THE first West Midlands Savate tournament took place at the Malvern St James’ sports complex and the town’s fighters performed well.

Fighters from all over the UK competed in a unique kickboxing artform called Savate.

London and Guildford both fielded strong teams, each having a silver medallist from the recent world championships.

Oxford and Cambridge brought small teams, consisting of novices and improvers.

Malvern Savate Kickboxing Club had its best showing to date, with three of its fighters taking part.

Dean Henman and Ben Colley, both novices, fought in the category male 75 to 80kg.

Henman had two fights, one against another novice and one against a national-level director of technique.

Colley had four fights against a variety of opponents, from other novices to national level coaches.

Club-mate Jasbir Nagi represented the team as an official and did not fight.

Dave Bagguley had one encounter, which was an intense match-up against the current world vice-champion in his weight category.

The women’s category had a good showing, with two budding international fighters showing their latest training combinations, and a novice having her first go at the national-level Savate circuit.

Savate is a kick-punch artform originating from France.

It is a technical art using dynamic kicking and punching combinations to deliver efficient strikes.

All strikes are performed with the shoe and fist. For more information on joining the town’s club, email Nagi on nagi@toothycat.net), or visit one of Malvern’s regular Savate sessions held on Wednesday nights from 6.30pm at The Chase School gym.