In an interview for the Asian Savate Confederation (ASC) website, Mr HamidReza Hesaraki, President of the Confederation, explained that, in Asia, Savate competes with a lot of martial arts and many other eastern schools of traditional fighting which have their followers all over the continent.
How did you start in canne?
I started canne a very long time ago when I was at university in the Reunion Island. To start with, I practised savate but I very quickly turned to canne de combat as I found it to be more playful and less violent than savate. In fact, I could not get used to direct contact, i.e. use my fist to strike my opponent. As this aspect of savate did not suit me, I was not making any progress.
It's a question that I ask myself everyday in as much as I have looked for myself for a long time without ever finding myself. I know only that, after 63 years of existence, I am not a being who is completely fulfilled, but that I still want to discover myself… For Savate, which is our subject, I am well aware that I entered into this world very late, really by chance, having been growning up in an athletic environment and having attempted in vain to shine in a lot of other sports during my studies.
Written by Emanuele Toti (traduction: Agnès Aubert)
Who are you?
My name is Manuela Massari, 28 years old, from Rome, Italy. I study and work: I am graduating in Sports Science, and I teach swimming and aquagym in a Sport Centre.
I train 6 times a week in my club, the Ecole de Combat, in Rome, with my coach (and Italian National Team coach) Marco Gilotti.
During the 2009 World Combat Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, I had the great pleasure of meeting Miodrag Jotić - a pioneer of Savate and champion of Fair-Play. Miodrag Jotić has been involved in martial arts for 30 years.
Personality of the month 
In an interview for the Asian Savate Confederation (ASC) website, Mr HamidReza Hesaraki, President of the Confederation, explained that, in Asia, Savate competes with a lot of martial arts and many other eastern schools of traditional fighting which have their followers all over the continent.
