Meet Our Team
Danny Johns - Head Coach
Coach Danny’s journey began in Melbourne, training under one of Australia’s best athletes, coaches and ADCC veteran Professor Daniel Schuardt. Although Danny has been living in QLD for the last 7 years, he still trains with coach Daniel whenever he can.
In early 2025, Danny was promoted to Black Belt by Professors Anton Zafir (former UFC fighter) and Rob Giuffrida and is now fast becoming one of Australia’s most accomplished masters athletes. As the head coach at our facility, Danny is incredibly passionate about coaching and loves sharing his knowledge.
As a competitor himself, coach Danny leads our competition team by example, with some of his most recent achievements including being the current M3 Australian National Champion (Black belt) 2025, winning 🥇 at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship (Brown belt) in Las Vegas 2024 and most recently finishing top 8 in the IBJJF Pan American Championship in New York 2025.
Some of Coach Danny’s earlier achievements during his time at the lower belt levels include being a 6 time Sunshine Coast champion, 6 time Grappling Industries champion, ADCC Asia pacific grand prix medalist and winning the Revolution grappling series triple threat (3 man team) tournament.
Danny encourages his team to compete regularly and loves nothing more than watching their success. He loves travelling to big tournaments with our team and helping our kids and adult teams achieve their goals.
Coach Danny loves to learn and is constantly trying to improve his game, regularly attending seminars and training camps with the world’s best athletes and coaches. Always keeping an open mind and doing everything he can to help our team evolve with our sport.
Phil Hamblin - Coach & Founder
Escape Jiu Jitsu’s founder, Coach Phil Hamblin, started his martial arts journey in 2002 in the UK. After a couple of years of Judo and grappling, Phil started training Jiu Jitsu and MMA in 2004 with MMA hall of famer, Chris Brennan.
Moving to Australia in 2004, and training under Daniel Lima, Phil trained alongside UFC greats like Hector Lombard before moving back to the UK in 2007.
From 2007 till 2016 Coach Phil trained under Kevin Chan, a well-known and respected coach and the 4th person to be awarded a black belt from the legend “Mauricio Gomes”, father of the greatest Jiu Jitsu fighter of all time Roger Gracie.
Coach Phil then made the move back to Australia and after a few years training at Caza Sunshine Coast, founded Escape Jiu Jitsu in Airlie Beach in 2022. Soon after Coach Phil would be the 4th person to earn a Black Belt from professor Kevin Chan in 2023.
Bec Johns - Coach & Club Manager
Coach Bec has been training Jiu Jitsu since early 2020 - what started as being the only training partner available to her husband, Danny, during COVID lockdown, quickly became an obsession! Jiu Jitsu for Bec was a total life changer, allowing her to get back in shape post-babies, increase her self-confidence & become part of an amazingly supportive community! More than 5 years on, Bec trains almost every day, is passionate about coaching, competing and getting women in particular, involved in the sport.
Bec understands the challenges and insecurities some women face when trying jiu jitsu and is happy to assist in overcoming these issues with private tuition, women's only classes or just a friendly chat!
Zane Johns - Assistant Coach
Zane has been training in Jiu-Jitsu for around 8 years and competes regularly at state, national and international events. He is the current Australian National Champion (orange belt), a huge achievement that reflects the dedication he brings to his training.
Zane has recently joined our coaching team, and we’re excited to see his continued development as a coach, as well as the influence his game will have on our team.
He has a wealth of knowledge and is always happy to share it with the team, making him a great asset on and off the mats. We’re proud to have him representing Escape Jiu Jitsu on and off the competition mats.
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