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Club News
European Championships - Sept 2023, Croatia
In September this year our Instructor James represented Great Britain in the European Savate Assaut Championships, bringing home a Bronze medal. Well done James!
James was part of a squad who went out to Croatia for a few days and competed against the best in the world.
NEW Kids Class - from 23rd June 2021
From Wednesday 23rd June we are adding in a kids class for ages 11 to 16.
The class will be mainly padwork to start and will be run by James Plaistowe, one of our club instructors.
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In-person training is back on - 19th May 2021!
We're delighted to confirm that training is back on from Wednesday 19th May at a brand new venue for us.
Our new venue is larger, has great facilities and is very easy to get to. See our Classes page for more details about how to join us.
London International Open, 8th June 2019, London
Guildford Savate sent a team of fighters and supporters up to London for the day to compete in the London International Open.
James Antill, Rachel Shore, Alice Zebboudj and Charles Howes won all of their fights on the day and took home FOUR gold medals for the club! Louisa Furniss won her first fight for the club; making her coahces and team mates very proud of the progress she's made over the last few months - another fantastic result for Guildford Savate!
Extra thanks to Niall Sheffield and Kerry Ballantine for coming along, supporting the team and helping out with everything the team needed on the day, including childcare every now and then!
A huge thank you to James Southwood and all at London Savate for a fantastic event.
British Savate Championships, 11th May 2019, Guildford
Guildford hosted the British Championships again this year with attendance from clubs from across the Great Britain. This competition was the key selector for who gets to go on to represent GB at the international competitions later in the year, so the fights were very much worth watching!
Representing Guildford were:
James Antill and Rachel Shore - Club Instructors
James Plaistowe, Charles Howes, Louisa Furniss - Club Members
We had a great range of experience taking part, with some very experienced fighters and others taking part in their first competition. Everyone made the club very proud and it was an enjoyable day - thanks very much to those from the club who came to support all the fighters and to all the officials that make the competitions possible!
World Assaut Championships, October 2018, Bulgaria
The club is very proud that two members of Guildford Savate have been selected to represent Great Britain at the World Championships this year. Good luck to everyone competing!
World ASSaut Championships, September 2016, CROATIA
Three members of Guildford Savate were selected to represent Great Britain in the World Assaut Championships in September. James A., Rachel and James P. It was James P's first ever international competition and he did GB proud, putting in the extra training beforehand to ensure he was the fittest in the ring. He didn't progress through to the semi finals, but he fought very well with excellent pace. We hope James will be selected for the team next year!
Rachel was fighting her first international competition since coming back from maternity leave. She won all of her pool fights, however met the French competitor (who went on to win the category) in the semi finals and lost the fight. Rachel came home with a Bronze medal, very pleased to have made it so far!
James A got through to the semi finals to pick up a Broze medal, making him third in the world! He lost a very close fight to the Serbian competitor, who eventually went on to win the category.
British Savate Championships, 23rd July 2016, Guildford
For the third year running Guildford Savate will be hosting the British Savate Championships!
We're really looking forward to hosting the event, which in past years has been great fun for the club and other visiting clubs from across the UK.
We encourage all club members to take part, even if it's just for a novice bout. Getting in the ring is great experience and really pushes forward your training and skills.
If you'd like to compete, have a chat with James or Rachel about what weight and level you'd like to enter at, and then follow this link for more details.
The Viking Cup, May 2016, Cambridge
Viking Cup Attendees
The Viking Cup was held in Cambridge on 7th and 8th May 2016. Both Instructors of the club, Rachel and James, fought in the competition, which had competitors from across Europe including Ireland and Finland.
James fought 2 opponents, both of which he fought with style, outscoring them both in all three rounds, leading to victory as the winner of the Cup for his weight category.
Rachel fought 3 opponents, winning the first two fights but not quite managing to win the third, putting her second place to the winner from Finland.
The competition will be an annual one, open to all levels of experience and next year is likely to be held in Ireland.
Thanks to Cambridge Savate for hosting.
European Savate Championships - October 2015, Budapest
The European Savate Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th October 2015.
James Antill, one of the Guildford Savate club instructors, was representing Great Britian in the male 70-75kg category. Rachel Shore, another instructor at the club, was not competing this year but accompanied the team as a coach, as did Charlie Howes - a very experienced student and coach at the club.
Weigh-ins were completed on the Thursday afternoon before hand, followed by a hearty meal by all of the competitors!
James had two fights on the first day against Serbia and Hungary. He won both fights convincingly, putting him at the top of his pool and through to the Semi-finals on Saturday morning. James faced Belgium in the Semi-final, a fast and technical opponent, and again James was victorious and through to the Final!
The final was against a fighter from France, undoubtedly the masters of Savate. James was fighting very well until an injury in the third and final round meant he was unable to continue as before. He finished with a Silver Medal and retains his title as the vice-champion of Europe - making his club very proud!
The GBSF team brought back three medals in total - two Silvers and a Bronze - after a brilliant effort from all of the squad members.
To fight on the British team you need to be at the top of your game, competing and attending squad training sessions throughout the year. We're always looking for new talent and new squad members, so if you're interested in competing, your first lesson is the best place to start!
British OPEN & British Championships - July 2015, Guildford
Guildford once again hosted the very successful British Championships and British Open on 4th July 2015.
This year was bigger and better than last, with more athletes taking part and a variety of international clubs bringing fighters of all abilities for the British Open.
A number of our students took part in the competition, from novices through to those hoping to make the British team. Congratulations to all those who took part, it was a great day and great experience for everyone.
Particular congratulations to James Antill who won his category, Rachel Shore who came back from a two year break to win her two fights, and Matt Humphries, Charlie Howes and Jasbir Nagi for becoming Vice-Champions in each of their categories - you've done your club proud!
GBSF 1-Day Stage - Feb 2015
We hosted A 1-Day Savate Stage for Savateurs from across the UK at our regular training venue. It was a great day with a lot of people participating from beginners through to experienced squad fighters, incorporating an Introduction to Savate and GB Squad training.
- Learn
Savate, French Boxing, from experienced fighters and trainers
- Even if you have not done Savate before, this day is for you
- Cross-over fighters from other disciplines welcome
- Training, practice and sit-down sessions
- Incorporates GB Squad training
GBSF New Year Social - 3rd January 2015
To kick the New Year off to a good start, GBSF are holding a social event from 6pm 3rd January at the Refinery in London - located between Waterloo and London Bridge stations.
James and Rachel will be there from 6, so if you fancy joining us, please come along and feel free to call/text beforehand to arrange to meet up.
World Championships - November 2014, Rome
Congratulations to Guildford Savate Instructor James Antill who won a Silver medal at the World Savate Assaut Championships held in Rome, November 2014!
Our other Instructor Rachel Shore was the team GB coach this year and took a squad of eight male and female fighters out to the competition.
All fighters trained hard leading up to the competition, where fighters from 30 different countries took part in the two day event. James A. convincingly won his fights against Canada, Poland & Belgium before meeting his French opponent in the final. It was a great competition, particularly as team GB won their first Gold medal at the competition courtesy of James Southwood from London!
If you're interested in competing at an International level, it all starts with training, so come along to a class this week!
British Championships - 7th June, Guildford
The British Championships were held here in Guildford on June 7th.
It was a great event, even if we do say so ourselves!
We had 48 competitors in total, competing from clubs across the UK as well as teams from Finland, Holland and Ireland.
Our instructor James Antill won the male 70-75kg category with some excellent fights, and all of Guidlford Savate's fighters put on a great display of savate throughout the day.
Thanks from us for everyone that took part, all of the officials that gave up their time, and to Broadwater school for an excellent venue and a great barbecue to end the day!
For a full write up and photos visit the GBSF event page and the GBSF Facebook Page. Guildford will be hosting the 2015 Championships as well, so keep an eye out for more details on this soon.
European Savate Championships, 23rd - 26th August 2013
James' podium finish
The European Savate Assuat Championships took place on 23rd - 26th August in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Two Guildford Savate fighters were selected to represent Great Britian - James Antill ( -75kg male) and Rachel Shore (-60kg female).
Weigh-ins took place on the Friday, with both fighters making weight (followed by a hearty dinner!) before a good nights sleep and the first fights starting Saturday morning.
Both fighters were sorted in to a pool of 4 fighters, with the top two in each pool making it through to the next stage.
Rachel's fight first was against Italy. In the first round Rachel went over on her ankle, but fought on to win that fight. After a fair amount of strapping and pain relief Rachel won 2 out of 3 of her pool fights, making it to the Semi finals on Sunday. She fought well in the semi final against Russia, but her bad ankle got the better of her and she ended up closely losing the fight. Rachel brought home a Bronze medal and crutches, but had a great time and is on the road to recovery already!
James won all of his pool fights, against opponents from Belgium, France and Italy, making it through as the top in his pool. He then fought and beat his Russian opponent, before meeting France again in the final. It was a very close fight but this time France won - with 3 out of 5 judges giving the fight to France.
James brought home a Silver medal, and is now vice-champion of Europe, making his club very proud!
British Savate Assaut Championships, June 30th 2013
- Peter Costello: 1 win, 1 split-decision loss against a tough opponent from Cambridge. Well done Peter on great movement and a fine performance.
- Wayne Stafford: 1 great fight ending in a draw. It was going really well but Wayne went over on his ankle and though he finished the fight he couldn't be expected to fight well with one leg out of action, so congrats on the draw!
- Charles Howes: 3 wins and 1 loss in a fantastic final. Really impressive fight and enjoyable to watch that had everyone cheering their favourite by the end. Well done to 2 great fighters, congrats to James Southwood of London for the win, but congrats to Charlie for such a great performance.
- Rachel Shore: 2 fights, 2 wins with great performances from all.
- James Antill: 3 fights, 3 wins. They say you learn more from a loss than a win but we learn from each fight and picked up a few things we need to work on from the weekend.
GBSF Grading at Birmingham Savate, April 7th 2013
Birmingham Savate hosted the first GBSF sanctioned grading of 2013. It was a great opportunity for a number of students to move up to their next grade, and a number of
students got their first, hopefully of many!
If you're interested in grading, speak to us in class and we will let you know when the next one is and start
your training.
London Savate Competition, February 16th 2013
Guildford Savate Fighters' Success
At an unusually civilised start time Guildford Savate arrived at the London Savate competition venue in Shepherd's Bush. After the weigh-ins (some finding it easier to make weight than others!) the
fights began.
Novice fighter Peter Costello had a clear victory in his first fight. Moving on he was matched against visiting French instructor, Jerome Paghent. Peter fought brilliantly and really impressed, sadly he didn't get the win but it was a really fantastic performance from someone on their first competition.
Charlie Howes always performs well and this time was no exception! Two fights and two wins for this massively experienced fighter.
James Antill also had two fights and another two wins for Guildford Savate!
Lots of photos on the GBSF Facebook page- thanks Julie! :)
Guildford Fighters win at the Calais Opal Cup
November 3rd 2012
A group of fighters left the UK very early in the morning to head to the Opal Cup in Calais, an annual Savate competition where clubs from across France and the UK get together to compete.
Four fighters from Guildford attended, along with support from fellow club members to fight in assaut bouts against the French. One junior, two adult and one senior fighter took part, and we're happy to say that all fighters won their bouts convincingly!
Each bout was 3X2 minutes, standard in Savate competitions, and all our fighters showed their excellent fitness levels, outdoing their opponents right up to the last bell.
Rachel Shore, one of our Instructors, was hoping to take part in a Combat (full contact) bout, however her opponent pulled out at the last minute. Luckily though, Rachel managed to find another opponent with her weight division and went on to gain an easy win.
The day was a long one, but great fun for all involved and Guildford Savate are very proud of all of our fighters and supporters for making the trip so worthwhile.
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