siècle
A hundred years of salutes
1926
The first salle
Lucien Marchand, a Parisian maître, opens a salle above a tailor’s shop on rue Saint-Denis with eleven students and one pair of gloves to share.
1934
The first gala
Three hundred spectators in evening dress watch the club’s first assauts at the Monument-National.
1952
The cane returns
Canne de combat joins the timetable, taught by Marchand’s daughter, Odette.
1971
The women’s salle
Two evenings a week become the women’s section — the first in North America.
1998
Champions
The club’s first national titles, in assaut and in combat, in the same weekend.
2026
A hundred years
A century of salutes in the same city — and the same rule on the wall: technique first, always.
Les gants
Six gloves, one art
Savate grades by the colour of the glove. Each grade is examined by a jury in a technical assaut — never sold, never rushed.
Gant bleu — blue
The first grade: guard, distance and the basic kicks, all on the right side of the rules.
Gant vert — green
Combinations of feet and fists, and the start of real assauts.
Gant rouge — red
Timing, feints and the right to compete in combat.
Gant blanc — white
Mastery of every technique, and the patience to help others find it.
Gant jaune — yellow
Technical perfection — the last student grade, and the rarest.
Gant d’argent — silver
The professeur’s glove: you teach the art now, and carry the salle.
Programme de la semaine
The week at the salle
Savate fundamentalsMon · Wed 18:00
Beginners · gloves and shoes lent
Savate assautMon · Wed 19:15
Every glove · light contact
Morning salleTue · Thu 7:00
Conditioning and technique
Women’s savateTue · Thu 18:00
Women only · every level
Canne de combatTue 19:30
The cane · masks lent
Savate combatThu 19:30
Red glove and above
JuniorsWed · Fri 16:30
Ages 8–15
Open salleFri 18:30
Sparring by invitation
JuniorsSat 9:00
Ages 8–15 · Saturday class
The Saturday leçonSat 10:15
Technique with the maîtres
Canne de combatSat 11:30
All levels
Gloves, shoes and masks are lent for your first month. Arrive ten minutes early for your first leçon; a maître will meet you at the door.
Les maîtres
Silver gloves, every one
Maître Hélène Lacasse
Directrice technique · gant d’argent
A three-time national champion in combat who has run the salle since 2004. Teaches the Saturday leçon and still demonstrates every kick herself.
Professeure Inès Faure
Women’s salle & canne · gant d’argent
Came to savate from ballet and to canne de combat from savate. Runs the women’s evenings and the cane classes with the same rule: precision before power.
Professeur Julien Moreau
Juniors & competition · gant d’argent
Grew up in the junior class and now coaches it, along with the competition team. Has never let a junior spar before the salute was perfect.
I wanted a martial art with some elegance to it. I found one with a century of it — and a Saturday leçon I have not missed in three years.
The cane class is the most fun I have had in a gym. It looks like dancing and feels like fencing, and Inès misses nothing.
Our daughter learned the salute before she learned the kicks. She is fourteen now, and the most composed person in our family.
La cotisation
Membership, monthly or by the year
Juniors
$89per month
- Two classes a week
- Gloves and shoes lent
- Glove gradings included
- Pause any month
Ages 8–15.
Membre complet
$159per month
- Every class, savate and canne
- The morning salle
- Gradings and the Saturday leçon
- Competition team eligible
Cancel with a month’s notice.
À l’année
$1,590per year
- Everything in Membre complet
- Two months free
- Your own club gloves
- Two guest leçons
Paid once, renewed by you.
No joining fee and no contract. Private leçons are $85 an hour or $300 for four. Students and anyone over sixty-five pay $20 less on any monthly plan.
Questions
Is savate the same as kickboxing?
A cousin, and an older one. Savate uses only the feet in shoes (no knees or shins) and the fists, and it rewards precision and style — a clean fouetté scores better than a heavy one.
Do I really wear shoes?
Yes — light savate boots, which is what makes the kicks so precise. We lend a pair for your first month; most members buy their own after that.
Is it safe?
Beginners train in assaut, where techniques are controlled and touch is light. Full-contact combat is optional, from the red glove, with protection and a maître in the corner.
What is canne de combat?
The French art of the fighting cane: wide, fast, rotating strikes with a light chestnut stick, scored for technique, with masks and padding. Anyone can start it, at any age.
How old do I have to be?
Juniors start at eight. Adults start at any age; our oldest beginner was sixty-seven, and is now a green glove.
What should I bring to the first leçon?
Comfortable sports clothes and a water bottle. Gloves, shoes and masks are lent; arrive ten minutes early so we can find your size.
Une leçon d’essai
Your first leçon is on the house
Tell us what draws you — savate, the cane, the junior class — and when you can come. A maître will reply within a day with a leçon to try, and gloves in your size.