Craig Jones recently toured the future home of B Team: a resort training facility called Zamaya, tucked deep in the Mayan jungle of Mexico. With roughly three months remaining before its planned September 17th opening, the construction site already offers a glimpse of something unlike any gym in the world.
The project has been eight years in the making, led by Dave Foran, an Irishman and former professional rugby player who set out to build the training destination he always wished existed.
“I was just going doing training stuff all over the world, going to Thailand doing Muay Thai, going doing some jiu-jitsu stuff in Brazil, went to Cuba to do boxing camps,” Dave explained. “Just everything I like doing was traveling, getting training. Where’s the place for us lot that are just into our training, whatever kind of discipline it is?”
The answer he built spans seven distinct training areas. At the center of it all is the main training pavilion, a towering bamboo and steel structure Dave called the “big monster.”
A spiral staircase at its core climbs to a viewpoint overlooking the Mayan jungle, while bridges connect the pavilion to a boxing and Muay Thai space complete with a ring, an octagon, and 16 heavy bags. The dedicated jiu-jitsu studio sits on the top floor of its own building, with a 20×20 meter mat floor offering a view across the entire resort.
The architecture came from a Bali-based firm known for standout resort design across Asia, and Dave pushed them hard from the start.
“They thought they were going nuts trying to make something really out there,” he said. “Double it. Just double the craziness of it. I want to make like Willy Wonka’s fitness and training factory basically. And I think we got there.”
Recovery is built into the resort with a dedicated block featuring three always-on ice baths, a jacuzzi, a sauna, nine massage rooms, and a sensory deprivation flotation chamber.
Nutrition packages are handled by on-site nutritionists who manage full macro and meal planning for guests who want everything taken care of.
The property includes 48 hotel rooms and 48 three-bedroom villas, bringing total capacity to nearly 300 guests. A restaurant seating around 90, a seminar room for up to 70, a calisthenics area headed by the current world champion, and a main gym stocked with high-end equipment round out the complex.
Jones confirmed his first B Team camp is planned for early October, with a full-time B Team black belt based on-site from opening. Fellow B Team members are expected to run camps there as well.
“I’ve been everywhere,” Jones said. “And man, nothing like that.”
