John Danaher is widely regarded as one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coaches in history.
It seems that almost anyone who trains under him, becomes extremely good at Jiu-Jitsu… If not great. If not a world champion.
Nevertheless, Danaher has two types of students who he enjoys working with the most. And yet, they are total opposites:
I’m happy teaching pretty much anyone; but, probably, my two favorite coaching situations are polar opposites of each other.
I love to teach the fundamentals of the sport to total beginners, and I love to teach advanced athletes the nuances that can take them from good to great.
However, Danaher emphasizes that the best students have to possess something that he cannot give to them – passion:
Interestingly, the best students must bring to me the one thing I can never give to them – passion for Jiu Jitsu. That must come from within them.
If it’s there, they can do incredible things over time, and if it is not, then no amount of coaching will help them.
He credits all of his success to his students’ successes:
I should add at this point that, throughout my career, I have been blessed with many truly outstanding students who made my task a real pleasure.
All were deeply passionate about the sport and technical innovators and extraordinarily hard workers.You must remember that I never competed in Jiu Jitsu and so have no achievements of my own – I owe everything to my students.
Read our entire interview with John Danaher on the following link.
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