Key Takeaways
- BJJ, MMA, and the broader combat sports world are growing fast, but management tools haven’t kept pace.
- Having a solution that understands your gym’s real challenges is essential to help you grow your community of students.
- MAAT is an app built specifically for BJJ, MMA, and combat sports academies, and it’s already helping more gyms by solving operational challenges.
The Reality Combat Sports Gym Owners Face
Coaches who open a gym don’t do it to deal with admin work. They do it to build community, to share knowledge, to grow the sport, and to create a space where people can train, progress, and belong. But when they try to professionalize their operations, they are forced into a frustrating choice.
On one side are so-called “professional” gym tools: bloated, expensive software built for yoga studios or big box gyms. These platforms come loaded with features that combat sports gyms never use, and they fail to support the ones that matter most.
On the other side are tools that claim to support martial arts but lack the reliability or structure to scale. They’re clunky, underdeveloped, and rarely offer the support or infrastructure that growing gyms need.
Meanwhile, the world of BJJ, MMA, and combat sports is evolving fast: gyms are expanding, adding classes, opening new locations, and serving increasingly international student bases. Yet the tools designed to help them manage that growth haven’t kept up.
That gap between what’s needed and what’s available is exactly why MAAT exists.
A practical example is Fightzone Costablanca, a rapidly growing academy that streamlined its operations while scaling past 700 active students after adopting a combat-sports-specific management platform.
“MAAT allowed us to Expand effortlessly”
Marco Canha – Fightzone Costablanca
What is MAAT?
MAAT is a management app built specifically for BJJ, MMA, and martial arts academies.
It began years ago as a simple project to help Aranha Barcelona, the gym where the founders, both practitioners (one now a BJJ black belt), were training. What started as a solution to a specific set of problems quickly gained traction across the community.
Today, MAAT powers the operations of over 400 academies worldwide. It has become a trusted platform for major teams and networks, including Checkmat, Gracie Barra, Roger Gracie, ZR Team, and many more.
Click here to learn how MAAT can help your academy!
What Makes MAAT Different
MAAT was created to fill the gap left by two extremes: overly complex fitness software built for yoga or traditional gyms, and clunky martial arts tools that never evolved.
It offers a professional, scalable solution that’s built exclusively for combat sports without the bloated features and unnecessary costs of generic systems.
MAAT includes only what martial arts gyms actually need: it doesn’t force owners to pay for tools they’ll never use or overly complex integrations that complicate their workflows. It’s focused, intuitive, and tailored to the daily realities of BJJ and MMA gyms.
What makes MAAT truly different is how it translates the realities of combat sports into operational clarity:
- Visible student progress: With belt and stripe tracking, and an attendance-based leaderboard, students stay engaged and motivated while coaches have clarity on promotions and skills development.
- Locally adapted operations: MAAT supports regional requirements globally. From ACH in the US, BACS direct debits in the UK, SEPA payments in Germany, iDeal in the Netherlands, and medical certificate checks in Italy, it helps gyms stay compliant and professional without extra work, regardless of their geography.
- Time saved on daily tasks: MAAT aligns with how martial arts gyms actually run, from simple class check-ins to seamless student onboarding with digital waivers and payment collection.
- Stronger student experience: Members see their progression, book classes easily, and feel part of a modern, organized training environment.
“Since switching to MAAT I dropped my monthly expenses by 70%. I can track my students, send announcements, check who’s in class, all in one app.”
Says Pedro from Ascended Jiu Jitsu, New York
If You’re Already Using Another Solution
Switching systems might seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.
MAAT has already helped hundreds of gyms successfully transition from generic gym management solutions like Glofox, Mindbody, TeamUp, or legacy solutions like Kicksite, ZenPlanner, Martialytics, Gymdesk, as well as from standalone payment solutions like GoCardless, Square, Simply Collect, among others.
The migration process is completely free and fully managed by the MAAT team, in close collaboration with each gym owner, handling all the setup, transfers, and integration steps so you don’t have to.
There’s no disruption to your students. They won’t need to re-register, repurchase memberships, or take any action beyond downloading the app.
Switching should feel like an upgrade, not a burden, and MAAT’s migration process is built to ensure that experience.
“Don’t worry about the migration! We moved to MAAT from Gymdesk and found the transition seamless”
Says David from Sakura Grappling, Walsall
MAAT Recently Entered a New Phase
In the past year, hundreds of new gyms have started working with MAAT, bringing the total to over 400 academies. This surge in adoption made it clear that MAAT needed to evolve structurally to support long-term, seamless growth across the industry.
To enable this, MAAT launched a complete redesign of its platform, both the app and the website. The update isn’t just visual; it introduces a cleaner, more professional look and smarter workflows, all tailored directly to the needs of combat sports gym owners and students. Every improvement is based on feedback from real users, ensuring MAAT continues to serve the sport.
In parallel, mission-aligned investors backed MAAT with the funding needed to take this next step. Their belief in MAAT’s vision is a strong vote of confidence: that combat sports deserve their own professional infrastructure. This investment brings both long-term stability and the ability to continue scaling, helping thousands more gyms manage their operations with tools built specifically for their needs.
Read more about this new phase here.
Looking Ahead
The combat sports industry is undergoing a significant transformation. Gym owners are no longer settling for generic solutions; they want tools that reflect the complexity and uniqueness of their craft.
With over 400 gyms on the platform, a fully redesigned app and website, and the backing of investors who believe in the long-term value of combat sports infrastructure, MAAT is entering a new era. The goal isn’t just to digitize gym management, it’s to professionalize the entire experience, from the front desk to the mats.
The future of combat sports gym management is here. It finally speaks the language of the sport.
If you feel reflected in what’s been said in this article, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the MAAT team. They’ll walk you through how the app works, how it can help you run your gym more professionally, and what transitioning to MAAT would look like for your academy.
Click here! Let’s raise the bar together and professionalize the industry from the inside out.
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