John Danaher is a jiu-jitsu coach born in Washington, D.C., and raised in New Zealand. He never competed, but he built the Danaher Death Squad, the no-gi team behind Gordon Ryan's rise. Through Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon and others, his leg-lock and back-attack systems changed how submission grappling is taught and played.
Background and lineage
Danaher studied philosophy at the University of Auckland and moved to New York in 1991 to start a doctorate in epistemology at Columbia University. BJJ Heroes says he started grappling at 28. He trained under Renzo Gracie at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan and received his black belt from Renzo on 2 April 2002. His lineage runs from Renzo through Carlos Gracie Jr. and Hélio Gracie. Wikipedia notes he was born with deformed kneecaps, injured a knee playing rugby, had several knee surgeries and had his left hip replaced in 2015.
Coaching record
Danaher's results come through his students:
- Gordon Ryan: ADCC champion in three weight classes and two-time ADCC superfight winner.
- Garry Tonon, Eddie Cummings, Nicky Rodriguez and Nicky Ryan: early members of the squad, known for leg-lock finishes in submission-only events.
- Craig Jones and Nicholas Meregali: elite competitors who trained with the squad.
- MMA: Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman, and he coached St-Pierre's team on season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter in 2010.
He ended the Danaher Death Squad in July 2021, and later that month he and Gordon Ryan formed New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, now based in Austin, Texas.
Systems and signature techniques
Danaher teaches in connected systems rather than single moves. The best known is his leg-lock system, built on controlling the legs from inside ashi, outside ashi and the saddle before finishing with the heel hook, which BJJ Heroes lists as his favourite technique. His other systems cover back control and the rear naked choke, arm attacks from the kimura trap and the armbar, front headlock and guillotine attacks, and triangles.
Instructionals and media
With BJJ Fanatics he has released the Enter the System series, the Go Further Faster fundamentals series, Feet to Floor, Standing to Ground and New Wave Jiu Jitsu. He appeared in the 2015 documentary Jiu Jitsu vs the World and in four episodes of the TV series Billions as a jiu-jitsu instructor. He has also worked as a brand ambassador and consultant for Sanabul since 2018. Wikipedia reports that several surgeries in 2025 led him to reconsider his coaching future.