The Way of the Fight

by Georges St-Pierre

Overview

The renowned UFC fighter tells his remarkable life story from bullied kid to world champion in this New York Times–bestselling memoir.

For mixed martial arts 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 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 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062195678
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	243
Sales rank:	794,697
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Georges "Rush" St-Pierre, also known as "GSP," is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist and world champion who holds black belts in both Kyokushin karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Recog-nized as one of the planet's best pound-for-pound MMA fighters and all-around athletes, as well as a three-time Canadian Athlete of the Year, GSP lives in Montreal and travels around the world to work with the best coaches and training partners in all disciplines.

Read an Excerpt

The Way of the Fight

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By Georges St. Pierre

HarperCollins Publishers

Copyright © 2013 Georges St. Pierre
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-06-219563-0

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book 1
MOTHER
Maman

One thing about Georges: he'll always tell you
exactly what he thinks. He was cut from the same
cloth as his dad and granddad. Both were hardworking
and very, very direct. His granddad was nicknamed
'The Bionic One'—Le Bionic. Anyway, he's very opinion-
ated and not afraid to face the truth, even though
he's able to let other people's insults slide off him like
water off a duck's back. In fact, you want to
know the real Georges? He stays friends with his foes.
Le v'la ton Georges! There's your real Georges.
—My Mother

19
I'm scared.
I'm scared because I'm thinking of a moment that changed my
life and altered who I am, and I can't get away from it. I real-
ize that being scared is part of who I am. Fear is the genesis of
most of the good things that have occurred in my life. Fear is the
beginning of every success I've lived.
But it affects my perspective, both physical and logical. That's
the way it works. It doesn't just change what happens inside of
you, it also immediately impacts how you relate to the world all
around you. How—or if—you remember. Because of fear, other
information that seems totally basic and elementary—like what
you were doing and why you were there—are gone. The present
loses its power when pitted against fear.
Fear is magical and possesses all kinds of superpowers. All
it takes is a few words or a flash of images to trigger its strength.
And the moment you see or hear whatever it is that scared you,
your life changes.
And yet, because I'm scared, details I don't usually notice are
right there in my mind—I can see them and their shapes, I can
sense them, and I feel like I could reach out and touch them. But
not the whole picture; some things dissolve.
And that's what happened to me on the day my good friend
Dr. SÃ?bastien Simard called my mobile.

20 the way of the fight
In fact, I'm sitting here trying to think of where I was when
the phone rang, but I can't remember. I'd like to know what I
was doing when I took the call, but that's not possible either. The
memories attached to that moment are lost somewhere inside
me, and I know it's because of the fear.
What I can recall—and the clarity of that recollection is odd,
like a slow-motion dream—is that I was standing in a long hall-
way, alone. I see white walls and a hall and I'm walking down
the middle of it toward who knows where. The phone rings and
I know I have to answer because it's my surgeon. I stop, which is
odd because usually I walk and talk. But here I stop, I look at the
screen and see his name, I push the button and I put the phone to
my ear. And this is when he tells me: “Georges, you have a torn
ACL. Your knee ligament is fully torn. You need major surgery.
You're not fighting for a long time.”
Ever since I was nine years old I've known the unique feel-
ing generated by fear. It makes me laugh now, but that's because
I know better. It's because, without the bullies and the assholes
and the jerks, I would never have become who I am today. I
would never have been lucky enough to prove them wrong. I
would be somebody different, and nobody can know who that
person would or might have been. I just don't care about the pos-
sibilities because I can't change any of the things that have come
before me. All I know for certain is the present.
I've also known for a long time that fear comes in two pack-
ages: good and bad.
Here's an example of good fear. When I was twelve years
old, my buddies and I would gear up on winter days and plan
these big street fights in our neighborhood. All the kids from
my street or my neighborhood. We wore these big, thick winter
coats, toques and gloves to protect ourselves from the minus-30
Celsius Canadian winters. We'd have these epic battles and beat

mother 21
each other in the snow until someone gave up. I was pretty good
at that, but sometimes I ate my share of whoopings, especially
from the older kids. We were trying to prove who was tough and
I was really proud, so, many times, I got whooped. There were
no head shots, just body blows. It was fun. I was scared, but I
went anyway because I didn't want to be teased for being scared.
It taught me to be humble. You learn to understand that others
can be stronger than you.
I wasn't always the strong one. Fear made me. It's why I am
in love with my own fear. Don't misunderstand me: I don't like
fear, but I do love it, and there's a major difference there. Because
of what my fear makes me do. Because of how my fear has made
me who I am. Some of my fears are terrifying, paralyzing, and I
won't talk to you about those. They take my sleep and my com-
fort away from me. So not here, not now. Because I'm not ready
for that yet. I can't. I won't. I'm not a machine.
MOTHER: My Georges came out two weeks late. He had lesions
on his face, and soon after that he had scabs all over. There
were five or six doctors checking on him all the time. We
were really scared for him.
The truth is that I didn't start as a winner. When I was a
kid, I was just another reject. I started at the bottom. I think all
winners do.
It was a physical thing, most probably. For some reason I
don't know, I was addicted to licking my lips. I couldn't stop.
I'd
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Way of the Fight by Georges St. Pierre. Copyright © 2013 Georges St. Pierre. Excerpted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Every Single Morning Takes Root the Night Before 13

The Idea for This book 17

In Case You Don't Have Time to Read 12

How I Structured This Book 15

Book 1 Mother (Maman) 17

Book 2 Mentor-The Ground Book Kristof Midoux 41

Book 3 Master-The Transition Book John Danaher 89

Book 4 Maven-The Standing Book Firas Zahabi 149

Book 5 Conscience Rodolphe Beaulieu 195

Epilogue 221

Acknowledgments 227

Editorial Reviews

GSP the warrior reveals himself. The Way of the Fight is the way of his life. It’s about the process of Georges St-Pierre, who came from nowhere to become an international icon.’’

Diane Sauve

Like St-Pierre, this book is part philosophical, part scientific, part business-tutorial and even part self-help, with carefully selected pieces of the fighter’s personal story interwoven throughout. It’s all fascinating, coming from one of the most evolved fighting minds the sport has ever produced.” — SportsIllustrated.com

“The Way of the Fight delivers a great deal . . . part biography, part self-help, part philosophy. It is a book that, read in the right manner, teaches more than it tells.” — Bleacher Report

“An interesting view into the psyche of an athlete . . . the most insightful view to date of a fighter and person that has not only dominated his sport, but has been one of the foundational figures bridging the gap between MMA’s community and the greater mainstream sports audience.” — Sherdog

“This is an outstanding book . . . at the heart of it The Way of the Fight is about setting and achieving goals, and what it takes to overcome obstacles to become your most successful self. . . I highly recommend The Way of the Fight.” — New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag

“GSP the warrior reveals himself. The Way of the Fight is the way of his life. It’s about the process of Georges St-Pierre, who came from nowhere to become an international icon.’’ — Diane Sauvé, Radio-Canada

From the Publisher

GSP the warrior reveals himself. The Way of the Fight is the way of his life. It’s about the process of Georges St-Pierre, who came from nowhere to become an international icon.’’

Diane Sauvé

This is an outstanding book . . . at the heart of it The Way of the Fight is about setting and achieving goals, and what it takes to overcome obstacles to become your most successful self. . . I highly recommend The Way of the Fight.

New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag

The Way of the Fight delivers a great deal . . . part biography, part self-help, part philosophy. It is a book that, read in the right manner, teaches more than it tells.

Bleacher Report

An interesting view into the psyche of an athlete . . . the most insightful view to date of a fighter and person that has not only dominated his sport, but has been one of the foundational figures bridging the gap between MMA’s community and the greater mainstream sports audience.

Sherdog

Like St-Pierre, this book is part philosophical, part scientific, part business-tutorial and even part self-help, with carefully selected pieces of the fighter’s personal story interwoven throughout. It’s all fascinating, coming from one of the most evolved fighting minds the sport has ever produced.

SportsIllustrated.com

GSP the warrior reveals himself. The Way of the Fight is the way of his life. It’s about the process of Georges St-Pierre, who came from nowhere to become an international icon.’’

Diane Sauvé