John Danaher: A true martial artist

So I have a subscription to a great fight magazine called Fighter's Only. It is devoted to mma and promoting mma from all aspects so that it truly does live up to it's standard of being the world's leading mma & lifestyle magazine. This month they had a topic called jedi mma, which was a feature about top trainer's and how they get their fighter's into a right mindset. Now we've all heard about greg jackson, shawn tompkins, and john hackleman, but they also featured a man named john danaher. This guy, if anyone still watches the ultimate fighter, was the jiu jitsu coach for GSP and an assistant coach for him on the show. This man is a genius, and no one truly understands that! He has a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Columbia University (which is no small thing in itself) as well as a black belt under Renzo Gracie. He uses this degree to apply to his teaching of jiu jitsu and states that "a man deeply committed to jiu-jitsu must stand for something. Jiu-jitsu gives a man a set of principles that can govern his overall approach to life" using this and his approach of biomechanics to jiu jitsu I believe that Danaher is a true martial artist and well deserving of way more praise than he gets. Although he does try to stay out of the limelight and was given the nickname Sasquatch by Dave Camarillo for being so elusive to the fame spotlight.

yea i remember seeing him on tuf he seems like a yoda type lol really smart and calm when he speaks

It's the philospher in him. And he really is super chill apparently! even when he was doing the interview he was just talking about biomechanics of bjj and philosophy. None of the normal i make sure that i can calm them down and stuff. Apparently GSP say's he's the smartest man he's ever met

I couldn't agree more. I train at RGA in NY and I've taken many classes with John. He's the best jiu-jitsu instructor I've experienced, and watching him grapple is simply amazing. His style is fluid, effortless, and slow. He never appears out of balance or confused - he is just slowly, deliberately working his way towards submitting his opponent. As far as I know he never competes -- just teaches. And he's an absolute gym rat. He spends all of his time grappling, teaching, or thinking about grappling.

He's there teaching guys like Frankie Edgar and GSP in the afternoons when they come through town, which is cool to watch. He has also said that he has difficulty hanging with GSP in pure Jiu-Jitsu, which is a real testament to GSP's grappling since John is such an extraordinary grappler himself. I'll see if I can dig up the quote.

wow thats awesome i'd love to roll with a guy like that. you could really learn alot

I agree KnockOut KID, from what I've heard... Danaher is literally a freaking genius at life, I can only imagine his techniques and strategies on the mat in BJJ!  I like what he's doing with GSP.

Yeah this guy is amazing, once he devotes himself to anything in life he accels and becomes obsessed to an extent. I think it was on a UFC primtime with GSP that they stated he was once a body builder and bulked up to nearly 275lbs because he was obsessed, and then discovered BJJ. I'd like to know when he started training GSP, because his grappling, especially his ability to pass at ease, seemed to progress extensively around the timeframe of his Matt Hughes 3rd fight.

Jeremy i'm jealous. I would love to roll with Danaher, I mean i'm only a white belt but I bet I would pick up a lot just rolling with him once for sure! bk your right also he used to be a bodybuilder when he was getting his master's. I also read about how obsessed he is with BJJ, being a gym rat and showing up to Matt Serra's wedding wearing a rash guard?! Jeremy is this really true or just jokes that have been thrown around? Also I can't believe that Danaher is so amazing and he's never competed in a tournament! That's got to be kind of historical because normally you have to be battle-tested to reach such a high level. Not ever doubting his skills of course I mean if GSP and Edgar amongst other's are coming to learn from him you know he's got something special. Also, truly special because he was teaching at Renzo's since he was a purple belt.