Systemized in post Napoleonic France, savate is the only martial art native to Europe that still exists in sport and combative forms. By the beginning of teh 19th century residents of Paris fought with their feet intstead fists, and this kick-fighting was popularly called savate. In 1824, a man named Michal Causseuse wrote a pamphlet on savate that caught the attention of high society. Overnight he became the sought after master of self-defense. By the turn of the 19th century, savatuers throughout France began to pass on there art to the rest of the world. During the World War I and World War II, thousands of savaters were killed and the art's existance was threatened. In 1945, Count Pierre Baruzy, and eleven-time French national champion, attempted to revive savate. By the mid 1960's there were enough savate schools to ensure the art would live on.