The Suite

One company.
A growing toolkit.

We're building a family of focused tools — each solving one part of the business of running a martial arts school or fitness studio.

Live — v2.0
Lotus
The complete studio management platform

Everything you need to run your school in one place. Members, classes, attendance, belt testing, payments, email automation, and a member self-service portal.

Member management & profiles
Class roster with live attendance marking
Digital waivers with e-signature
Belt testing & eligibility tracking
Lead pipeline CRM
Automated email sequences
Revenue dashboard (Stripe + manual)
Member self-service portal
Self check-in kiosk (barcode & keypad)
Start Free with Lotus →
Live — Weekly
Budocast
The martial arts news & tradition podcast

Deep discussions on BJJ, Judo, MMA, Karate, Muay Thai, UFC, ONE Championship, and traditional Budo disciplines. Hosted by Aiden Core and Nova Arden — new episodes every week, free on all platforms.

32+ episodes and growing weekly
Covers UFC, ONE Championship & beyond
Traditional Budo and martial arts culture
Available on Spotify, Apple & Amazon
Free to follow on all platforms
Listen Free at budocast.com →
Live — Amazon
The Book
From White Belt to Business Owner

A step-by-step guide to starting and managing your own gym or dojo. Written by John Facey — covering business planning, location, equipment, hiring, marketing, finance, and building a loyal member community.

Location selection & build-out
Hiring & training instructors
Marketing your school from day one
Managing finances & pricing
Building a loyal student community
Read on Amazon →
Coming Soon
Fight Card
Tournament management software

Run competitions from bracket to podium. Fight Card handles registration, bracket generation, weigh-ins, match scheduling, and results — built for martial arts tournaments of any size.

Competitor registration & check-in
Automatic bracket generation
Live match scheduling & results
Weigh-in & division management
Integrates with Lotus member data
Notify Me When Ready
🪷 Lotus 2.0

Every feature your school needs.
None it doesn't.

Lotus 2.0 is the most complete version we've ever shipped. Nine major new capabilities on top of the core you already trust.

Everything at a glance — the moment you log in.

No digging through menus. Lotus surfaces the numbers that matter — all on one screen, updated in real time.

  • Live attendance count updates as members check in
  • At-risk members flagged automatically after 14 days absent
  • Belt testing eligibility surfaces the moment a student qualifies
  • Fresh leads and pipeline activity visible at a glance
  • Upcoming birthdays — never miss a chance to reach out
Start Free with Lotus →
Lead Pipeline CRM New
A visual Kanban board to track prospects from first inquiry to converted member. Contact notes, time-in-pipeline tracking, and monthly conversion stats included.
Automated Sequences New
Set-and-forget prospect drip campaigns and at-risk retention sequences. They fire automatically every morning — no ongoing effort required.
Belt Testing New
Configure rank requirements, view automatic eligibility reports, and schedule grading events. Works for every martial art — BJJ, karate, taekwondo, and more.
Member Portal New
A mobile-first self-service portal members access via magic link. Attendance, schedule, payments — visible to them without filling your inbox.
Revenue Dashboard New
MRR estimate, 12-month trend chart, top members by revenue, and new vs. churned payer analysis. Stripe and manual payments unified.
Attendance Tracking
QR code and barcode check-in. Class-based roll calls. Track counts per class and automatically trigger retention emails for members who go quiet.
Class Scheduling & Booking
Configure recurring classes. A public booking page lets prospects book trial spots before walking through the door.
Member Management
Rich profiles with photos, emergency contacts, family links, notes, and belt history. Full search, filtering, and CSV export.
Digital Waivers New
Send personalised e-signature links or share a bulk URL. Members sign on any device, signatures are stored permanently, and you can view them any time from the dashboard.
Class Roster New
See who's booked into every upcoming class. Mark individuals attended with one click or check in the whole class at once. Syncs instantly with belt testing and retention tracking.
Member Self Check-In
Tablet kiosk mode for the front desk. Members check themselves in via barcode scanner, phone camera, or numeric keypad — no staff needed. Picks up their enrolled classes automatically.
Staff & Permissions
Create staff logins with granular access control — each team member sees only what they need to.
Start Free with Lotus → Full Lotus details →
Sales

Turn inquiries into members — systematically.

Stop losing leads in a spreadsheet. Lotus's visual pipeline moves prospects through every stage with drag-and-drop simplicity.

  • 5-stage Kanban board: Inquiry → Contacted → Trial → Completed → Converted
  • Contact notes log with timestamps for every lead interaction
  • Auto-converts prospects to active members when moved to Converted
  • Monthly conversion stats and average days-to-convert
  • Paired with automated drip emails so leads stay warm automatically
Belt Testing

Know exactly who is ready to test. Always.

No more guessing or manual spreadsheets. Lotus automatically tracks days training and classes attended against your belt requirements.

  • Configure minimum days and class counts per rank
  • Live eligibility report — see who's ready at a glance
  • Schedule grading events and track attendance
  • Full advancement history per member
  • Works for any art: BJJ, Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, Muay Thai and more
Financial

Your school's finances — crystal clear.

The Revenue Dashboard unifies Stripe digital payments and manual payments into one real-time view of your school's financial health.

  • MRR estimate based on your 3-month rolling average
  • 12-month income vs expenses trend chart
  • Top 10 members by all-time revenue
  • New and churned payer analysis each month
  • Stripe integration — all revenue sources in one dashboard
Member Portal

Give members a window into their own journey.

No app to download, no password to set. Members click a magic link in their email and land on a beautiful self-service portal — from any device.

  • Magic-link login — frictionless access, no passwords
  • Attendance history, enrolled classes, and payment records
  • Update emergency contacts and address details
  • Mobile-optimized — works perfectly on any phone
  • Your branding, your URL — fully white-label ready
From the Mat

Schools love Lotus.

★★★★★
"The belt eligibility report alone saved me hours every month. I used to build this in Excel. Now Lotus just shows me who's ready."
Sensei Rodriguez
Head Instructor, Black Eagle Karate
★★★★★
"The automated email sequences are a game-changer. We've seen our trial-to-member conversion go up noticeably since turning them on."
Jamie Park
Owner, Apex BJJ Academy
★★★★★
"Finally a member portal that actually works on phones. My members love being able to check their attendance history without emailing me."
Master Chen
Sifu, Phoenix Wing Chun
Our Mission

"Great software shouldn't be reserved for
big-box gyms with enterprise budgets."

Most dojo and gym software was built for the average gym. Martial arts schools have specific needs — belt progression, grading events, the long journey from white belt to black belt — that generic platforms treat as afterthoughts.

Open Black Belt was started by people who train. We build the tools we wished existed when we were running schools ourselves. Every feature ships because an instructor asked for it.

Our goal is a full software suite for the martial arts and fitness industry — purpose-built, fairly priced, and constantly improving.

Purpose-built
Designed for how dojos actually operate, not retrofitted from gym software.
Instructor-first
Every feature request comes from school owners and instructors on the mat.
Ships fast
We move quickly. If something needs fixing or a feature needs adding, we do it.
Fair pricing
Small schools deserve good software. Our pricing reflects that.
🏆 Fight Card — Coming Soon

Tournament software
is on its way.

Fight Card will handle competitor registration, brackets, weigh-ins, and live results — built for martial arts tournaments of every size. Leave your email and be first to know when it launches.

No spam. Unsubscribe any time. We'll only email you about Open Black Belt products.

FAQ

Questions about Open Black Belt.

Can't find what you're looking for? Email us at help@openblackbelt.com.

Get Started Free →
Open Black Belt is a software company that builds tools specifically for martial arts schools and fitness studios. Our mission is to give dojo and gym owners the same quality of business software that large enterprises have access to — at a price that makes sense for a small school.
Our flagship product is Lotus (version 2.0), an all-in-one studio management platform for martial arts schools and fitness studios. We also produce Budocast, a weekly martial arts news podcast, and the book "From White Belt to Business Owner". Fight Card, tournament management software, is currently in development.
Our tools are built with martial arts schools as the primary audience — particularly features like belt testing and rank tracking. However, all products work well for any fitness studio: yoga, CrossFit, dance, general fitness. If you run group classes and manage members, our software will work for you.
General gym software is built for any type of gym and compromises on specifics. Open Black Belt builds features that martial arts instructors actually need — belt progression tracking, grading event management, rank-based eligibility reports, and communication tools tuned to the typical trial-to-member journey at a martial arts school.
Lotus is free to trial — no credit card required. $49.99/monthly. Visit the pricing page on our site for current plan details.
Yes — that's the whole point. Open Black Belt products are designed to work together. Budocast keeps you sharp on the industry; the book helps you lay the business foundation; and Lotus runs your school day-to-day. Fight Card, coming soon, will handle tournament management and connect back to your Lotus member data.