In a recent episode of the BJJ Fanatics Podcast, long-time John Danaher student and black belt Brian Glick shared insights about Danaher‘s recent decision to step back from his primary teaching role at New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, with Gordon Ryan stepping up to fill the position.
According to Glick, Danaher has always emphasized teaching as a critical component for his top students, not just technical proficiency or competitive success.
“It’s not enough to simply be high caliber performers, to be high caliber athletes, to be able to perform well under pressure, to do well in these big shows,” Glick explained. “It’s also not necessarily been enough to simply be technically proficient to have a mastery of techniques and tactics. Teaching has always been a critical component for him among his top tier guys.”
This focus on teaching has been instrumental in preparing for the current transition, as Glick notes:
“He’s set up this kind of succession for the last two decades. He’s really been prepping and preparing for his students to be able to share not only his methodology and his philosophy and his approach, but to be able to, if needed, step in to serve as a proxy.”
Glick expressed confidence in Gordon Ryan‘s ability to take over the leadership role, highlighting Ryan‘s exceptional understanding of the system.
“Gordon would be the first person to say that there is no replacing Danaher,” Glick said. “But no one is better suited than Gordon to take over that position.”
What makes Ryan particularly qualified, according to Glick, is his ability to articulate the system coherently:
“Being a black belt athlete is not the same as being a black belt instructor. Gordon is one of those guys who is able to narrate, able to articulate the system very, very well.”
Glick emphasized that the transition isn’t solely reliant on Gordon Ryan, noting several other highly capable instructors at New Wave:
“Between Nicholas and Giancarlo and Gordon, I mean, there isn’t a better group of people I could think of to take over or to kind of serve as proxy for Danaher as he moved into whatever this phase is now, where he’s kind of taking a well-deserved step back.”
He specifically mentioned Gary Tonon, who “has been there forever and is as excellent a teacher as they come,” and Giancarlo Bodoni, who has “really taken off” with his instructional abilities improving alongside his competitive success.
One of the key factors enabling this transition, Glick believes, is Danaher‘s systematic approach to jiu-jitsu.
“The systematic nature of how Danaher approaches jiu-jitsu… makes it so that not only is it broadly applicable, but you end up with a system not only of practice, but a system of teaching that’s also possible to pass down.”
This contrasts with personality-based instruction, which Glick notes is:
“…difficult to do that, to teach another person how to transmit what’s going on if what they have to teach is personality rather than a system.”
Despite stepping back from his primary teaching role, Glick believes Danaher will remain involved.
“I think he’s going to still be a very active participant, even if he’s not playing the same kind of forward-facing role that he has been with directly coaching or playing the same level of detail with the athletes day to day. I still think he’s going to be operating somewhere in the background.”
The transition appears to be part of a natural evolution for the team, with Glick noting:
“Everybody’s life follows a trend… you have periods where you’re very active and then you have periods where you’re less active. And I think for him to be slowing down a little bit is pretty normal.”
As New Wave Jiu-Jitsu enters this new chapter, the foundation laid by Danaher‘s systematic approach to teaching seems to have prepared his team well for continued success under Gordon Ryan‘s leadership.
