John Danaher
John Danaher is a New Zealand-raised jiu-jitsu coach, teaching at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, whose students have included Georges St-Pierre and Gordon Ryan.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Ben Stanley, Vice, 22 October 2018(opens in a new tab)
John Danaher was born in Washington DC in 1967, where his father — a Royal New Zealand Air Force fighter pilot — was serving as military attaché. The family moved to New Zealand while he was young and settled in Whangaparāoa, his father continuing to serve at Whenuapai Air Force Base. He was the youngest of six children, and rugby was his main sport growing up.
Where in the source: Headline 'The Life and Influence of Real-Life Martial Arts Monk, Kiwi John Danaher'; early biographical section covering his birth, his father's RNZAF posting and the family's move to New Zealand
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Danaher completed a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in philosophy at the University of Auckland.
Where in the source: Biographical section on his education, preceding the account of his 1991 move to New York
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Danaher moved to New York in 1991 for doctoral study at Columbia University, concentrating on epistemology and the history of Western science. He came close to completing the doctorate but left academia, telling Vice: 'I loved philosophy, but I despised academia.'
Where in the source: Section on his move to New York and his departure from academia; the quoted sentence 'I loved philosophy, but I despised academia'
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Danaher was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu by his friend Peter Maguire at Columbia University, and was beaten by Maguire at their first meeting despite outweighing him by around 30kg.
Where in the source: Section describing his introduction to jiu-jitsu through Peter Maguire
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- Conflicting accounts
Danaher trained at Renzo Gracie's academy alongside Matt Serra and Ricardo Almeida; when Serra and Almeida left in the late 1990s, Danaher, by then in possession of his black belt, was elevated to a teaching position. Serra told Vice of him: 'He put his full attention in it—he became a phenomenal instructor.'
Where in the source: Section on his rise to the teaching position at Renzo Gracie's academy > 'When Serra and Almeida left the Renzo Gracie Academy in late 1990s, Danaher, in possession of his BJJ black belt, was elevated to a teaching position'; and the quoted Matt Serra sentence 'He put his full attention in it'
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Graciemag, 'Philosophy and technique, with John Danaher', first published 2008, republished 6 July 2019(opens in a new tab)
While studying at Columbia, Danaher supported himself working as a nightclub bouncer, and concluded from those encounters that fights ended up on the ground. In his words: 'I found that the intensity level of the fights quickly put most people down on the ground where kick boxing skills were of little value.' On when he began, the same interview carries two separate statements by two different people: Danaher says 'I started late in life, around 27, and with a crippled leg', and Renzo Gracie says 'John arrived here in the gym's very first year, towards the end of 1996.' The magazine publishes both and asserts neither.
Where in the source: Section on his path into Brazilian jiu-jitsu > the quoted sentence beginning 'I found that the intensity level of the fights'; Danaher's own 'I started late in life, around 27, and with a crippled leg'; and, separately attributed to Renzo Gracie, 'John arrived here in the gym's very first year, towards the end of 1996'
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Danaher told Graciemag that a severe knee dislocation in childhood, followed by an unsuccessful operation, limited what sports he could do, and that he turned to weight training as a result: 'I began weight training, since most of the exercises isolated certain muscle groups and did affect my leg.'
Where in the source: Section on his youth and sporting background, following the quote about rugby and soccer in New Zealand
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Renzo Gracie Academy, Instructors page(opens in a new tab)
Renzo Gracie Academy's own instructors page describes him, under its entry for Renzo Gracie, as 'John Danaher the Jiu-Jitsu coach to UFC Champions Georges St-Pierre & Chris Weidman and ADCC Champion Gordon Ryan'.
Where in the source: Heading 'Master Renzo Gracie'; sentence listing those Renzo has guided, containing 'John Danaher the Jiu-Jitsu coach to UFC Champions Georges St-Pierre & Chris Weidman and ADCC Champion Gordon Ryan'
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FloGrappling, New Wave Jiu-Jitsu team page(opens in a new tab)
New Wave Jiu-Jitsu is an Austin, Texas-based team whose head coach is John Danaher, with athletes including Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon.
Where in the source: Heading 'Description'; sentence 'New Wave Jiu-Jitsu is an Austin, TX-based team with head coach John Danaher and athletes such as Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon and more.' READ IN THE MARKUP, NOT THE RENDERED VIEW: the page renders an events listing (~1.1k chars) and the description is not in it. Verified in the markup 2026-09-06.
Accessed:
Corey Stockton, FloGrappling, 26 July 2021(opens in a new tab)
On Sunday 25 July 2021 Danaher announced on Instagram that the Puerto Rico-based Danaher Death Squad was breaking up. He wrote: 'It is with great sadness that I have to announce the break up of the squad as a unified training and competition team', and gave as the main factors 'A combination of factors revolving around disagreements in physical location of a future school, personality conflicts, conflicting values and an inevitable tension between the team brand and the growing individual brands of members'.
Where in the source: Headline 'Grappling Bulletin: Danaher Death Squad Announces Team Split'; opening section, the two quoted passages from Danaher's Instagram post
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Sam Frank, The New Yorker, “The Jujitsu Master Turning an Ancient Art Into a Modern Science”, July 10, 2017(opens in a new tab)
- Conflicting accounts
The New Yorker says Danaher was a blue belt for a long time and was a purple belt, one level higher, when he began coaching, and that his first conceptual breakthrough came around 2000, when he was a brown belt.
Where in the source: Late in the article, after Danaher on ancient depictions of grappling: “Danaher was a blue belt for a long time; he was just one level higher, a purple belt, when he began coaching. But his first conceptual breakthrough didn’t come until around 2000, when he was a brown belt.”
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- Conflicting accounts
Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu, “About Us”(opens in a new tab)
Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu, in Austin, Texas, describes itself on its own site as led by a trio of Gordon Ryan, John Danaher and Garry Tonon.
Where in the source: Section “About us”, opening paragraph: “There aren’t many Jiu-Jitsu schools in Austin – or anywhere – quite like Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu. We are led by a trio of Jiu-Jitsu and grappling greats – Gordon Ryan, John Danaher, and Garry Tonon.”
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The same site dates the beginning of the story to late 1994 in New York City, with Danaher a philosophy graduate student at Columbia working as a nightclub bouncer, and says it was his teacher Renzo Gracie who later asked him to teach at his school.
Where in the source: Section “Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu History”: “The story of Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu begins in late 1994 in New York City. John Danaher, a graduate student in Philosophy at Columbia University working as a night club bouncer to make ends meet…” · “In time however, his teacher, Renzo Gracie, asked him to become a teacher at his school.”
Accessed:
Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu, “John Danaher”(opens in a new tab)
The school’s own page about Danaher says that when the team went their separate ways after 2019, he, Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon formed a new squad called New Wave, and that he had earlier become an instructor at Renzo Gracie’s New York school after being introduced to jiu-jitsu through a chance meeting with a friend.
Where in the source: Page “John Danaher”: “When the team went their separate ways after 2019, Danaher, along with Gordon Ryan, and Garry Tonon formed a new squad New Wave” · “In time, he became an instructor at Renzo Gracie’s NYC Jiu-Jitsu school.”
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