After arriving in New York, Danaher was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu by a friend at the university, and began taking classes at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan.
[10] While he had some striking ability from his time in New Zealand, Danaher's dedication to martial arts did not fully begin until he began training at the Renzo Gracie Academy in the early 1990s.
As his students have had success in competition and gained notoriety over the last several years, he is well known as a jiu-jitsu coach, having worked closely with fighters such as Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman.
[14] In late 2020, Danaher announced that he would be leaving his teaching position at Renzo Gracie's New York Academy and would be moving to Puerto Rico to establish a new gym with some of his top students at the time.
[18] Since the opening of New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, Danaher has managed to attract several notable new students like multiple-time IBJJF world champion Nicholas Meregali[19] and teenage BJJ prodigy Helena Crevar.
[22] He was first introduced to the effectiveness of leg locks when Dean Lister, an American grappler who was having success in competitions utilizing leg-based attacks, came to train at Renzo Gracie Academy for two weeks in the early 2000s.
[23] With the leg lock system, Danaher was able to consolidate a large number of distinct positions and moves into a more formulaic and predictable series of procedures that could be executed by his students.
[33] In 2015, Danaher co-starred in the documentary "Jiu Jitsu vs the World" alongside renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Eddie Bravo, Renzo Gracie, and Roberto Abreu, among others.
[34] In 2010, Danaher was a coach for George St. Pierre's team in season 12 of the Ultimate Fighter reality show on Spike TV and briefly appeared in several episodes.