Super teams have been a big part of combat sports. Bringing together the top fighters is the epitome of the saying iron sharpens iron, and no single team has been better in BJJ than the Danaher Death Squad. But, like everything, it had a beginning and an end. In 2021, the team split, ending an era of submission grappling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s see what, when, and why it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July 2021, after years of dominating the submission grappling world, the founder of The Danaher Death Squad, legendary coach John Danaher, and one of the greatest minds in martial arts announced the team was splitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is all the information we initially had courtesy of Danaher’s Instagram post:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is with great sadness that I have to announce the breakup of the squad as a unified training and competition team,\u201d <\/em>Danaher said in his post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA combination of factors revolving around disagreements in the physical location of a future school, personality conflicts, conflicting values and an inevitable tension between the team brand and the growing individual brands of members were the main factors.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the other members also issued vague statements with no full reasons behind the unexpected split other than its final and permanent. More than a year later, we had more details, some of which confirmed the many speculations around the big event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But why was the split such a big deal? Because the team was the most dominant force the sport has ever seen. John Danaher led the team of Gordon Ryan, Eddie Cummings, Craig Jones, Garry Tonon, Nick Rodriguez, Nicky Ryan, and many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The foundations of the team were built by Danaher, who started teaching at the Renzo Gracie Academy in 2011. He was the first man to create and systemize a complete system of leg locks in BJJ competition, which completely revolutionized the sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The infamous Leg Lock system consists of an elaborate system of leg entanglements (Ashi Garami), which inevitably leads to a leg lock finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Danaher has always stood out with his philosophy in the sport, and he is the main reason the DDS has had such an enormous impact and won so many accolades over the years. He dedicated himself fully to BJJ, and the results are undeniable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He teaches the philosophy of an active but highly methodical game, always looking for submissions and not playing for points, and his students are a testament to that, with every one of them having a very high submission percentage. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat Is The Danaher Death Squad<\/h2>\n\n\n\n