My work of pop culture will be on Georges St. Pierre (
a.k.a. Rush and GSP) and the difference between a fighter, and a martial
artist. Georges St. Pierre is a UFC fighter however doesn’t consider himself a
fighter, rather a martial artist, and the difference will be explained in the
following paragraphs to help readers distinguish the difference. Georges St.
Pierre has amazing fighting skills, however if it were not for his early life
he would not have chosen to go down the path that led him to this life. He was
bullied as a kid in Saint-Isodore, Quebec, where he would have his clothes and
money stolen. His father taught him kyokushin karate to help him defend
himself, and he would soon after train in wrestling, Jiu-jitsu, and boxing. He
strives to be the best, in the beginning of this video you see him losing to
Matt Serra by TKO, and how he rebuilds himself and takes his title belt back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJIctJK_AFQ
Georges
St. Pierre is the current welter-weight champion of the world, with a record of
22 wins and 2 losses. 8 of his wins were by knock-out, 5 by submission, and 9
by decision. He has fought and won against some of the toughest and most famous
fighters in the UFC, such as Josh Koscheck, Jake Shields, and Frank Trigg. He
has been the “Fighter of the year” in several magazines and newsletters since
2008. His fame and success has also put him on the path to being an actor,
having roles in 2 movies, more notably Never Surrender in which he starred with
some fellow UFC fighters.
Georges
was quoted in Men’s Health magazine saying “I am not a fighter, I am a martial
artist. The difference is a fighter trains for specific fights and opponents. I
don’t. I focus on making myself the best I can possibly be, and whoever is
truly better than me will defeat me.” And he holds these ideals close to heart.
After a bout, or fight, even if he won as soon as he is out of the ring he is
in the back room going over what he could have done better and doing his best
to perfect his flaws, the few he has. In pre-fight conferences, he does not “talk
trash” to opponents, and if they do it to him he simply smiles and laughs. He
lets his abilities do the talking for him. After each fight he is always
gracious to his opponent, being a good sport because he knows that it is just a
sport, a sport that he strives to be the best in. Everything he does is to
better himself as a man. He is taking a leave from the UFC to compete in
Olympics wrestling for his home country of Canada.
