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    The Way of the Fight
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    The Way of the Fight
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    The Way of the Fight
    Ebook257 pages4 hours

    The Way of the Fight

    By Georges St-Pierre

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    From the world’s most popular UFC fighter, Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, comes a startlingly honest portrait of a fighter’s journey, highlighting the lessons that propelled his rise from bullying victim to internationally celebrated athlete and champion.

    There’s more to winning battles than fists and feet

    For world-renowned professional fighter Georges St-Pierre, the greatest asset is not physical strength or athleticism—it’s a sense of purpose. From his beginnings as a small, mercilessly bullied child first discovering karate to his years as a struggling garbage collector who spent all his free time in the gym, his hard-fought rise in the sport of mixed martial arts, and his long, painful recovery from a career-threatening injury, Georges never lost sight of his ambition to become the greatest martial artist of all time. In The Way of the Fight, Georges for the first time reveals what propelled him not only to become a champion but to embrace obstacles as opportunities to build character.

    The Way of the Fight is an inspirational look into the mindset of a master. To Georges, all life is competition, and there’s no more perfect metaphor for competition than the life of a fighter. He explains the value of discipline, risk and even fear, with the wisdom of one who knows that nothing is assured—his next fight could always be his last. Drawing inspiration from fighting legends, Eastern philosophy and a trusted inner circle, The Way of the Fight is a powerful, life-changing guide to living with purpose and finding the way to accomplish your loftiest goals.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 23, 2013
    ISBN9780062195678
    Author

    Georges St-Pierre

    GEORGES ST-PIERRE, from Montreal's South Shore, is the current reigning welterweight champion of the UFC. He practices various fighting disciplines, including wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and karate. He won his first amateur bout at age 16. In 2006, he became the UFC Welterweight Champion; he lost the title in 2007 but regained it in front of his hometown fans in 2008. He has not lost a single title defense since then. He is now recognized as one of the best pound-for-pound MMA fighters and all-around athletes in the world, and he is a three-time Canadian Athlete of the Year. Follow him on twitter @GeorgesSPierre.

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    Reviews for The Way of the Fight

    4.5/5

    11 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Not a pure autobiography in the usual sense of the word, in this book St. Pierre writes about scenes from his life and some of his formative influences. As he describes them, these are the Mother, Mentor, Master, Maven and Conscience, which correspond to chapters about his childhood with comments from his maman (Mother), and then chapters with his first real sensei, Kristof Midoux (Mentor), his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teacher, John Danaher (Master), his coach, Firas Zahabi (Maven), and his friend, Rodolphe Beaulieu (Conscience). Ever the consummate professional, critics of St. Pierre's performance in the ring have complained that he lacks the killer instinct, saying that he plays it safe and doesn't take unnecessary risks. He wins, to be sure, but he doesn't finish opponents, or at least, he hasn't finished opponents since his 2009 fight against BJ Penn. After reading this book, I better understand why.St. Pierre is a master strategist, as well as a master tactician, and he understands how his opponents will fight. His objective is to get ahead on points so that his opponents are forced to take risks, while taking as few risks as possible himself. It is a successful strategy, and given the personal risk he faces every time he enters the octagon, (both physically, of getting badly hurt and financially, of losing purse money and endorsement contracts), who is to say that this approach is not sound? Not I. I think St. Pierre is one of the more intelligent fighters out there, and it's always a pleasure to watch him at work, disassembling an opponent's game plan and crippling their resolve and will to fight. You could see this most profoundly in the 2009 Penn fight, when Penn's corner literally threw in the towel, but you could also see it as recently as the 2013 Diaz fight, where Diaz stumbled through 5 rounds of a solid schooling in mixed martial arts at the hands of a master.More than a pure autobiography, this is a book of philosophy, in which St. Pierre explains his life philosophy as well as his fighting philosophy. A true polymath, St. Pierre incorporates many disparate elements from eastern teachings, history, geometry, anthropology and martial arts into his approach to life and work, and the combination is what makes him so special and so successful as a fighter. St. Pierre takes a much more analytical approach to life and work than most people, and certainly, most fighters. It is his continual drive to improve that makes him so successful, and also keeps him from the normal life that others enjoy. I got the very real sense of estrangement from St. Pierre as I read this book. He must keep an emotional distance from many others in his line of work, both because the profession is a demanding one requiring many hours of work each day, and because anyone who has enjoyed his level of success must be careful to limit access to his inner circle. The Japanese have a concept of masks - the public mask, that others see, and the private mask, that only few ever witness. With St. Pierre, his public mask is on almost all the time, and the glimpses of his private mask are tantalizingly few, granted only occasionally, and only to the privileged inner sanctum.It's a pity, really, because St. Pierre comes across as a very loyal, very intelligent, and very likable guy in this book, if tremendously driven. Almost obsessively driven, in fact. It would be interesting to get a glimpse behind the curtain, but it's unlikely that this will ever happen, at least so long as he is competing professionally in MMA. Too bad - he seems like the kind of person who would have some interesting things to say about history or physical anthropology.If you are hoping to understand what makes St. Pierre successful, this book will give you a bit of information that will cause you to re-watch his fights with a fresh eye. If you are hoping to understand what makes St. Pierre the man the way he is, this book will not give you much. The book is, after all, written for the public mask of GSP, the fighter and the brand, not Georges St. Pierre, the man.This book is as much about delivering on the GSP brand as all of his other very well-thought out marketing activities. As a person, St. Pierre understands that he is the product, and this book is intended to reinforce the brand rather than illuminate the person.Within these limitations, though, this was a surprisingly well written book, and a very enjoyable read. I suspect that not only followers of MMA would enjoy this book, but also scholars of philosophy, and anyone who wonders what it is that makes the truly successful succeed.A wonderful counterpoint to Sam Sheridan's The Fighter's Heart (Grove Press, ISBN 9780802143433) and The Fighter's Mind (Grove Press, ISBN 9780802145017), this book made me want to adopt some of St. Pierre's success strategies - - his visualization, and his goal setting, and his work ethic. As St. Pierre writes in his opening, every single morning takes root the night before. It makes me wonder what I can do tonight to make myself more successful tomorrow.
    • 4/5
      Part memoir and part personal philosophy and manifesto, this is a fast and interesting read from a driven athlete and champion. GSP's book focuses on what drives him and what allows him to succeed at such a level in MMA, especially focusing on the psychology and the philosophy around all of it. The book gets a slow start and feels almost like a self-help book as GSP introduces his thoughts on survival, fear, and health, but it quickly moves beyond those moments and goes quickly into his journey toward becoming a professional athlete. At its heart, the book is about personal dedication to one's passion and chosen path--and finding that path--and in that way, any reader might benefit from it. Oddly, I enjoyed this book far more than I expected to. I went into it hoping to learn a little about MMA (and I did), but while I was skeptical of the work (based on the beginning), I ended up really appreciating the dedication and belief behind the work and the lifestyle. As someone who's slowly making a move toward putting my own passion above all other concerns/priorities (but for family), I could relate to many of the discussions here, especially toward the end when GSP starts discussing the feelings of isolation he experiences before a fight, and the manner in which he has to be careful of the people he surrounds himself with. Simply, this is a fast read, and entertaining. It's also an interestingly formatted memoir, and a work that testifies to the fact that a journey is what most matters, far more than any end result.Overall, recommended.

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