Gordon Ryan set out a goal some time ago  – to conquer double gold at ADCC. At ADCC 2017 he was just shy of complete success as he managed to win the 88kg division and get silver in absolute. He attained that goal in 2019.

He’s sharing some great details and concepts in a full length interview with dirtywhitebelt podcast. In it Ryan explains why is it that John Danaher is able to give his students the edge that no other coach is:

First of all he doesn’t have a kid, a wife, a family, he doesn’t even compete so the only thing he has to focus on is his students vs other great coaches like Andre Galvao, Cyborg, Marcelo Garcia things like that – they’re all great coaches but they all also have competitive aspirations of their own. So competitors tend to be selfish people cause Andre Galvao wants to win black belt Worlds  he also wants his students to win black belt worlds there’s a split between himself and his students whereas John doesn’t have that – everything he does is just for us.

Know how you intend to win and practice relentlessly: Here is a photo of Georges St-Pierre practicing the very elbow strike to strangulation sequence on the ground against his opponents guard position on Saturday afternoon November 4 at 3pm in Madison Square Garden that would lead to victory that same night. This was part of his grappleboxing program design to create enough pressure to force an experienced and mentally tough opponent like Michael Bisping to turn and expose his back to a stranglehold. Here we work the sequence from elbows to strangle in front of empty seats and curious construction workers as they prepare the arena for the big show. Around eight hours later, Mr St-Pierre would perform exactly this sequence in front of a packed audience under the lights and cameras. It is critical the athlete have a strong plan of attack and the means to enact it. Improvisation is a wonderful thing to observe, but so is a well conceived plan backed by a training program that builds the skills and tactics required to make it work when everything is on the line. Clarity of purpose is crucial in professional fighting. This marriage of ground striking with submission was the focus of ground training in this camp and this was the last training session before the event, held in the actual cage where it would all transpire in front of the world.

A post shared by John Danaher (@danaherjohn) on Nov 11, 2017 at 1:24pm PST

You can listen to the entire episode of the excellent podcast below:

In Gordon Ryan’s first ADCC, he won gold in his weight class and silver in absolute. At just 22 years old, he’s cemented his status among the best nogi grapplers in the world — and now he’s headed to the gi divisions. We talk with him about who the toughest person he’s ever rolled with is; who the best non-Danaher leg lock guy is, in his opinion — and how far ahead the DDS is of everyone else in playing that game; and the real reason he incorporated strength training into his routine. Plus, we get some intricate technical details on the finishes he used at ADCC.