Tao of Jiu Jitsu
The Legend himself
and Royce Gracie
Professor Robert Zorlu is a Gracie Barra Black Belt. He has trained with both sides of the Gracie family (Grand Master Helio Gracie + Carlos Gracie Sr.) and some 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu.
Prof. Robert has some Gold/Silver Medals, but not worth mentioning. (ADCC Medals are the only legit medals in his opinion - ask him why?)
After 15 years of representing Human Resources and facilitating an abundance of workshops and developmental courses for an organization with over 14,000 employees, Prof. Robert decided to leave the corporate world behind and start choking people for a living.
“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” - Mark Twain
Marko D.
Coach Marko Djoric is a Purple Belt at Tao of Jiu Jitsu under professor Robert Zorlu since 2021.
The roots of Marko’s Martial Arts dates back to his childhood back in Serbia where he was born. After years of training Judo, Aikido and kickboxing. Marko’s passion and obsession for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu started after he moved to Los Angeles. To emigrate from one small country to another brings enough challenges, however, surviving a major motorcycle accident and becoming an amputee changed Marko’s life. Those barriers didn’t stop Marko from a journey of training in a highly demanding and physical Martial Art style in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Marko is devoted and passionate BJJ coach for all ages and abilities. Marko has extensive experience in working and training with special needs kids and adults. Marko has trained with dozens of instructors and pioneers in the Jiu Jitsu community. Marko is a proud husband and a father of two handsome boys.
Coach Marko is also our co-founder and head of our "Learning Differences" program targeting in helping kids with autism.
Hayden B.
Coach Hayden found Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as an adult. Working towards being a healthier individual, Hayden looked for a form of exercise that was engaging, purposeful, and fun. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu felt like it was a part of Hayden that had always been missing.
Hayden earned a blue belt from Roberto “Spider” Traven, trained with Bruno Frazatto, and earned a purple belt from Steve Baca. Competition was a big part of Hayden’s journey early on, earning several gold medals in IBJJF and other tournaments.
Having always a passion and love for kids, Hayden now channels their energy towards coaching while continuously learning to be a better coach, athlete, and person.
Coach Noah started his Jiu Jitsu journey with Tao of Jiu Jitsu under Prof. Robert. Having a background in Wrestling, the transition came naturally for Noah as he placed Silver in his weight class with his first ever competition (NAGA) and GOLD in the Absolute Division with a total of four submission victories in eight fights.
Noach is our Wrestling head coach for both the Adult and Junior programs.
Noah L.
Kendrick Z.
Coach Kendrick works with our Juniors Program and is a participant in our Adults Jiu Jitsu program. Kendrick started training Jiu Jitsu at Gracie Barra at age seven, and maintained many team sports such as basketball and high school soccer.
While training on and off with different sports in between, Kendrick has always demonstrated great attention to detail and assists with facilitating adult GI and NOGI classes.
Outside of sports and marital arts, Kendrick enjoys going to the gym, hanging out with the homies and eating Skittles.
Coach Sienna works with our Tiny Tacklers group and is a participant in our Juniors program. Sienna’s passion has always been dancing as she has competed and danced since the age of three. Sienna has been training Jiu Jitsu for almost one year and making great progress as she also receives private training from her father, Prof. Robert.
During Sienna’s first competition, she accepted the challenge to face two competitors who out-ranked Sienna by four belts. She was victorious in both matches winning one match 9-0 and the second match via Triangle submission.
Sienna Z.
Noah Q.
Coach Noah works with out Tiny Tacklers and Juniors program. Noah began training Kempo at age six with some influence from his parents. It was a rough start and Noah was not committed in the beginning of his martial arts journey. After a few short months, Noah developed a passion for karate and it’s overall benefits in life. While school was out, Noah actively attended all karate tournaments and camps. After seven years of commitment and training, Noach earned his Black Belt in Kempo through a grueling four hour test. After nine years of training, Noach received a six foot Grand Champion trophy (pictured) for performing at the top level in two different divisions at a tournament.
During his own training, Noah taught Kempo to the youth students at his academy for four years. When Noah moved to California, he eventually stopped training karate, but wanted to pursue MMA. After researching many different styles of martial arts, he realized Jiu Jitsu was the best option because it looked the toughest, most practical, and the most fun. Once he joined Tao of Jiu Jitsu, he immeditaly fell in love and regretted not started earlier. While training to become a mixed martial artist, Noah’s passion grew to not only training, but coaching the youth.