Olivier Taza – Learning the leg lock system: A very fine example of the speed with which my leg lock system can be learned and the effectiveness with which it can be applied was presented by the very talented and hard working Olivier Taza yesterday, when he won the sapateiro invitational grappling tournament. Mr Taza won all matches via leg lock submission, including an impressive win over 10th Planet black belt Nathan Orchard – remarkable given that Mr Taza only recently received his purple belt. Mr Taza's story is quite an instructive one. He lives in Montreal and trained at Tristar gym under my student, Firas Zahabi. I often send my students, Messrs Tonon, Cummings and Ryan to the gym at Tristar to assist in grappling training Mr Taza was so impressed by what he saw that he traveled to NYC for long stretches of time, training twice a day and thoroughly immersing himself in our game. Very soon he made tremendous improvements and in less than a year became a very different player. Mr Taza is the kind of student everyone likes – quiet and humble, studious and intelligent, yet with ambitions and the work ethic to fulfill them. Yesterday all those hours on the mat manifested themselves in perfect submission victories using the leg lock system he has worked so hard to learn. Here, Mr Taza and his good friend and training partner, gordon ryan, reflect on lessons after class
