New Wave Jiu-Jitsu: Team Roster, Coach and Origin

New Wave Jiu-Jitsu is the no-gi grappling team headed by John Danaher, based in Austin, Texas. It is the most decorated modern submission grappling team and rose from the ashes of the Danaher Death Squad after the 2021 split. Here is the full picture: who is on the team, who left, and how it all started.

New Wave Jiu-Jitsu at a glance

• Head coach: John Danaher
• Base: Austin, Texas
• Style: No-gi submission grappling, heavy emphasis on systems and concepts
• Founded: 2021, after the Danaher Death Squad split
• Headline athlete: Gordon Ryan, the most dominant grappler of his generation

The team roster

John Danaher (head coach)

John Danaher is a 6th-degree black belt under Renzo Gracie and one of the most influential coaches in BJJ history. He built the original Danaher Death Squad at the blue basement of Renzo Gracie Academy in New York and re-built the same system from scratch in Austin under the New Wave banner.

Gordon Ryan

Gordon Ryan is the face of the team and arguably the greatest no-gi grappler ever. He is a multiple-time ADCC champion in his weight class and absolute, an IBJJF World No-Gi Champion, and the man who beat Andre Galvao in the 2022 ADCC superfight. He co-leads New Wave alongside Danaher.

Garry Tonon

Garry Tonon is a black belt heel-hook specialist and one of the most exciting grapplers of the EBI era. He has won the IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championship and was a key voice in the original DDS. He still trains and competes with New Wave while also fighting MMA for ONE Championship.

Giancarlo Bodoni

Giancarlo Bodoni joined the team after defecting from Atos and quickly justified the move. He won the 88 kg division at ADCC 2022 in his debut, beating heavy favourites along the way, and has since added IBJJF Pan No-Gi titles to his name.

Nicky Ryan

Nicky Ryan is Gordon's younger brother and an ADCC trials veteran. He had a stint away from the team but is part of the wider New Wave family. Despite injury setbacks he remains one of the most technical lightweight grapplers in the world.

Luke Griffith

Luke Griffith is the South African heavyweight on the roster and one of the team's hardest workers. He has medalled at IBJJF No-Gi Worlds and is a regular on the ADCC trials circuit.

Other notable training partners

The Austin gym also houses a rotating cast of full-time training partners and visiting black belts, which is part of what keeps the iron-sharpens-iron culture going.

How New Wave was formed: the DDS split

The Danaher Death Squad split in 2021 after years of dominance from the blue basement of Renzo Gracie in New York. The fallout produced two new teams:

• New Wave Jiu-Jitsu: John Danaher, Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon and a smaller core, who relocated to Austin
• B-Team: Craig Jones, Ethan Crelinsten, Nick Rodriguez and others, who set up their own gym, also in Austin

Danaher cited "physical conflicts" and "conflicting values" as drivers of the break-up. He also pointed to the planned move out of the iconic Renzo blue basement and a "generational problem" where younger athletes, enjoying success, struggled to accept criticism from an older coach. Ego, he acknowledged, also played a role.

The split was bitter at the time but the two teams now exist as friendly rivals, and the talent on both sides has only deepened the depth of modern no-gi grappling.

For a deeper look at the team's competition results and instructional output, see the New Wave Jiu-Jitsu anatomy piece.

The New Wave gym

The New Wave team has not yet opened a public flagship gym. Their Austin training facility runs as a private team room, not a commercial academy. There has been talk for years about a flagship space opening up to the wider public, but at the time of writing this has not happened.

If you are looking to train in person under the same system, the best route is the Renzo Gracie network where Danaher's lineage is taught. The team's instructional content on BJJ Fanatics is the closest thing to a remote curriculum.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the head coach of New Wave Jiu-Jitsu? John Danaher, a 6th-degree black belt under Renzo Gracie and the architect of the modern leg-lock and back-attack systems.

Where is New Wave Jiu-Jitsu based? Austin, Texas. The team relocated from New York after the Danaher Death Squad split in 2021.

Who are the main New Wave team members? Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon, Giancarlo Bodoni, Nicky Ryan and Luke Griffith form the core competitive roster, with Danaher as head coach.

Is Nicky Ryan on New Wave or B-Team? Nicky Ryan is part of the New Wave family, not B-Team. B-Team is led by Craig Jones, Ethan Crelinsten and Nick Rodriguez.

Why did the Danaher Death Squad break up? The DDS split in 2021 due to a mix of personal conflicts, conflicting values around training and lifestyle, the team's move out of the Renzo Gracie blue basement, and what Danaher described as a generational gap with his younger students.

Can the public train at New Wave Jiu-Jitsu? Not currently. The Austin facility operates as a private team room. The closest curriculum match is the Danaher instructional library on BJJ Fanatics.

The bottom line

New Wave Jiu-Jitsu is the continuation of the most influential no-gi grappling project of the last decade. With Danaher coaching and Gordon Ryan headlining the roster, the team has dominated ADCC, IBJJF No-Gi and the major superfight circuit. The split from the DDS gave the sport two great teams instead of one, and modern no-gi BJJ is the better for it.