Could Georges St. Pierre Be a Bad Influence On Young Wrestlers? (Humor, Really!)

Everyone who reads my articles or knows me personally knows how much I adore the French Canadian MMA fighter Georges St. Pierre.

Until today, little did I realize how much my love for "Rush" may end up costing my family.

In the very beginning, my attraction to GSP was not shared by my entire family.

My first area of dissension involved my oldest grandson Cody who has wrestled since the age of five and therefore, due to his "experience," he adored the Illinois area wrestler Matt Hughes, a rival of Georges for the Welterweight Championship of the UFC.

In the first Hughes v GSP fight my grandson was so elated at Matt's win that he would not even admit to how much talent and promise newcomer Georges showed during the fight.

He was completely blinded by his hero's winning arm bar and wouldn't listen to my opinion.

"You are too old, Grandma! Besides, you are a woman and have never wrestled!"

That summed up the popular consensus of Grandma Dee's MMA knowledge and expertise right there.

After the second Georges v Matt fight when Georges won (and Matt Hughes had also failed to show up at a Clinton High School tournament where his presence was highly anticipated), Cody began to be a little more open minded and receptive to my explanations of why Georges was a superior wrestler.

I have a large library of DVD's of Georges' UFC fights which Cody and I have watched many times  to analyze Georges' continually improving techniques over the years.

One of our favorites was his fight with Frank Trigg who went on record pronouncing Georges as being a "grade B fighter"; in other words "a pushover" for the "more experienced" Trigg.

Pushover?

Not really.

As Joe Rogan happily proclaimed Georges was "running a clinic on Frank Trigg," using Frank Trigg as his wrestling dummy and ended with a rear naked choke, which now is Trigg's most hated hold in MMA after succumbing to it with both Matt Hughes and Georges for a total of three times!

Which could be why Georges may prove to be a bad influence on young wrestlers as they start out their career.

I am not referring to Cody, of course, who knows better than to use a rear naked choke, hammer fists or elbows while wrestling.

Cody is wrestling today at an out of town tournament and I am in touch with his entourage, my husband namely, via cell phone.

In fact, it was my husband who broached the subject that my adulation and praise of Georges, (to which I have exposed my grandchildren), may consequently cause a problem this year after May 4th.

May 4, 2009 is when my youngest grandson Trevor will turn five and begin his "career" in wrestling.

Trevor is a sharp little dickens who has learned a lot about wrestling from watching his big brother wrestle at practices and some home meets.

Trev often gets so pumped up that he has to be restrained from running out on the mat to join in the fun. He can't wait until it is finally "his turn to wrestle."

This brings up the possible problem.

Trevor has learned through experience that he can "submit" his father, uncle, grandfather and older brother by using his version of a rear naked choke, hammer fists and elbows: the same (almost) techniques his almost five year old's hero Georges St. Pierre uses.

In fact, in the absence of a "real talking GSP" action figure, Trevor uses a GI Joe doll to "be" Georges when playing Barbies with his sisters and uses his GSP to wreak havoc on the other GI Joe and Ken figures.

Trevor has dismembered other action figures and wrecked weddings and Barbie picnics with his "Rush."

Can you imagine what he might do to his first wrestling opponent?

With his brother's wrestling buddies and coaches encouraging him to be a little rough neck and telling him that someday he will be a champion just like his big brother, he may show no mercy to his own peers in trying to achieve Cody's level of excellence in wrestling at an earlier age than Cody did.

Sibling rivalry—what can I say?

While I am not sorry that I have exposed Trevor to GSP who is also a very good role model for youth because of his ethics and humility, I am sorry that he didn't have a few "real lessons" in ethical wrestling for little guys his age and not be exposed to the more grown up MMA version first.

What with all the fans out there, he may meet other young ones with the same MMA intellect.

Who knows? It is hard to tell nowadays what the love of MMA hath wrought.

*** I have gotten so many comments where people have taken this article as the literal truth and I wrote it in the spirit of good humor. If you know anything about me at all, please let it be that I am a loyal dyed in the wool Georges St. Pierre fan and nothing short of my death will change that. In fact I hope I won't have to pay to watch the MMA matches from heaven.