The Question That Changed Jiu Jitsu

This week, the inimitable John Danaher sat down with Joe Rogan on the wildly successful Joe Rogan Experience Podcast to share his thoughts on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA.  John Danaher is the much sought after grappling coach of MMA legend Georges St. Pierre and the leader of the aptly named Danaher Death Squad, made up primarily by Garry Tonon, Gordon Ryan, his brother Nicky Ryan, Oliver Taza and others.

During the podcast, John was recalling the course of his career and how he had become one of the leading experts on the controversial area of leg submissions.  He recalled a story, featuring the one and only Dean Lister who had been visiting the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City as a brown belt.  During their interactions, John was asked a question that changed the entire course of his BJJ and coaching career.

"Why would you ignore 50% of the human body?"--Dean Lister

After observing Dean Lister during training, John had some questions for Dean about his use of achilles locks and in answering, Dean asked the question above which totally changed Danaher's outlook on grappling and ultimately led to the systematic approach that would eventually birth the team of leg lock specialists in the Renzo Gracie NYC basement.  Up until that time, for Danaher who had come up in the ranks of Team Renzo Gracie with the likes of fellow instructors like Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida and others, had primarily seen the path or goal of Braziliian Jiu Jitsu to be get around the legs by passing the guard, secure upper body control, move through a hierarchy of control techniques and ultimately submit the opponent.  There was nowhere in that system that leg locks had a place.

Check out John Danaher on the full JRE podcast episode below.  The episode is an absolute must listen to get inside the mind of a true mad scientist of submission grappling who has helped shaped and molded the likes of Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon, as well as the grappling of Georges St. Pierre and Chris Weidman.

Dean is one of the most successful American grapplers in history.  He has competed in the Olympics of grappling, the coveted ADCC championships on six different occasions.  He has fought MMA in both the Pride FC and UFC promotions.  He continues to be sought throughout the world to teach seminars and teaches at his home academy in San Diego, Victory MMA.

Dean Lister is a pioneer in the leg submission game taking many of his lower body submission cues from the world of sambo and developing them for his leg attack system.  John Danaher is currently considered one of the premiere black belt instructors and tactical coaches on the planet.  It can be argued that without the influence of the casual question about ignoring the lower body, the world might not have the likes of Eddie Cummings, Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon out there wrecking havoc on lower extremities.

Think of all of the up and coming grappling superstars that will hear Danaher's story and again be influenced by the OG of American leg attacks, Dean Lister.

Take advantage of this opportunity to get yourself Dean Lister's original K.A.T.C.H. leg attack system, here available in 4 DVD volumes from BJJ Fanatics!  This best-selling series will take you from no leg submission knowledge to a solid system that will have you wrecking legs before you know it.