Issue 102
June 2013
The first of a new series tutoring you in the fine details of your favourite fighters’ greatest weapons, we guide you through UFC champ Georges St Pierre’s fight-winning explosiveness
What has truly set UFC welterweight champion Georges St Pierre apart from the rest of the 170lb pack is his outstanding athleticism. With a combination of progressive training methods the Canadian has consistently been faster, more explosive, better coordinated, more powerful and more capable of sustaining these qualities throughout the incredibly demanding five-round title fights he undertakes. Some of GSP’s trademark techniques shown here demonstrate perfectly the host of athletic qualities he possesses.
SUPERMAN PUNCH
The combination of the ‘Superman’ left hand and right low kick is one of GSP’s trademarks. The punch originates as a jab, but because the trail leg becomes the lead leg as you leap forward, the punch lands as a cross. Moreover, by leaping through the air and punching down on the target, the whole body weight goes through the punch. Upon landing, as the weight is transferred back over to the other leg, the entirety of one’s body weight lands on the opponent’s quad through the shin.
EXAMPLE: VS BJ PENN, UFC 94, 2009
Take a look at St Pierre vs BJ Penn II at UFC 94. GSP backed BJ up to the fence, and instead of rushing in and tying up, St Pierre cued him up with a series of tentative jabs that established the extent of his reach, then leapt in, landing heavily with the athletic left hand Superman punch.
DOUBLE-LEG
St Pierre is broadly considered the best takedown artist in mixed martial arts today. His vocabulary in this regard is, in fact, fairly limited, consisting of a few finishes for singles, doubles and body locks. St Pierre’s success is rooted in his great timing and powerful drives.
His most common attack is to shoot a single and switch to a double-leg to finish. GSP generally shoots the single from the outside (not tied up in the clinch), and switches his hand to the far leg, blocking the knee and driving his man to the mat.
EXAMPLE: VS SEAN SHERK, UFC 56, 2005
GSP shoots a variation of this tackle and finish in almost every fight he ever had, but one of the greatest examples was against Sean Sherk in 2005. GSP shot extremely low to get under the hips of the shorter athlete, Sherk. GSP’s drive charged Sherk across the whole length of the Octagon, right into the cage on the far side.
SPINNING BACK-KICK
St Pierre’s karate origins can be seen in his spinning back-kick. His karate version of this kick is more compact than the broad arc of the capoeira-style strike, which connects with the heel, favored by Brazilian fighters. GSP turns his whole body and kicks straight back, connecting with the sole of the foot.
EXAMPLE: VS JAKE SHIELDS, UFC 129, 2011
St Pierre knocked Jake Shields back with an explosive and powerful textbook spinning back-kick in one of the highlights of their match at the historic, first-ever UFC stadium event, UFC 129 in Toronto.
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