Savate (French pronunciation: [savat]), also known as French Boxing (French: Boxe Française) or French Foot Fighting, is a French hybrid martial art and full-contact combat sport that combines principles of western boxing with a wide variety of kicking techniques. Unlike kickboxing which allow knee and/or shin strikes in competitive bouts, savate involves kicking exclusively with one's feet, but participants can nonetheless target any part of the body. The sport is also notable for requiring footwear to be worn by the competitors, as would be expected from individuals fighting in the streets. A male practitioner of savate is called a "tireur" while a female one is a "tireuse".

Savate de rue (lit. 'street savate'), the term used to differentiate the original martial art meant for self-defense from the subsequent combat sport, is an overarching hand-to-hand combat discipline that incorporates knee and elbow strikes as well as joint locks, sweeps, throws, headbutts and takedowns, in addition to punches and kicks.

Savate takes its name from the French for "old shoe" or "old boot", referencing heavy footwear (more specifically the boots worn by French sailors at the time the discipline emerged).

The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century. Savate was then a type of street fighting common in Paris and northern France.

According to one theory, in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, his soldiers publicly displayed their "aptitudes" by kicking their prisoners' behinds. The punishment was known as “Savate”, which can be translated as “old shoe”.

Savate originated in France in the 17th century and was practiced by some sailors in the southern port of Marseille. According to historians, it was developed and learned by sailors on board the ships during their trips to the countries of the Indian Ocean and China Seas. Subsequently, in every bar fight in French ports, it was common to see savate kicks. Sailors called this type of combat "Chausson", in reference to the slippers normally worn on board.

Contact with African and Brazilian fighting styles also occurred through interaction between French sailors and martial arts practitioners in the country's colonial holdings. French naval ships between 1820 and 1833 travelled from France to ports in Brazil (Capoeira), Martinique (Danmyé) and Madagascar (Moraingy).

In the south, especially in the port of Marseille, sailors developed a fighting style involving high kicks and open-handed slaps. It is conjectured that this kicking style was developed in this way to allow the fighter to use a hand to hold onto something for balance on a rocking ship's deck, and that the kicks and slaps were used on land to avoid the legal penalties for using a closed fist, which was considered a deadly weapon under the law. It was known as the jeu marseillais (game from Marseille), and was later renamed chausson (slipper, after the type of shoes the sailors wore). In contrast, at this time in England (the home of boxing and the Queensberry rules), kicking was seen as unsportsmanlike.