John Danaher On Training With Smaller Partners

John Danaher has once again shared with the world some nuggest of wisdom in his typically eloquent style, this time talking about how you should be training with your smaller training partners. Danaher actually does have some good first-hand insight into the topic, as he is not particularly big himself but has also had a severe knee injury and limited mobility for a long time now. Regardless of the size difference between the two, Gordon Ryan revealed that he has rolled with Danaher at a slowed and more technical pace and according to Ryan; he is still vastly technically superior to him despite not being able to roll at full pace.

“When you train with the smaller guys: In Jiu jitsu we are expected to train with a wide array of partners. Some will be very good, some will be beginners, most will be somewhere in between. Additionally, they will come in all shapes and sizes. Figuring out the unique challenges of each different body type is a big part of your development. In response to the many different types of training partner you will work with, you must learn to develop different intensity levels in your game. When training with smaller or less experienced partners, use this to develop your defense or a weaker part of your game.”

“Remember – unlike competition, the goal of training is DEVELOPMENT, not victory. That means seeing a sparring round with someone you know you can defeat easily not as a chance to beat them as expected, but as a chance to take some aspect of your game that needs improvement and spend time on that or by handicapping yourself in some way to make the match more even. In this way you can derive great benefit from training with a lessor partner in ways that will make you more successful in the future against your toughest partners.”

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