Forca Method is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by John Danaher. They are featured here for educational and editorial purposes. Information is compiled from public sources including FloGrappling, BJJ Fanatics, Tapology, and official competition records.
Who They Are
John Danaher is a New Zealand-born coach who's become one of the most studied figures in Brazilian jiu jitsu. He’s never won a major black belt competition—he didn’t even compete past blue belt due to persistent knee issues. But starting at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York in the 1990s, he built a rep as the brains behind the scenes. Danaher has coached some of the best modern grapplers—Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon, Eddie Cummings, and many more. He’s widely recognized for his detailed, analytical approach to grappling.
Why They Matter
Danaher matters because he changed the way elite Brazilian jiu jitsu athletes train, fight, and think. Before his influence, leg locks were dismissed or ignored in most major gyms. Danaher’s students started breaking legs and washing out ranked guys at big tournaments—often as virtual unknowns. The “Danaher Death Squad” made heel hooks and back attacks mainstream. Now, every serious gym has to know the positions his team used to terrorize everyone: leg entanglements, saddle (aka 411 or inside sankaku), and systematic back attacks.
It isn’t just that he coached champs. Danaher shaped the meta of no-gi Brazilian jiu jitsu. His instructionals rewired how people train—breaking technique into step-by-step sequences, building entire games around prediction and control instead of random scrambles.
Style And Strengths
Danaher’s “style” isn’t about how he rolls—it's how he teaches, and how his athletes win. Here’s what stands out:
- Systematic Thinking: Everything is mapped out. You won’t hear “just try to pass” or “get the finish from here.” Instead, you get detailed blueprints: control the outside position, trap the near-side leg, deny their escape path, threaten with a primary submission, then follow up with a secondary attack if they defend.
- Leg Lock Mastery: Danaher didn’t invent heel hooks, but he gave them structure. He broke down entries, control positions, and finishing mechanics. Even brown and black belts who “knew” leg locks often looked clueless against his crew because they hadn’t learned the real steps—how to pin the hips, how to expose the heel, and how to stop the other guy from turning.
- Back Attacks: After leg locks, his guys became assassins from the back. The idea is to make back exposure inevitable, then trap both arms or the choking side with the leg. They drill transitions and retention relentlessly. If you’ve ever tried to get Gordon Ryan off your back (I have, and failed), you know how brutal that position becomes when someone’s trained the Danaher system.
- Details and Rounds: It’s not just theory. His athletes are notorious for long sessions, tons of situational drilling, and chasing high-percentage finishes. They train with intensity and clarity—whether it’s grip fighting for inside position or chaining attacks without pause. You can’t relax or coast.
What Grapplers Can Learn
Forget hero worship. Here’s what you should actually steal from Danaher if you’re serious about Brazilian jiu jitsu:
- Treat Grappling Like a Problem to Solve: Danaher approaches jiu jitsu the same way you’d approach chess. Every position is a tree of possibilities. Drilling is about narrowing those options, not just “getting reps.” He breaks down transitions and finds ways to make progress in every scramble. This is the opposite of just rolling aimlessly and hoping you get better.
- Systems Beat Moves: If you only know techniques in isolation, you’ll stall out. Danaher and his athletes connect everything. You need two or three answers for every common defense, whether you’re attacking the heel hook or taking the back. The only way to handle high-level defenses—especially in tournament pace rounds—is to stay one step ahead, not by muscling through.
- Train Under Fatigue: Hard rounds, back-to-back open mat sessions, and tough positional sparring are crucial. Danaher’s guys aren’t just technical; they’re used to fighting tired, with their forearms fried and their hips stiff. They use mechanics, not just strength, to finish when the grip burn sets in.
- Be Ruthless About Details: Watch Danaher’s videos—he covers the smallest points, like exactly where your knee needs to hide or which side to put your head when controlling. That stuff matters. If you gloss over details, you’ll blow opportunities or get reversed.
- Drill to Solve Real Problems: Training under Danaher, you don’t just “drill armbars”—you drill how to recover when someone explodes, how to finish when your first grip fails, or how to escape entanglements at full speed. Your drilling should reflect real fight scenarios, not static positions.
Final Takeaway
John Danaher’s influence on Brazilian jiu jitsu isn’t about flashy highlight reels or charisma. He’s the coach who took jiu jitsu from a collection of random moves and made it a science—systems, details, plans, and adaptations. If you want to win hard rounds and survive at tournament pace, you’d better be more methodical and more prepared than the other guys. That’s the real Danaher legacy: turn every position into a map, know your next three steps, and drill until you can finish even when your hands are toast. Any serious grappler should study the way Danaher thinks—because everyone else already has.
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