(Kru Phil Nurse on the left with his student, Georges St. Pierre)
By Elias Cepeda
Despite being one of the very best trainers in MMA, Phil Nurse gets relatively little press and up until now very little has been publicly known about his life, careers and philosophies. He coaches Georges St. Pierre, Frankie Edgar and Jon Jones, just to name a few UFC fighters.
As we discovered when we visited Nurse at his downtown Manhattan gym, however, the Kru is much more than his impressive resume. He is a combat genius and is able to convey his unique perspective and vision to his students with calm clarity. It is no wonder that some of the best fighters in the world seek him out to become even better.
With Georges St. Pierre returning to action after a year and a half at UFC 154 this Saturday in Montreal, it is a perfect time to hear from one of his coaches and corner men in Nurse. After the jump, sit with us and listen to the newest episode of The Conversation where Nurse talk about his unlikely path to Muay Thai, his own fighting career, meeting Georges St. Pierre and the spirituality that can be found through fight training.
There is a constant meme that gets passed around regarding how mixed martial arts will look 10 or 20 years from now. In that crystal ball version of the future, all the athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, better. They are more creative, have better technique and are more thoroughly schooled in the various disciplines utilized in fighting.