John Danaher always gives advice out to the public and on a myriad of topics, this time though he’s decided to speak about women in BJJ and how they can find it easiest to overcome the size and strength difference they will find against most men. As always, he gave the advice in a post on his official Instagram account in the form of an observation on women training in the sport. As he explains, women are almost always in the minority in a BJJ gym and as such, they will often have to train with and spar against men.
Of course, this means that they will frequently come up against people who have a significant size advantage and even if they manage to find a regular supply of male training partners around the same size, there will still be a noticeable strength advantage to overcome anyway. As John Danaher points out, because women will have to overcome these inherent advantages, it makes logical sense to be a little more selective in the submissions that they attempt. He also explains how he adapts this advice slightly in order to suit lighter-weight men, who will also often find themselves coming up against training partners with significant size and strength advantages.
He explains that he always recommends taking the back and fighting for a rear-naked choke when men take on opponents that are bigger than them, but that still relies on the gripfighting being won, which can be difficult with the upper body-strength discrepancy between men and women. As such, he recommends women become proficient in the heelhook first and foremost, and secondly to become proficient in the triangle choke from the back, in order to negate the strength difference as effectively as possible.
For the women or men looking to train with John Danaher as soon as possible, fear not as his new Puerto Rico gym is due to open by March 2021!
