New Wave Jiu-Jitsu: The Anatomy of a Modern No-Gi Dynasty

The New Wave phenomenon

Since launching in 2021, New Wave Jiu-Jitsu has dominated the top of professional no-gi grappling. The team is based in Austin, Texas, coached by John Danaher, and stands alongside its main rival B-Team Jiu-Jitsu as one of the two teams shaping the modern competitive landscape.

The accolades came fast. Jits Magazine named them Gym of the Year in 2022. ADCC golds followed in both 2022 and 2024. WNO titles, IBJJF No-Gi medals and a near-perfect win rate in superfight grappling have followed since.

The team rose from the dissolution of the Danaher Death Squad (DDS) in July 2021. After a short Puerto Rico chapter and a series of logistical, philosophical and personality clashes, the DDS split. From the breakup came two powerhouses, both choosing Austin as their base:

• New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, founded by Danaher, Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon
• B-Team Jiu-Jitsu, founded by Craig Jones and Nick Rodriguez

For more on the team's formation, see our earlier piece on the New Wave Jiu-Jitsu team. This article goes deeper on the current state of the team: coaching, roster, rising prospects, system and outlook.

That split was a catalyst rather than an ending. Two elite teams in the same city created an unprecedented concentration of talent and a built-in rivalry, which has accelerated Austin's transformation into the global capital of no-gi grappling.

What is most telling: New Wave hit the top of the sport despite losing several DDS members to B-Team. The coaching system and the gravity of the remaining core, particularly Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon, were strong enough to absorb the departures and still attract new world-class talent.

The architect: John Danaher's vision in Austin

At the heart of New Wave is John Danaher, a 6th-degree black belt under Renzo Gracie and one of the most respected minds in combat sports. Born in the US, raised in New Zealand, he arrived in New York for a Ph.D. in philosophy at Columbia before finding his calling in jiu-jitsu. He never built a competitive career of his own, but his analytical, systematic approach to teaching has produced an unbroken line of champions for over a decade.

Danaher's coaching philosophy is famously methodical. He treats jiu-jitsu as a problem-solving discipline, breaking complex positions into first principles and building interconnected systems for offence and defence. He is best known for the leg-lock revolution, but his back-attack, front-headlock and arm-attack systems are equally important to his teams' results. Underpinning it all is "kaizen", the principle of continuous, small improvement.

Where they train

The team operates out of Renzo Gracie Austin, sharing the facility while maintaining a distinct identity. Outside drop-ins for specific New Wave sessions are restricted and priced at a premium, reflecting a small, focused training room rather than a public academy. There has been ongoing speculation about a dedicated New Wave gym opening in North Austin, but at the time of writing nothing is public.

Danaher's health and the future

In early 2025, Danaher revealed that an upcoming major surgery might force a shift in his coaching focus, possibly stepping back from the daily demands of elite competition coaching. The systems he has built are robust, and Gordon Ryan himself is now a serious instructor. But Danaher's daily oversight remains a real edge for the team, and any reduction in that role is a legitimate question mark for the future.

His extensive instructional library on platforms like BJJ Fanatics plays a strategic role beyond revenue. It familiarises grapplers worldwide with his style and acts as a kind of pre-qualification for anyone who eventually wants to train under him in person.

The vanguard: New Wave's established superstars

The competitive engine of New Wave is powered by a small group of elite athletes, most of whom transitioned from the DDS, plus significant new additions who have thrived in Austin.

Gordon Ryan ("The King")

Widely considered the greatest no-gi grappler of all time, Gordon Ryan is the centrepiece of the team. His resume includes:

• Seven ADCC World Championship titles (88 kg, 99 kg, +99 kg and Absolute)
• Three IBJJF No-Gi World titles, including double gold years
• Four EBI crowns
• WNO Heavyweight Champion with multiple defences against Felipe Pena, Josh Saunders and Yuri Simões

Despite recurring health issues that have caused long periods of inactivity, Ryan still competes at the highest level when healthy and set a points record in his Simões win. His social-media presence is also part of the New Wave story.

Garry Tonon

A founding member of New Wave and a DDS original, Garry Tonon brings veteran experience and one of the most exciting grappling styles in the sport. He is an EBI champion and ADCC veteran. In recent years his focus has split between grappling and MMA in ONE Championship, where he has challenged for a world title. He competed for New Wave at ADCC 2024 alongside his MMA schedule.

Nicholas Meregali

The most impactful addition since the team launched. Meregali moved to New Wave in early 2022 to convert his elite gi credentials into a no-gi career under Danaher. He was already a multiple-time IBJJF World Champion in the gi at Alliance and Dream Art, and the transition has been ruthless:

• ADCC 2022: Bronze at 99 kg, Silver in the Absolute
• WNO wins over Arnaldo Maidana, Rafael Lovato Jr. and Kaynan Duarte
• A long-running rivalry with B-Team's Nick Rodriguez

His technical guard work and increasingly potent submission game make him one of the most dangerous middleweight no-gi grapplers in the world.

Giancarlo Bodoni

Another athlete whose career took off after joining New Wave. Bodoni arrived in Austin in 2021 after receiving his black belt from Lucas Lepri. Highlights:

• Back-to-back ADCC 88 kg World Champion (2022 and 2024), winning the 2022 title without conceding a point
• IBJJF No-Gi World Champion at brown belt
• IBJJF Pan No-Gi titles
• Signed with ONE Championship for his submission-grappling debut

Bodoni is known for his pressure-passing and surgical back-takes, both textbook applications of the Danaher system.

Oliver Taza

A Lebanese-Canadian black belt with roots at Tristar Gym under Firas Zahabi, Taza was a DDS member who transitioned to New Wave. He is a leg-lock specialist with strong ADCC trials results and is a regular fixture on the team's competition roster.

Recent highlights (2022 to present)

Athlete	Key achievements	Recent activity
Gordon Ryan	ADCC +99 kg and Absolute Champion (2022), WNO Heavyweight Champion with defences vs Pena, Saunders, Simões	Continued WNO defences when healthy, ongoing management of health issues, expected CJI 2 entry
Garry Tonon	ADCC competitor (2022 and 2024), ONE Championship MMA title challenger	Active in both elite grappling and MMA
Nicholas Meregali	ADCC 99 kg Bronze and Absolute Silver (2022), WNO wins over Maidana, Lovato Jr., Duarte	Top no-gi contender, ongoing Nick Rodriguez rivalry
Giancarlo Bodoni	ADCC 88 kg Champion (2022 and 2024), IBJJF No-Gi Pan Champion	Signed with ONE Championship
Oliver Taza	ADCC competitor (2022 and 2024), ADCC Trials medallist	Continued competition presence at major events

The Meregali transition is the clearest validation of Danaher's system to date. Taking an athlete already at the top of the gi world and turning him into an ADCC medallist in his no-gi debut is not luck. It is a system that exports.

The horizon: rising stars and future champions

New Wave is not only its current superstars. The team has built a deliberate pipeline of younger athletes who will carry the dynasty forward.

Luke Griffith

South African heavyweight Luke Griffith rose fast after joining New Wave. He won the 2022 ADCC European, Middle Eastern and African Trials, competed at multiple ADCC World Championships, and was undefeated on the WNO stage as of early 2025. Danaher promoted him to black belt in April 2025. He is one of the top heavyweight prospects in the sport.

Daniel Manasoiu

"Big Dan" stands 6 ft 7 in and weighs around 270 lb. He finished runner-up at the West Coast Trials and won the second European Trials to qualify for ADCC 2022. His sheer physical profile combined with the Danaher system makes him a unique problem in the heaviest weight class.

Helena Crevar

A generational talent who joined New Wave as a teenager in late 2022. She medalled at the 2024 ADCC World Championships and was promoted to brown belt by Danaher in December 2024. She is a major figure for the future of women's grappling and a key New Wave asset.

Dorian Olivarez

Olivarez blends elite American folkstyle wrestling with the New Wave submission game. He won the 2023 ADCC East Coast Trials at just 17, took gold at the 2024 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds at brown belt and won double gold at the ADCC Austin Open. His pace, wrestling and integration into the system make him a potential future superstar.

Dominic Mejia

Mejia joined New Wave in September 2023, having been promoted to black belt in August 2023 at age 20. He carries a no-gi-focused competitive background and slotted into the system fast, with ADCC Open success shortly after arriving.

Others

Sebastian Serpa, a young Australian, has also been training with the team in Austin. The pipeline reflects New Wave's status as a global destination for ambitious grapplers.

Prospects at a glance

Athlete	Rank (early 2025)	Key results	Style
Luke Griffith	Black Belt	ADCC Trials Winner (2022), undefeated on WNO, ADCC Worlds competitor	Physicality, developing technical game
Daniel Manasoiu	Black Belt	ADCC Trials Winner (2022), ADCC Worlds competitor	Exceptional size and reach, heavyweight
Helena Crevar	Brown Belt	ADCC Worlds medallist (2024), teenage prodigy	High technical ceiling, fast development
Dorian Olivarez	Brown Belt	ADCC Trials Winner (2023), IBJJF No-Gi Worlds Brown Belt Champ (2024), ADCC Open double gold	Elite wrestling, high pace
Dominic Mejia	Black Belt	Multiple ADCC Open titles (2023 and 2024), young black belt	No-gi focus

The mix of international athletes, wrestling phenoms and recently promoted competitors is deliberate. The team is not relying solely on its current stars. The integration of Olivarez in particular hints at a broader stylistic evolution toward heavier wrestling involvement, which could make future New Wave even more dominant in transitions and scrambles.

The system: decoding New Wave's grappling

The team's success is inseparable from the technical and strategic system Danaher has built. It is often described as "direct" or "simple, not easy": efficiency, control, and systematic progression toward high-percentage submissions. The system imposes structure on the opponent.

Key elements:

Dominant control positions

The system targets specific positions from which submissions become highly probable. Analysis of DDS-era matches identified the back, the saddle (inside sankaku) and outside ashi garami as the three control hubs that produced roughly 90 percent of their submissions.

Relentless back attacks

Back control is the system's primary objective. Athletes pursue it through takedowns, body locks during guard passes, and reactive entries off opponent mistakes. Once on the back, the body triangle locks the position down and the rear naked choke is the highest-percentage finish.

Systematic passing

Guard passing is pressure-based. The body lock pass is the team's signature: connect chest to chest, nullify the legs, and create the runway to side control or directly to the back. The system also has detailed answers for open guards, half guard and modern leg-entry guards.

Submission focus and evolution

The DDS era brought leg locks into the mainstream. The New Wave iteration leans more on strangles, especially the RNC, as the primary endpoint. Other upper-body attacks (kimuras, armbars) are integrated as reactive options that often force the back exposure they want anyway. Leg locks remain in the arsenal but are used more transitionally than as the sole goal. See our overview of common BJJ submissions.

Purposeful standing game

Standing engagements are not random. Aggressive hand-fighting, posture breaks and upper-body ties (front headlocks, body locks) are used to land takedowns that put New Wave athletes directly into their offensive cycle, or directly into guillotines and front headlock attacks.

A defence-first foundation

Underpinning the offensive system is a deep emphasis on escapes and retention. Danaher's "Go Further Faster" series is essentially a treatise on systematic escapes from pins, turtle and back control, plus guard retention principles. Most of the wide accessibility of his work comes through BJJ Fanatics videos, which has made his system the most studied in modern grappling.

The downside of transparency

Because the system is so thoroughly documented, dedicated rivals have unprecedented access to study it. Execution still wins matches, but elite competitors are good at pattern recognition. Sustained dominance will require continuous innovation, especially as opponents become more familiar with the core game plan.

Competition impact and outlook

The team's results since 2021 have been consistent across every major no-gi platform:

• ADCC 2022 and 2024 World Championships, with multiple golds and medals
• WNO main events and titles across multiple weight classes
• IBJJF No-Gi Worlds and Pans podium finishes year after year

The intense rivalry with B-Team has been the other defining feature of the era. Two teams from the same DDS lineage, in the same city, with contrasting philosophies: New Wave's structured Danaher system versus B-Team's looser, personality-driven style under Craig Jones and Nick Rodriguez. The rivalry has pushed both teams to innovate.

Looking forward, New Wave is locked in for Craig Jones Invitational 2 (CJI 2). Tonon and Bodoni are now in ONE Championship's submission grappling division, which extends the team's footprint. The trajectory is up. The challenges are integrating new talent, managing Danaher's evolving role, and continuing to innovate inside a heavily-watched system.

The breadth of their success across very different rulesets (ADCC, WNO, IBJJF, CJI) is the strongest argument that the underlying system is fundamentally sound rather than format-specific. That versatility is what makes them the premier no-gi team operating today.

The unstoppable tide?

New Wave Jiu-Jitsu is the dominant force in modern no-gi grappling. Built by John Danaher, anchored by Gordon Ryan, and stacked with Meregali, Bodoni, Tonon and a rising next generation, the team has shaped both the technical landscape of the sport and the strategic blueprint others are now trying to copy.

The challenges are real: the B-Team rivalry, Danaher's possible reduced coaching role, and the long-term tax of running a publicly-documented system against opponents who study it film-room style. But the bench is deep, the system exports, and the pipeline behind the current stars is strong enough that the dynasty is likely to outlast any single chapter.

For more on the team, see our New Wave Jiu-Jitsu roster page, our profile of John Danaher, and our breakdown of Gordon Ryan's career.