Training at Zenith BJJ in Mexico City — A Review

In early 2025, I trained for just shy of a month at Zenith BJJ (their Instagram), the main location in Benito Juarez, in Mexico City.

As a casual jiu jitsu practitioner/competitor (about 3 years in / a middling blue belt at this stage), training mostly at Absolute MMA in Melbourne, Australia (my review), my priority is usually to find a BJJ gym with a good culture where I can drop in and feel welcome. I’m not looking to find the best fighters or to develop a specific technique. And after visiting dozens of clubs around the world, I’ve become pretty adept at spotting good clubs — as well as the occasional bad one — from a mile away.

It was easy to see from the photos of a diverse group of smiling practitioners on Zenith BJJ’s socials and Google Maps page that this was a place at which I would enjoy training. In the photos of Zenith BJJ I saw people of a range of ages, both men and women, and of different ranks, all training together. Excellent first signs, and confirmed by my experience.

About Zenith BJJ Mexico

Great culture starts top-down. Zenith BJJ in Mexico is a well-known gym (now a small chain of gyms), founded by Mexico’s first female black belt, Itzel Bazúa Aguilar. She has a solid competitive record and is well-known and well-regarded globally. While I didn’t get to train with her specifically and only met her in passing, I got a great vibe from the coaches she employs, as well.

Itzel has been a coach at other clubs, but started Zenith a few years ago, and it has become one of the best-known places at which to train in Mexico City.

Even though everyone’s super welcoming and friendly, the environment is very tough, too. I had very difficult rolls while I was there. For me, they were exactly the kind of rolls you should expect when visiting somewhere — starting slowly, and easing into more and more pressure. Not absurdly competitive, but not easy, either.

The culture at Zenith is quite informal for BJJ. Some people bowed onto the mats, but nobody said you have to do so. There’s a line-up at the front, which is by rank, but that’s it.

Classes / What You Learn

At Zenith, you can train in both gi and no-gi BJJ (which they call “grappling”), as well as in MMA. A few of the people there are MMA practitioners and competitors.

There are classes for kids and classes just for women. While I trained there, some of the women graduated together from the women-only class to the “general” class, and I appreciated that there was an emphasis in taking care of them (mostly as newer students), which I would do anyway — but I got the vibe that this is a very safe space for women BJJ practitioners.

While I was there, I was very happy to develop my knowledge of “octopus guard” (guardia pulpo, though I was surprised anyone called it that in Spanish).

I went to mostly midday classes, at 11:30 am. They always started on time. Generally, there was about 1 hour of instruction and drilling and then 3-5 rounds of rolls.

In both the “fundamentals” and “all levels” classes, most attendants were white belt level with less than 2 years of experience. For me, that’s fine, as it gives me a chance to practise what I have learned.

The Space

The space I went to was small but immaculate. Generally, there were around ten of us in each class, and there was enough space for us all to roll — though not always starting from a standing position (until a few rounds in, when some people got tired).

There are mats on the walls too, not just to prevent injury, but to help MMA fighters do wall work. There is a limited set of weights that I never saw anyone use — maybe that’s at a different time! There’s a bathroom, but no functional shower yet — they said it’s on its way.

There’s a high level of hygiene at Zenith. The coaches/staff members always wiped down mats before every class — even between classes (e.g. if one starts just after another ends, they’d wipe the mats down between the two). There were strict policies of where to where sandals/shoes and where not to.

There are cubbies for bags and a bathroom. I felt zero issues with my bag and had no concern with theft, partly because of the vibe of the gym, and partly because the bag space was always in sight.

Language

All the classes I went to were just in Spanish. But I know that the coaches will explain things to you in English if you don’t speak Spanish. (If you do speak Spanish but aren’t sure of BJJ terminology, here’s my cheat sheet of BJJ/MMA/Striking terms in Spanish on my languages blog.)

Note that Mexico sometimes slightly different terminology for body parts! E.g. a cheek is a un cachete, not una mejilla, or if you’re doing a triangle, I heard un chamorro is una pantorilla…)

Aside from the coaches, at least a few of the members speak good to very good English, from what I overheard them saying to other members.

Schedule

Unusually for a normally late-starting city (even most cafes don’t open until 8 — or later!), Zenith has classes at 6 am, 11:30 am, and in the evening. I normally don’t like evening classes (they get too busy), but I did enjoy the chilled hangout vibes of the Friday evening open mat.

The morning classes are attended by half a dozen or so, so that’s an option if you have a work schedule. (My work starts super early, so I chose the midday ones.)

Training fees

Training fees tend to move around with inflation and exchange rates, but generally, training is around US$30-60 a month, depending on how much you train. If you’re dropping in, you won’t pay a training fee. In fact, they don’t even charge you if you drop in for a few sessions! But I paid a fee anyway, to support the club.

Wrap up

I really enjoyed training at Zenith BJJ in Mexico. I’ll be back another time, I hope! If you need info about the schedule or fees, send them a Whatsapp message (link on their Instagram).