Georges St-Pierre recently reflected on how his journey into BJJ began…

And why John Danaher became one of the most influential figures in his career.

According to St-Pierre, his fascination with Jiu-Jitsu started after watching Royce Gracie win the early UFC tournaments on VHS.
Determined to learn the art, St-Pierre searched for training opportunities and eventually traveled from Montreal to New York to train.

The trip was far from glamorous, as he was driving an old car and had very little money.
But when he finally arrived, reality hit hard.

Instructor Sean Williams submitted him five times in five minutes, leaving the future UFC champion questioning whether his dream was even realistic.
Despite the discouraging experience, St-Pierre kept returning to New York to train.

Those repeated trips eventually introduced him to Danaher:

I met John Danaher, my Jiu-Jitsu instructor who is phenomenal.

I think of all my trainers, in terms of the structure, the protocols, the way he teaches, he is just probably the best.

He credited Danaher’s academic background for helping make him such an effective instructor;

Because of his academic background, he’s a PhD in philosophy. He’s just unbelievable as a teacher.

Most importantly, St-Pierre explained that Danaher taught him a version of BJJ specifically designed for MMA rather than sport competition:

He taught me the way I learned Jiu-Jitsu. It was for mixed martial arts.

Everything he taught me was good to incorporate into martial art.

St-Pierre noted that many techniques commonly taught in sport BJJ do not always translate effectively to MMA, which is why Danaher’s approach proved so valuable:

But the way he taught me the game that I have, it was coming from him, and it was for mixed martial arts.

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