While browsing the internet recently, I came across Gouren – a traditional Breton martial art. I have to admit that, although we have been interested in martial arts for years, it was not a name I came across very often. What intrigued me was the fact that Europe has martial traditions that most of us know practically nothing about. And that led to a question: Why have Asian martial arts become so dominant in Europe and, in fact, throughout the world, when Europe also has such a rich and fascinating martial arts heritage? The longer we think about it, the more we realise that the answer is far from obvious.

Gouren – a Martial Art Almost Nobody Has Heard Of

Gouren comes from Brittany and is a traditional form of wrestling with a history dating back hundreds of years. Fighters compete in distinctive clothing, and the objective is to execute an impressive throw on the opponent. Sound familiar? When we look at judo, wrestling, or other Asian grappling systems, we can see many similarities. And yet, for most people, the name Gouren remains completely unknown. And that is what makes it so fascinating.

How is it possible that someone can know dozens of Asian martial arts while knowing nothing about similar, often very old traditions from their own continent? For us, discovering Gouren was a reminder that the European martial arts world is much richer than we might think.

Europe Had Its Own Martial Arts

Once we start looking, the list quickly becomes surprisingly long. The ones closest to us are Savate, Canne de Combat and Lutte Parisienne, but the list of European martial traditions is much longer. There is the aforementioned Gouren, traditional wrestling, English boxing and historical pugilism, Bartitsu, Calcio Storico, Glíma, European fencing traditions, and systems of fighting with swords, sabres and rapiers. There are also various forms of stick fighting and folk wrestling. We should not forget pankration, an ancient Greek martial art that was one of the events at the Olympic Games in ancient Greece.

Below, you will find links to selected martial arts and fighting traditions mentioned in this article.There are also modern attempts to reconstruct ancient European fighting systems, such as HEMA – Historical European Martial Arts. And this is probably only the tip of the iceberg. The problem, therefore, is not that Europe did not have its own martial arts. The problem is that, to a large extent, we simply stopped remembering them.

So Why Did Asia Win?

Not because European martial arts were inferior. History simply took a different path. Many European fighting traditions were connected with warfare, self-defence, duelling or local communities. When social and technological realities changed, some of these traditions stopped serving their original purpose. The sword ceased to be a primary weapon. Firearms changed the way wars were fought. Duelling disappeared. And along with them, many old fighting systems began to fade away. Asian martial arts also underwent enormous changes, but in many cases they managed to survive as living cultural traditions, and were later transformed into modern sports and training systems. Asia Created an Entire Culture Around Martial Arts.This is probably one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. When karate, judo, kung fu, taekwondo and other Asian martial arts began reaching the West, they did not arrive on their own. They came with an entire cultural framework. Belts. Rankings. Gis. Rituals. Terminology. Philosophy. Stories of masters. Books.

And above all – a story. A martial art was presented as part of a larger tradition and culture. European martial arts often did not have the same opportunity. Boxing became a sport. Fencing became a sport. Wrestling became a sport.

And Savate?

For many people, it simply became “French boxing”. A much richer tradition could be reduced to just two words.

And Then Came Cinema

We cannot forget one of the greatest ambassadors of Asian martial arts – film. Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, kung fu, karate, ninjas, samurai... Hollywood made millions of people around the world dream about learning martial arts. Asian styles received something that many European traditions never received on the same scale – global promotion and recognition. Imagine, however, that a movie had been made that did for Savate what cinema did for kung fu. Or a worldwide hit about a Breton Gouren master. Or a major production telling the story of a European fencing school. Would we still think of these disciplines as exotic curiosities today? We obviously don't know. But it is an interesting question to ask.

The Paradox of European Martial Arts

The biggest paradox is that Europeans are often fascinated by traditions from the other side of the world while knowing very little about their own heritage. We know Japanese names. Chinese styles. Thai martial arts. We can name dozens of systems originating in Asia. But when someone asks about traditional European martial arts, the list quickly becomes much shorter. Savate and Gouren are great examples. They exist, they have their own history and culture, and they are still practised – yet they remain almost completely unknown to most Europeans.

This Is Not About East vs. West

As martial arts enthusiasts, we do not want to ask which is better – Asia or Europe. It simply does not make much sense. Judo is not “better” than wrestling. Karate is not “better” than Savate. Kendo is not “better” than European fencing. Each of these traditions developed in a particular place and time and under specific conditions. There is, however, another aspect worth considering: martial arts developed within specific cultures and communities, whose members had particular physical characteristics, lifestyles and experiences. Some Asian systems were developed over generations around specific types of movement, stances, footwork, and ways of using body weight and physical structure. The same was true in Europe. Savate, wrestling, European fencing and traditional folk wrestling also developed within specific environments and responded to the needs of the people who practised them. This does not, of course, mean that there is a particular body type that determines whether a martial art is effective. Individual differences between people are far greater than simple continental divisions. We can, however, say that every martial art is a product of its environment – its culture, history, way of life, available equipment, and the experiences and physical abilities of the people who developed it.

Perhaps that is precisely why comparing different traditions is so fascinating. When we compare Savate with karate, Gouren with judo, or European fencing with kendo, we begin to see not only technical differences, but also different ways of thinking about combat. And that is what makes martial arts so fascinating. It is not about finding one “best” martial art. It is about discovering why people in different parts of the world developed such different ways of fighting. The problem is therefore not the popularity of Asian martial arts. The problem is that European martial arts are often far less known than they deserve to be. And discovering Gouren is just one of many examples showing that beneath the surface of European history lies a huge, largely unexplored world of martial arts. If casually browsing the internet can lead us to a forgotten Breton martial art, how many similar stories are still waiting to be discovered in Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, the Baltic countries or the Balkans? Perhaps the European map of martial arts is much richer than we think. And that is precisely why it is worth exploring. Not to compete with Asia. Not to prove that European styles are better. Simply because they are part of our history. The history of martial arts does not begin in Asia.

It has many different origins – including here, in Europe.

And perhaps it is time we remembered that.

Gouren

https://www.instagram.com/p/Db0MhS6qYs-/

Pankration

Pugilism

Calcio Storico

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