Gordon Ryan spoke recently about what it’s like rolling with DDS Squad founder, John Danaher. Understandably, Danaher doesn’t train as much or as competitively as he would’ve in his youth as a hip replacement and frequent knee issues have taken their toll on his body. Regardless of any physical issues that he might be struggling with, Ryan confirmed that John Danaher is still more technically skilled than he is and is still able to win the majority of sequences even when rolling with the king himself. This makes sense seeing as Danaher is known for analyzing every single position and maximizing his opportunities for success in each one.

“The last time I trained with @Danaherjohn it was roughly 3 years ago and I was a 2 time EBI Champion at the time. When we trained I thought to myself “wtf was that? this guys so good”. Keep in mind this was months after his complete hip replacement. Today we did roughly 20 minutes of half guard situation fought on a hard technical (not overly physical since his hip can dislocate at any time and his knee has 0 stability in any direction) level and I’m both slightly shocked and insanely happy that he is still considerably better than me on a technical level. We fought technical battles that 100% of other human beings don’t even know exist today and he won a majority of them. Most people think their coach is very good. I’m the undisputed greatest No Gi grappler in the world and I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart… he’s considerably better than me. It’s such a luxury to have someone by my side who chases perfection as I do. I couldn’t be more thankful to have the greatest submission grappler ever as my coach. @Ouchmedical.” Gordon Ryan on Rolling with John Danaher

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