bjjsoftware.com

What It Is

Open Black Belt’s core product, Lotus 2.0, is an all-in-one management SaaS platform for martial arts schools, dojos, and fitness studios. It is not just a generic gym software product with minor adjustments; it is designed around the day-to-day needs of martial arts training, including member profiles, attendance, belt progression, grading events, lead conversion, and tuition collection.

Core Features and Collaboration

Lotus offers a fairly comprehensive feature set. Member profiles support photos, emergency contacts, family links, notes, and belt history. The class module supports recurring scheduling, public booking pages, QR code/barcode check-in, class roll call, and self-service check-in kiosks. Its key differentiator is belt grading: schools can configure the required training days and class counts for each rank, and the system automatically generates eligibility reports. On the sales side, Lotus provides a 5-stage Kanban lead pipeline, contact history, trial-class conversion statistics, as well as drip emails for prospects and retention emails for inactive members. For team management, the system supports staff accounts and fine-grained permissions, making it suitable for front-desk staff, coaches, and managers to work with clearly separated roles.

Pricing and Integrations

Pricing is very straightforward: Lotus has only one plan, priced at $49.99/month, with a 30-day free trial that does not require a credit card. There are no setup fees or long-term contracts, and the first paid month comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The plan does not limit the number of students, and all features are included. For payments, Lotus integrates with Stripe, with a transaction fee of 3.15% + 30 cents; manual payment records are also supported. Information on third-party integrations is limited. Apart from Stripe, the only mentioned connection is the future event product Fight Card, which will connect to Lotus member data.

Pros and Cons

The main advantage is its strong fit for a vertical use case. Features such as belt eligibility, grading, a member self-service portal, front-desk self check-in, and automated retention emails can significantly reduce spreadsheet work and manual follow-up for small dojos. The fixed price, with no per-student billing, also offers good value. The drawbacks are that security and compliance disclosures are fairly light: the site mentions SSL, secure infrastructure, and that it does not sell data, but does not show certifications such as SOC 2 or GDPR. API access, an open ecosystem, localized payment methods, and multilingual support are also not specified. The event management product Fight Card has not yet launched.

Who It’s For and Access from China

Lotus is suitable for martial arts schools such as BJJ, karate, taekwondo, judo, and Muay Thai, as well as yoga, CrossFit, and dance studios built around group classes and memberships. Organizations that require complex finance workflows, chain-level headquarters management, or extensive local system integrations should evaluate it further. Access from mainland China is not disclosed in the available materials. For mainland Chinese merchants, Stripe payments and USD subscriptions may involve uncertainty around payment acceptance and settlement. Alternatives to compare include Mindbody, Zen Planner, Wodify, or local Chinese education/training and fitness management systems.