“I would like to nominate my jiu-jitsu instructor, Daniel Watts, because he is more than just a coach. He is patient, encouraging, and always pushes his students to work hard and believe in themselves. He teaches us respect, discipline, confidence, and how to keep going even when the training is difficult. Coach Dan truly cares about his students and makes everyone feel supported and part of the Megaton team.” -Amaya Ward
Going from student to teacher at Megaton Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Gallup, Coach Dan recalls, “One day I was asked to help the teacher of the teen class, so I did. There were a couple of instances where I covered the class myself, then I eventually ended up becoming the teacher!”
Coach Dan grew up in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, framed by the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, about 1,900 miles from Gallup, and has been here for over 8 years.
Owner and black belt Professor Grant Birtcher opened the gym on Coal Street in 2016 and moved it to the 2nd Street location in November 2024.
Birtcher was happy to have Dan join his team at Megaton, sharing, “Coach Dan is always consistent; he’s really good with the 11- to 15-year-old class that he instructs. His coaching has improved over the years; he’s learned what works and what doesn’t. He respects the kids, he’s patient, and has good discipline with them. He’s a very good role model; he’s an attorney, he has a family, and he sets a good example for his students.”
Jiu-jitsu is a form of submission grappling, a combat sport that focuses on ground fighting and clinching to make an opponent submit without using strikes. The goal is to get your opponent to “tap out,” usually accomplished by a chokehold or joint lock.
Bircher got his belt from Megaton Dias, who holds the record for the most World Master titles, with 20 World Championships, and founded the prominent Megaton Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Phoenix, Arizona. He coached his daughter, Mackenzie Dern, into becoming a dominant BJJ World Champion and UFC fighter. Megaton got his black belt from Royler Gracie, who won four consecutive gold medals in the featherweight division from 1996 through 1999. He won three consecutive titles (1999, 2000, and 2001), becoming the first competitor in ADCC history to win a division three times in a row.
Coach Dan explains about jiu-jitsu, “It becomes a great form of self-defense. If you can punch or kick someone, it’ll probably give you time to run away, so when you really need self-defense is when you can’t run away. A lot of people come here for that. That’s why I originally came here.”
One day, in his role as an attorney, he was representing a young man accused of murder. He was locked in a concrete room with the defendant and a disabled, 76-year-old female colleague. When things started to heat up and the atmosphere in the room changed, he wondered whether he could protect his colleague until the correctional officers could get in and break things up. That’s when he decided he wanted to be prepared for that kind of situation and walked through the doors at Megaton.
“That’s the serious side of jiu-jitsu, but when you join and start doing it, it becomes a form of meeting people in the community,” Coach Dan says. “It’s rough play, it’s really fun, and it’s also good exercise. Yeah, people are on the mats trying to strangle each other, but they are laughing and having a great time.”
While not every student competes, some enter competitions in Albuquerque or Phoenix. A “wall of medals” keeps growing inside the Megaton gym. When asked whether they'd ever have a competition here in Gallup, both Coach Dan and Birtcher said it’s something they have been thinking about.
About teaching, Coach Dan says, “I love seeing kids build their confidence and abilities, and I’m always amazed at how quickly they learn things.”
You can find answers to all of your questions, including classes, schedules, and pricing, on their website:gallupjiujitsu.com
“A black belt is a white belt who never quits.” – Renzo Gracie