In a recent discussion about the evolving landscape of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, renowned coach John Danaher offered unique insights into how trends shape the sport.
“Jiu Jitsu is like fashion,” Danaher explained, drawing an unexpected parallel between martial arts and the cyclical nature of style. “Every year something new comes in.”
The celebrated instructor emphasized that these changes aren’t necessarily about groundbreaking technical innovations. “The most important thing is not so much that there are new techniques as there are new fashions,” he noted.
Danaher highlighted how individual physiques influence these trending techniques, stating, “Everyone has a different body type. And for every given body type there are a set of techniques which work best.”
He pointed out that the emergence of new world champions often catalyzes these shifts in popular techniques. When these champions showcase particular moves successfully, it creates a ripple effect throughout the community. “When a new world champion emerges and he emphasizes certain moves, everyone follows the fashion,” Danaher observed.
During the conversation, Marcel Garcia was mentioned as an example of such influential figures in the sport, though Danaher indicated there are “other people too” who have shaped Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s evolving landscape.
This perspective from one of the sport’s most respected coaches offers valuable insight into how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu continues to develop and adapt through the influence of its successful practitioners.
Danaher’s biggest gift is predicting BJJ trends years in advance, Bodoni claims
Bodoni revealed that Danaher has an uncanny ability to foresee developments in Jiu-Jitsu techniques and strategies. “He’s legitimately predicted two years ago like in 6 months people are going to be doing this, in a year people are going to be doing that, and it happens,” Bodoni explained. This foresight allows Danaher to prepare his athletes for future challenges, ensuring they’re always at the forefront of the sport’s evolution.
One of the key strategies Danaher employs is focusing on what’s next, rather than what’s currently trending. Bodoni noted, “If there’s an ankle lock trend, we’re not just doing it while everybody else is doing it.” Instead, Danaher has his team working on counters and new techniques that will give them an edge when the rest of the Jiu-Jitsu world catches up.
Danaher’s approach isn’t just about short-term gains. Bodoni emphasized the coach’s commitment to long-term planning, stating that Danaher often thinks five years ahead. This long-term vision allows for incremental improvements that build up to significant advancements over time.
John Danaher’s Systematic Revolution in Jiu-Jitsu
During an episode of the Giancarlo Bodoni Podcast, featuring Taza the two detailed how John Danaher has transformed the language and methodology of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. According to Bodoni, Danaher introduced terminology and frameworks that have redefined how practitioners understand and teach the sport.
“Everybody uses John’s terminology, John’s systems,” Taza remarked. “I never heard the word system in my life until John started becoming popular. Then everybody’s like ‘oh this is my system, this is the system.'”
Danaher’s influence extends to precise positional descriptions like “chest-to-chest” and “chest-to-back” positions, replacing more generalized terms such as “half guard” and “back control.” Taza emphasized how this approach brought clarity and specificity, enabling practitioners to discuss and refine techniques with greater precision.
Beyond terminology, Danaher’s humility stands out. Taza recalled,
“I’ve never heard him say in like the almost 10 years I’ve been training with him…’I came up with this’ or ‘I invented this.'”
Instead, Danaher adopts a collaborative and experimental teaching style, openly acknowledging when a technique requires improvement. But his use of particular terminology still gets frequently questioned by outsiders. Just recently, Catch wrestling account got a lot of heat for criticizing Danaher’s renaming of Americana to V lock.
It’s worth mentioning that cults often manipulate language as a tool for indoctrination, rebranding common terms or creating unique jargon to establish a sense of exclusivity and control. By renaming concepts or redefining familiar ideas, cult leaders isolate members from external influences and create an “us versus them” mentality. These linguistic changes serve several psychological purposes: they foster group identity, make the ideology seem novel or revolutionary, and subtly alter the way members think and communicate. Over time, the specialized language embeds itself into the members’ worldview, reinforcing loyalty and dependency. The deliberate manipulation of language ensures that members interpret the world through the cult’s perspective, making it harder to critically evaluate or break away from its doctrines.
