The Way of the Fight audiobook

This book really surprised me. I expected more of a biography extolling his virtues but was pleasantly guided into the world of self help. His philosophy towards his excelling in his MMA career can be readily applied to any endeavour in life. He uses, through his experiences, and his coaches, to teach how to overcome. Using fear to motivate, using workable goals, and being humble to learn. In our 'me,me,me' society that is a rare gift indeed! To call him a role model and good example would not be an understatement! Highly informative and inspirational. I would recommend this book to anyone!

An extremely insightful book. I brought it with me to my teaching job at the high school and so many students who weren’t necessarily readers expressed an avid interest. I made many connections with the book as a martial artist who had to fight from a young age. I wish I had 100's of copies to give

Not your traditional autobiography. It just doesn’t mention the events, experiences, fights, wins, losses, happiness and agony like a normal sports autobiography should. It’s more than an autobiography. It is an essential read for everyone who wishes to achieve something in life, in general. What it is is a beautifully crafted work by the greatest Welterweight champion of all time, perhaps even as beautiful as watching him do his thing inside the Octagon. The point that GSP is trying to make from this book is having a dream (something which most people lack), having a plan of action to achieve that dream, working whole-heartedly towards that goal, overcoming fear by using it as a tool of upliftment before obstacles and using discipline as a supplement to smart work, not necessarily hard work. GSP touches on philosophy (Eastern philosophy the most), history, mixed martial artists (old and new), the few personal relationships that he has, palaeontology and even a little bit of cliches to make his points and provide the foundation of his mental process and his ideals (fluidity, routine, efficiency, practice, untethered focus, variability and generality in his game). His only two losses in the mixed martial arts world (vs Matt Hughes and Matt Serra) serve to be essential experiential benchmarks which have led to the creation of the ideals that GSP preaches (using which, he beat those fighters subsequently).The structure of the book is an essential part of why I so enjoyed the book. The book has five parts, each incorporating stories, thoughts, experiences and insights by his mother, his earliest mentor, his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach, his head coach and his best friend respectively. These words from his entourage run parallel to his own words and they blend in seamlessly together to help you understand GSP’s dreams and how he invariably strives to achieve them each day.On a personal level, this book has come to me at a time when I needed it the most. From the moment I read the introduction, I knew this is something I needed to read, to absorb and take lessons from. It’s not everyday that you massively relate to the words of someone who is considered to be the greatest of all time in his chosen field.

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.

Prior to his fight with Michael Bisping at UFC 217, Georges St-Pierre would reiterate in many of his interviews that he is the wisest, most technically skilled version of himself since he went on a four year hiatus from the UFC. He definitely is, as he finished Michael Bisping with a rear naked choke to become the middleweight champion at the age of 36. A quote from this book reminded me of these interviews. "I am only thirty-one years old as I write this story, but it's entirely possible that in five or ten years, my outlook will have changed on many of the things that have been discussed herein" This is interesting because the last time GSP finished an opponent before he fought Bisping was in 2009. He always fought the elite fighters and dominated them, but he would win by majority decision after the 2009 finish of BJ Penn because he didn't take unneccessary risks. The 2017 GSP looked very good. You could tell he was hungry for the finish. The 2013 GSP would be proud.More about the book now. I am a fan of GSP and enjoy listening to his insight about mixed martial arts, so I thought that this book would be interesting; interesting indeed. GSP is a very wise individual. He speaks about the myelin sheath, dinosaurs, Bruce Lee, Socrates and many more topics which form his outlook towards fighting and how to become the best mixed martial artist. This is a must-read for all GSP fans, aspiring mixed martial arts fighters, and martial arts enthusiasts. There's a lot of information that was unknown to me regarding GSP before reading this. Five stars!

Impressive. I'm not a MMA fan at all but I am a fan of GSP. A philosophical as well as a practical look at one of the best.

"As Aristotle wrote a long, long time ago, and I'm paraphrasing here, the goal is to avoid mediocrity by being prepared to do something and either failing miserably or triumphantly grandly. Mediocrity is not about failing, and it's the opposite of doing. Mediocrity, in other words, is not about trying. The reason is achingly simple, and I know you've heard it a thousand times before: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." This marks the second memoir I've read about an MMA fighter. It's always been fascinating somehow how you might know the individual based on the name, but when you read a memoir, it's a whole lot different. You get more insight and knowledge. You get to understand a bit how they think.I found this book surprising in the sense that I never expected it to be more than saying "I'm a fighter who fights for a living." The book is divided in 5 parts: Maman (mother), Sensei (Mentor), Master, Maven (Coach) and Conscience. It's an inspirational book than gives the read some of George's favorite philosophical quotes likes, how he's managed to use it in his life (and how the reader can use it too), which makes him a smart athlete.

Took some time out from reading the epic Lincoln book to read GSP's bio. Love the guy, and think he's "not your average UFC lunkhead." This book proved that, afaik it's him, no ghost writer, and it feels like it. It's done in sections with commentary from people in his life during each section commenting on him. It's part autobiography, part self-help, part philosophy, and all inspiring. I guess the overall gist is conquering your fear, something I have certainly struggled with and I think everyone to some extent has. It's not a perfectly written book, there are some structural thins that were a little annoying, but the message and the energy and the view inside GSP's world are more than worth it. I *think* this book might even appeal to people who aren't UFC fans, though obviously some event references might be confusing.

This was hands down the BEST book I read all year. I didn't expect much from it. But I'm a big fan of GSP, so I ordered it. Turns out it features a lot of philosophical reflections from a very thoughtful, intelligent athlete about what it takes to overcome adversity, get to, and stay at the top (and how to get back up when life inevitably knocks you down). When I finished the book the first time, I turned right back to page one and started over again. Can't remember the last time I read a book twice in a row like that. His insights in the first few chapters on how to face fear in life and on overcoming adversity are solid gold. He opens up a lot about his vulnerabilities. A very candid look inside the mind of a champion.

It was a good book about Georges life starting out and making it into the big leagues. He is the best Welterweight fighter in the UFC. Maybe even the best fighter in the UFC. I recommend this book to anyone who likes biographies and fighting.

So many lessons in here.

If you're a fan of UFC or MMA in general, this book is definitely worth a read. Georges takes us deep into his career and in his mind. I've been watching MMA for years but this book helped me understand what really goes through the mind of a fighter before a fight. More than that, it took me through the mind of a champion. Some of the points that really hit home for me:- Using Fear as empowerment - we see champions as the invincible figures. They are not. Georges is not afraid to admit how afraid he is before a fight. But that is what he uses to drive and empower himself- Know your weaknesses. One person can't do it all. Georges specialty is MMA. He is a master when it comes to MMA. He is not an expert when it comes to management, getting sponsors, nutrition etc. He surrounds himself with people that cover his weaknesses so he can focus on his strength.- Georges is a regular human being. He's just mastered consistency and he's remained consistent with one thing.

Loved this book and love GSP.This book is a peak into GSP's mind, of what made him a Champion fighter, and what makes him who he is.Bullied and scared as a child, Georges have come so far and it is fascinating how humble and peaceful he is. He is tremendously passionate in his craft and is always willing to share and help others. He is however, a fierce beast when it comes to hard work and pushing himself. I love the fact that Georges states when he was nobody, he trained - ate - trained - slept and did it over all again everyday and when he is a champion he still does the same routine of training. He even states he wouldnt know what else to do.If you're fan of GSP or UFC you'll love this book. Even if you're not its a great book about being humble, focused and mostly importantly working hard consistently.

** spoiler alert ** "I keep the white-belt mentality that I can learn from anyone, anywhere, anytime." - @georgesstpierre, The Way of the Fight Every martial artist must read this book. You'll find so much comfort through each chapter and it's themes - using fear as a motivator, understanding balance is a lifelong process, the reality that the more you learn, the less you actually know and so much more! Us martial artists have a way of comparing ourselves to unusual things. Georges likes the comparison of a cockroach as they are adaptive to any environment. His coach compares him to an ant - industrious, cooperative, and hardworking. We at @skifcanada call our students tigers. Bruce Lee compares us to water. What else can you think of?

St- Pierre gives a good vision of what it takes to develop oneself to the level of UFC contender and champion, while at the same time showing that he stays true to the core of martial arts. interspaced between his own telling of events throughout his career are the views of his trainers, friends, and family. without going too far in-depth with what it takes to develop oneself along the route of professional fighter and martial artist it becomes clear that St-Pierre has taken from a plethora of knowledge to develop his fighting style not only from traditional martial arts but also from physical training that is required to build oneself up.

Great look into the life of a fighter who started with nothing. Through all is achievements and accomplishments, he remained humble and gracious. One of my favourite athletes and human beings. This book is a journey that reveals the raw image of being human and what it takes to achieve your goals. Intimate moments described in this book reveal defining choices that turned a garbage man and security guard in Montreal, into one of the best UFC fighters in the world. I loved reading this journey, very inspirational and well written.Sean

if you want to have an insight of how the brain of an elite sports performer works this is the book of choice.a very inspiring and worthy audiobook if you like mma and sport psychology. GSP is a legend and is quite interesting to hear him and his team stories and thoughtsthe only one thing i dislike about the audio was the tone and pace of the narrator, at first it was a little bit odd but get used to quickly and despite that i really enjoy the book .greetings from Argentina!! hope this review motivates more people to get this book because really worth it.

A beautiful insight into the mind of one of the greatest athletes I have ever seen. It's rare that you feel this connected to a man who constantly has millions of eyes following his every move in public. The thoughts Georges St. Pierre wrote down in this book sometimes don't really have a logical order, but that only slightly diminishes the reading experience. And the understanding of the human being behind "GSP".