Gordon Ryan is a brown belt from New Jersey, and is considered one of the top up-and-coming prospects in the USA. In this blog written for FloGrappling, he describes how the influence of three very different people – Tom DeBlass, Garry Tonon and John Danaher – has shaped his jiu-jitsu and made him into the fearsome competitor he is today. 

How Different Coaching Styles Affect a BJJ Players Game


The kind of coach someone has very often determines what kind of jiu-jitsu game they will develop. I am lucky enough to have trained extensively under multiple world-class instructors and competitors. I am beyond fortunate to have been learned consistently under the watch of Tom DeBlass, his first black belt Garry Tonon, and highly regarded Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA coach John Danaher, among others.


I have been training now just shy of five years, and having been able to learn from these guys has affected not only my jiu-jitsu, but my life in so many ways. 

Professor Tom was the first out of the three that I met. Tom is notorious for having a style that is difficult to do much of anything to. He has always used very basic techniques that he has worked approximately fifteen years on making perfect. Seeing as a majority of BJJ competitions still rely on some kind of points system, the concepts he instills in me about being ‘perfect’ at all times really helped me in competition. 

DeBlass is also incredible at practicing what he preaches. Training with him means fighting desperately for anything. To get a simple underhook feels like such an accomplishment. Whenever he is in my corner I know exactly how much time I have left and exactly how many points I need to win. Tom has really instilled in me the concept of never giving anything up in a competition setting: give up nothing, be perfect. 

Ever since I first met Garry, training with him has always felt like two things: the first being the feeling as if I was walking through a sea of mouse traps. Even now that I am on a higher level, he feels much more dangerous than anyone I have trained with or competed against.


Garry Tonon, on the other hand, has always been the type of competitor to make something exciting happen no matter what. He is well-known for giving up submissions just to get a guard pass, and even letting people pass, just because. These are the reasons that Tom would always scold him after every competition, but also why he is considered one of the world’s most exciting grapplers.  

Photo: Jeff Chu / FighterPlus

I first met Garry when he had just received his brown belt and I was a four stripe white belt. Ever since I first met Garry, training with him has always felt like two things: the first being the feeling as if I was walking through a sea of mouse traps. Even now that I am on a higher level, he feels much more dangerous than anyone I have trained with or competed against. 

The second thing is that I have the overwhelming feeling that I am training with Gumby. Tonon has always had a special way of being very relaxed and very calm until he decides to attack. Along with the ability to take the back, that is one of the key aspects I have learned from Garry: one of the most important things he has taught me is to just always be relaxed. Everyone always talks about how one should “flow like water”, but few actually abide by it. Being relaxed in competition not only helps me perform the techniques adequately, but also helps me compete much better. When I go into a match where I am very calm and relaxed, I feel as though I am simply training and not competing; there is no pressure.


Finally, John Danaher is the last of the three that I met. I first met Garry and Tom when I was a white belt. I did not meet John until I was a two-stripe blue belt, and was not training under him full-time until I graduated high school and could make it to the city multiple times a week to take his classes, at which point I was already a purple belt. 

This is where things get interesting – Tom has a very positional based style: pass the guard, control the torso, establish a lead on points, and if given the opportunity, submit. 

Photo: Jeff Chu / FighterPlus

John takes a different approach to the sport. Instead of waiting for opponents to  give up a submission, we take it. 

He is less concerned with passing the guard and getting side control, or mount, but more interested in chaining attacks together until a submission is completed. Any of Danaher's students are very submission aware. Training with them feels as though if you blink, you are already in a submission. 

John is the main reason why myself, Garry, and Eddie are submitting everyone in the majority of the competitions we enter. I have been training under John since I was two stripe blue belt and there is no one I would rather be training under. He embraces jiu-jitsu as a true martial art and has all of his students fight for finishes. Whenever I compete I always have a clear sense of direction as to where I want to go and what submission I want to attack – a clear goal of control, to a submission.


Training under these men is something I would not trade for the world. Whether it is getting embarrassed by Garry and being submitted repeatedly, smashed passed and occasionally smacked in the face by Tom, or yelled at by John for butchering basic movements – any of these three men would give, and have given, everything for me. They each bring a different piece of the puzzle together – not only in jiu-jitsu, but in life as well.