It’s no secret that Craig Jones made the move all the way from Australia to New York in order to start training under the watchful eye of John Danaher, but now he’s finally given a full explanation as to why. Not only did he move to the opposite side of the world originally, but he also joined several other elite grapplers like Gordon Ryan, Nicky Rodriguez, and Ethan Crelinsten when the entire Danaher Death Squad decided to relocate to Puerto Rico. Jones recently explained the value behind Danaher as a coach in an episode of Inside Position, a podcast hosted by Combat Jiu Jitsu World Champion Tom Halpin, and the full episode was uploaded to Halpin’s official YouTube Channel.
“I feel like he’s the only real coach in Jiu-Jitsu… Having John (Danaher) as your corner, I feel like he’s the only real coach in jiu jitsu. Everyone else’s instructor trains with them, and very rarely watches them roll. Whereas with John, he’s got a messed up hip and knee, so he just watches us roll every time”
Not only is there this immense value in Danaher’s need to stay out of rolling, but Jones also explained the process that he and all of the other athletes are put through during the buildup to any event they compete at:
“What helps me so much at the event, say Who’s Number One, we’ll get there two days before and we won’t roll for the two days before. He’ll just give us specific drills and sequences based on the rule set we’re in. He sort of takes the thought process out of it”
Of course, John Danaher is known for his incredibly analytical approach to grappling and Craig Jones explains that this even extends to competition preparation as well:
“He runs us through a mini system of our gameplan for the match, and we just drill that 2 days before, day before, day of. So when I walk out there, I know exactly what our gameplan is. I know exactly what I need to do, so he takes the thought process out of it”
To listen through other episodes of the Inside Position podcast, click here.
