John Danaher is known for helping to bring what was long-considered one of the most dangerous techniques in Jiu-Jitsu to the forefront of modern grappling, the Heelhook. Despite this, his gym is not a no-holds-barred area and he opened up on the fact that he has actually banned three different techniques from his gym. In the below video, taken as an excerpt from the much longer version here, he explains exactly what these techniques are and why he has banned them from Renzo Gracie New York.
John Danaher gives his list of banned techniques as:
- Jumping to Closed Guard.
- Kani Basami (The Scissor Takedown).
- Tani Otoshi.
He explains that the vast majority of the injuries that he sees in this sport are actually entirely avoidable and while some injuries will always happen, he believes that the above three techniques are responsible for most of these avoidable injuries. Jumping to Closed Guard is banned in most gyms for the exact reason that Danaher explains, that both partners are constantly moving and jumping with your hips onto your partner is entirely uncontrolled falling body weight landing on their hips and potentially knees.
He also explains that he applies the same logic to Kani Basami, as this is one grappler jumping onto the legs of another as opposed to falling to the ground directly into a submission. The only real surprise in his list of banned techniques is Tani Otoshi, as this is a relatively common throw seen in Judo clubs around the world. He explains in more detail however that it’s not the throw itself that he bans, but the throw when done from a specific position that he believes drastically increases the chance of causing injury.
Regardless of whether you’d agree or disagree with his list of banned techniques, it’s easy to see that he’s doing something right after producing an ADCC Double Champion in Gordon Ryan.
Stupidity is a force unto itself.