Personal story,

Itzel Bazua has always been a passionate teacherand has dedicated her life to improving the quality of life for others. While she has been a BJJ instructor since 2011, overall she has more than 20 years of teaching experience.

During her teenage years she taught adults how to read and write, ran artistic workshops for bady disadvantaged children in deeply disadvantaged communities in Mexico. She then received her bachelor’s in neurolinguistics and psychopedagogy, specializing in working with special needs families. In this work, Itzel provided guidance to help these families overcome the barriers created by disability and to become a more resilient unit. In addition to directing the Family Resiliency Project since 2008, she has also been the Director of various non-profit associations for children with disabilities, a teacher at the university level, and a representative of Latin America at the World Congress of Conductive Education for Children with Cerebral Palsy.
Itzel has always been a very active person and was involved in different physical activities and artistic expressions since she was a child. However, she never felt truly passionate about any of her endeavors until she became a BJJ purple belt, when she found her true calling and life mission.

Itzel started training BJJ in 2002 at the age of 17. Even though her first teacher was good and kind to her, many of the students and “teammates” were not. They would treat her like a little girl, often taking her for granted and even refusing to train with her. This environment caused her to feel unmotivated to continue and she stopped training for two years. After much insistence of the new coach of the same team, in addition to the presence of a new female training partner and a big change on the team’s attitude, Itzel returned to the mats in 2006. She stayed and trained very hard for a year, but after suffering a grave sciatic nerve injury, she was forced off the mats for 18 months. However, this forced her to learn to adapt BJJ to her injury and she was eventually able to continue training and competing.
In 2011, a few months after receiving her purple belt, Itzel traveled to the Brazilian Black Belt Jiujitsu Camp, which took place in Greece. There she met Evans Merkouris; after knowing each other for two days, they decided to stay together. Itzel stayed in Greece as long as her visa would allow.

At the Camp in Greece she also met Keitha Bannan (the first female black belt in New Zealand), and they became good friends. Keitha inspired Itzel to organize a female only BJJ Camp in Mexico to help promote the martial art and unity between athletes, regardless of team affiliations.

During her purple belt years, Itzel became more and more aware of the importance of learning BJJ from female athletes. She was fortunate to have met Mackenzie Dern and Sophia Drysdale during her travels and became very good friends with them. Eventually, Itzel chose these two women as her mentors

In 2012 Evans moved to Mexico to be with Itzel and in January 2013 they opened Promahos BJJ. Promahos is an Open Academy and Zenith affiliated school that has been growing steadily and is characterized by its good vibes, positivity, and empowering environment. While the average female population in the BJJ community is only 5%, having a woman as the highest rank has encouraged female participation. Promahos boasts an impressive 30% female population.

Itzel’s mission is to inspire and empower as many people as possible. She achieves this by being an extremely dedicated teacher at her academy, striving to be a better version of herself everyday, and helping as many people as possible. To reach out to more people she founded MA’AT Jiujitsu Femenino, a non profit network of support for female bjj athletes.

MA’AT organizes a variety of events throughout the year: tournaments, open mats, and the Female BJJ Camp with her friends and mentors Mackenzie Dern and Sophia Drysdale. This July 2017 will be the 5th year of the camp, expecting over 40 ladies from all levels and all corners of the world.

Itzel received her brown belt in 2015 at the hands of Mackenzie and Sophia, and is currently the highest female Brazilian Jiujitsu rank in Mexico. Itzel’s vision is to carry the responsibility and honor of female BJJ in Mexico by empowering and helping as many ladies as possible. She intends to realize her vision by building a sorority that will support every woman, letting them know they’re never alone and that they can always count on Itzel to be there for them

Achievements / medals/ awards

Itzel received her brown belt in 2015 at the hands of Mackenzie and Sophia, and is currently the highest female Brazilian Jiujitsu rank in Mexico. Itzel’s vision is to carry the responsibility and honor of female BJJ in Mexico by empowering and helping as many ladies as possible. She intends to realize her vision by building a sorority that will support every woman, letting them know they’re never alone and that they can always count on Itzel to be there for them

Additional information

MA’AT Jiujitsu Femenino, a non profit network of support for female bjj athletes.

If you want to contact Itzel and book her for an event or seminar you can inbox her on her Facebook Fan Page: Itzel Bazúa BJJ.

If you want to learn more about the female only events in Mexico, you can follow MA’AT Jiujitsu Femenino on Facebook and Instagram, or visit the web page http://bjjfemenilmx.wixsite.com/maat

If you want to visit Promahos BJJ you can inbox the fan page on Facebook or email at contacto@promahosbjj.com