From memory of the post (I've only read it once when it was originally posted on social media) he did give Davila his due in that he did accept he beat grapplers like baret Yoshida to advance.
Why John Danaher Refused to Shake Hands with Mike Davila at EBI
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From memory of the post (I've only read it once when it was originally posted on social media) he did give Davila his due in that he did accept he beat grapplers like baret Yoshida to advance.
Is it like practice?!?!?!?!
That would be correct and I think as most have agreed, if Davila has more eyes on him, he gets the nod. why else would the likes of Kimbo (RIP) and Brock get a shot right?
Even in most pro combat sport circuits, the promoters go to the coaches/agents/managers (in smaller shows, usually the coaches) and ask "Do you have a guy?" It's a bit of a invite for names for slots. Ultimatley, it's the promoter that gets a say who gets a slot on his show, but the coaches usually get a say as well... Just in case, in the future when you need your back scratched the other way (usually got a last minute spot) the coach turns around and goes "eff off".
It's a lot of politics.
I think he's accepted that he was not repping the school. He was upset as what was perceived to be a denial on lineage. Like Davila walked in and pretty much said "I am and have been MGA for life"
I think that's BS too though all due respect to you.
They kicked him out far enough ahead of the event where the man needed another place to prep and train. Marcelo took that man in, so what other academy was he going to represent? Marcelo and his crew helped Davila prep for the final stretch so it would be equally odd to not represent them.
What all you have is patches and logos on your gear, how can you realistically rep or pay homage to a lineage/academy that you've been booted from. EBI doesn't give microphone time to anyone except for the winner and the runner up. Eddie Cummings and Bill Cooper were the only ones that got a chance to speak that night. Who is to say that Davila wouldn't have said something about his original instructor if he had made it to the finals?
Danaher was upset over 1 thing. He wants full control his team, and Eddie Bravo invited Davila and when wasn't up to Danaher anymore, he said to Davila "You don't deserve to be there, and you can either go and and get the boot, or you can stay and not accept the invite" and as a 34 year old athlete in a sport where careers are short and money is
Do you follow him? If you take such great offence to him and his thoughts, why follow?
I for one think he's been very good and explaining concepts and it's the part of jiujitsu I enjoy the most. But that's just me
I agree with you. The man didn't have much of a choice. If he wanted to compete, he needed to train and you don't garage jiu jitsu your way to a match against the likes of Cummins, Cooper and Yoshida.
The high rooad would've been Tyson (and to a lesser degree GSP when UFC shiut out Affliction) and go all black but that doesn't get one paid from sponsors (against unless you're GSP and it's Affliction paying for advertising space they can't use so that no one else can use it).
If he took people away from the small satellite, I'm not too keen on that. "It's one thing to say I'll be there if you want me" vs "I'm there. You guys all need to go there with me". At the end, each individual has a choice, but to actively lobby, that's cold in my books
I agree with you. To each his own. Some people like being the 3rd string yankee shortstop cos it means they get to pull on pinstripes every day (being part of the team), others don't mind suiting up for the Pirates (last year notwoithstanding) just so they can play (take part).
He might have killers that just own the smaller events that none of us really take notice of
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We talkin' 'bout practice!
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i don't follow him either, and i know his posts are rubbish.
i think he's excellent at teaching jiu jitsu, too. but that has absolutely nothing to do with him being an arrogant, self-centered asshole.
I am surprised to see so much criticism of Johns explanation on here.
Which after reading all the comments is partly a good thing. I have heard some valid points that I hadnt thought of myself and that make sense. But partly I feel Danaher is criticized kind of harshly here.
Coming from an oldschool mentality gym myself, with a teacher who didnt care for his students that much but mostly cared about money and his own comfort, I understand the negative aspects of this cult like thing.
But in Danaher's case, he has traditional views of what a martial artist should be like, and how the relationship with teacher and student should be (sort of like master and follower). But he is also providing his students with a ton of value in that he is really improving their games a lot, and enriching their lives with life lessons. So is it too much to ask this one thing in return?
Perhaps in this case, because of the guys age, and he felt like he had to take his chance at this EBI, the situation with having to leave his team was unavoidable. I once read something in Robert Greene's book "Mastery" about how every student and teacher eventually come to a breaking point when the student has learnt a lot already and decides to do things differently from what his teacher has in mind.
How do you guys think the modern brazilian jiu jitsu school should be run different from the way Danaher does, the relationship between students and teachers, what should it be like? (is the master and follower a bad thing always? it is probably the way in which most people in history have learnt a craft, and might be the most efficient and effective way for people to learn. But it can lead to bad situations when you have leaders/masters who take advantage of their position of power, look at team lloyd irvin problems and Scientology, for those of you who have seen that "going clear" documentary)
Should Jiu jitsu be a place where people just learn techniques only and nothing else? (I once went to this Philosophy course where the lecturer talked about how in olden days the church played a big part of society, people got something from there, some sort of life advice and emotional support/feeling of belonging, the priest would lecture people on how to live life, that all vanished after societies became more and more secular. Universities tried to take the place of what churches once were, but only through learning. There was still an emotional- and how-to-live-life- void. The reason I think Jiu jitsu is so succesful is partly because it is playing into filling that void.)
Which Jiu jitsu school has got it just right?
Which after reading all the comments is partly a good thing. I have heard some valid points that I hadnt thought of myself and that make sense. But partly I feel Danaher is criticized kind of harshly here.
Coming from an oldschool mentality gym myself, with a teacher who didnt care for his students that much but mostly cared about money and his own comfort, I understand the negative aspects of this cult like thing.
But in Danaher's case, he has traditional views of what a martial artist should be like, and how the relationship with teacher and student should be (sort of like master and follower). But he is also providing his students with a ton of value in that he is really improving their games a lot, and enriching their lives with life lessons. So is it too much to ask this one thing in return?
Perhaps in this case, because of the guys age, and he felt like he had to take his chance at this EBI, the situation with having to leave his team was unavoidable. I once read something in Robert Greene's book "Mastery" about how every student and teacher eventually come to a breaking point when the student has learnt a lot already and decides to do things differently from what his teacher has in mind.
How do you guys think the modern brazilian jiu jitsu school should be run different from the way Danaher does, the relationship between students and teachers, what should it be like? (is the master and follower a bad thing always? it is probably the way in which most people in history have learnt a craft, and might be the most efficient and effective way for people to learn. But it can lead to bad situations when you have leaders/masters who take advantage of their position of power, look at team lloyd irvin problems and Scientology, for those of you who have seen that "going clear" documentary)
Should Jiu jitsu be a place where people just learn techniques only and nothing else? (I once went to this Philosophy course where the lecturer talked about how in olden days the church played a big part of society, people got something from there, some sort of life advice and emotional support/feeling of belonging, the priest would lecture people on how to live life, that all vanished after societies became more and more secular. Universities tried to take the place of what churches once were, but only through learning. There was still an emotional- and how-to-live-life- void. The reason I think Jiu jitsu is so succesful is partly because it is playing into filling that void.)
Which Jiu jitsu school has got it just right?
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Why the fuck would I want to learn "life lessons" from people whose qualification is that they're good at strangling people?
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Danaher spelled it out pretty clearly. Davila did not respect his team or his coaches, he just dove on the EBI Hollywood rainbow dream behind his coaches' and teammates' backs. He didn't care how disruptive it would be to them or the school, he just wanted the limelight for himself, even after all that was done for him to get him to reach this point in his martial art journey.
Wins & losses don't determine who is right, nor do they mete out justice; that said, I'm glad Davila got choked.
#ImWith(Dana)Her
Wins & losses don't determine who is right, nor do they mete out justice; that said, I'm glad Davila got choked.
#ImWith(Dana)Her
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yes, it is too much to ask this one thing in return.
and how do you know that danaher is enriching davila's life with his life lessons?
in fact, what are these life lessons?
this pseudo-spiritual bullshit about masters and students, life lessons from your sensei, about how some guys are your superiors simply because they're better than you at jiu jitsu... this is the perfect breeding ground for cults. not to say that you can't have a relationship with your coach that transcends him teaching you how to break someone's arm, you totally can. my coach is one of my best friends. but he would've been that even if he didn't kick my ass in training, and he does not demand obedience from me in any way, other than what we do in training. and even there, it's hardly his way or the highway.
i can't believe people are actually defending danaher's actions here. dude is an arrogant psycho, but because he's a bit of a BJJ celebrity, people are eating up his samurai bullshit.
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The students being kicked out of the school when they cheered for a friend of theirs changes a lot of things in my mind. I was not totally on board what Danaher did, but I respected that he had some cohesion problems with the team. I guarantee someone was pissed, being a little bitch and felt like Davila took their spot. That's in house politics. I can respect that. This removing students for being disrespectful because they cheered for their friend. I really don't know what to say. It's fucked up and wrong.
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Keenan Cornelius is awesome. There's a thread on another forum that's called "Will there ever be a Danaher Death Squad killer?"
Keenan replied:
"I think I can beat them all. I have beaten Garry 6 times, 3x of which were sub only no time limit and I'm fighting Gordon next month. I will be coming for Eddie soon after.
I said "I think" to be polite but I actually know that can beat all of them."
Keenan replied:
"I think I can beat them all. I have beaten Garry 6 times, 3x of which were sub only no time limit and I'm fighting Gordon next month. I will be coming for Eddie soon after.
I said "I think" to be polite but I actually know that can beat all of them."
He also yearns to go back to the days where information is kept secret and not shared which is surprising. I get that the guy isn't used to social media yet and I've heard that he's new to having a smart phone let alone a facebook account. But wanting to hoard and protect this leg lock system and go after people that make youtube videos breaking down their matches is crazy. You can't stop people from being interested in what you're teaching, and pretending you can stop people from making youtube videos on your leg lock system is half silly and half insane.
That's a misunderstanding of the situation but fair enough. Davila told everyone about the invite and there were no teammate's spots that he took. Eddie Bravo invited Cummings, Davila and no one else. They gave Davila the ultimatum and Davila made a decision. He didn't moan and whine about it or ask for any of this to be talked about. Danaher is the one coming off defensive by writing a college thesis on why he didn't shake a man's hand.
If you saw Davila's reply to Danaher it was short and sweet and respectful:
"I have not nor have I ever lied, cheated, or taken advantage of anyone to get anywhere in life or jujitsu. As for John Danher, I have the utmost respect for him, but he has no clue how hard I work, the sacrifices I make, or the extent of the 6 year relationship I had with both my professor and the bronx academy.
This entire situation has never been about EBI. This has always been about me wanting to go to the next level and being told I didnt deserve it. Even after being told I wouldnt make it out the first round, I made it to the semi finals proving to myself and others that I can be a contender. I dont fear failure, I fear not trying.
I encourage others to follow their dreams, to push boundaries and take risks. Never allow anyone to tell you your not good enough, life is too short and opportunities are not guaranteed."
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Is it true Danaher is the one behind trying to keep the system secret?
I just saw Garry Tonon crucifying the guy who made that leg lock youtube series.
And these deathsquad guys are doing seminars so the system cant be that much of a secret.
