Your Syllabus, Your Grades, Your Standards — Finally in One System
Generic gym software cannot tell a green belt from a brown belt, let alone 4th kyu from 3rd. Red Belt Gym lets you build your association's grading structure exactly as it is written and run the dojo around it.
What a Traditional Dojo Spends Its Week On
Rarely the training. Almost always this:
Kyu and dan grades for a few hundred students tracked in a binder and a spreadsheet
Kata requirements per grade written down once and never consistently applied
Testing invitations and grading rosters rebuilt by hand every cycle
Parents calling to ask what their child needs for their next grading
Students who grade, celebrate, and then quietly stop attending
Grading fees, dues, and uniform orders on three different payment methods
The most predictable churn in traditional martial arts happens in the month after a grading. The student reached the goal, nothing replaced it, and nobody noticed they had stopped coming until the next cycle.
Built to Respect How a Dojo Actually Grades
Configure your kyu and dan system exactly as your style runs it
Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Kyokushin, Wado-Ryu — no two syllabi are the same.
Red Belt Gym does not impose a ranking structure. Build your grades from 10th kyu up through 1st kyu and on to shodan and beyond, with your own colours, your own names, and your own order. Every grade carries its award date, the instructor who awarded it, and the attendance or time-in-rank requirements you set.
Get the syllabus out of the binder
Kata, kihon, and kumite requirements should be visible, not institutional memory.
Document what each grade requires and record progress against it on the student profile using custom fields, tags, and notes. When a student asks what they still need for their next grading, the answer is on screen — and when a senior instructor is away, the standard does not walk out of the door with them.
Build grading rosters from data, not memory
Eligibility should be objective, and it should take a minute.
Set attendance thresholds and minimum time-in-rank per grade, and the system tracks every student against them. When grading approaches, you can identify who genuinely qualifies, message that group directly, and collect grading fees online — instead of reconstructing the list from a register and a conversation.
Keep the dojo’s formality, lose the paperwork
Tradition is in the training hall, not in the filing cabinet.
Membership agreements, medical forms, and grading consent go out for digital signature and live on the student's profile. Uniform and equipment orders run through the point of sale. The etiquette, the lineage, and the standards stay exactly as they are — the administration behind them stops being a Sunday evening job.
Communicate with the right group, not the whole dojo
Your dan grades and your 8th kyu parents need different messages.
Tag students by grade band, by program, by competition squad, or by anything else that matters in your dojo, and send text or email to exactly that group from your school's number. Every message is logged against the student, so the front desk always has the full history.
Stop losing students in the month after they grade
The post-grading drop-off is the most predictable churn in traditional martial arts.
Attendance data makes it visible: the student who trained hard for three months, graded, and has been twice since. Automations can reach out when someone crosses an attendance gap you define, and retention reporting shows you which grades and which age groups you are actually losing.
Your Grade Ladder, Built the Way Your Association Wrote It
Red Belt Gym assumes nothing about your syllabus. Every grade below is something you define — the name, the colour, the order, and what it takes to earn it.
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Beginner grades
10th–7th kyuYour highest-volume, highest-risk group. Frequent, visible progress is the main retention lever — configure short attendance requirements so early grades come at a sensible pace.
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Intermediate grades
6th–4th kyuRequirements get longer and drop-off gets quieter. Time-in-rank minimums and attendance thresholds keep eligibility objective rather than negotiable.
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Senior kyu grades
3rd–1st kyuBrown belt students preparing for shodan. Often your assistant instructors — give them staff logins with limited permissions and track the classes they cover.
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Shodan and above
dan gradesDan grades, award dates, and the awarding body are recorded on the profile, including for instructors who train with you but teach elsewhere.
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Junior grades
youth syllabusMany dojos run a separate youth grade set with intermediate stripes. Configure it as its own rank system inside the kids program, kept apart from the adult ladder.
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Competition squad
taggedKata and kumite competitors tagged as a group for squad sessions, tournament entries, and travel communication.
Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Kyokushin, Wado-Ryu, Shito-Ryu, or an independent club syllabus — you configure the grades once and they apply to every student from then on. Intermediate stripes and junior tips are supported as part of the same structure.
How Karate Dojos Actually Take Money
Dues are only part of it. All of these are standard setups in Red Belt Gym.
Adult month-to-month
Your standard adult dojo membership.
- How you build it
- Set up as: A recurring program covering the adult class schedule.
- How it bills
- Billing: Month-to-month recurring.
Junior / kids program
Children on the youth syllabus, usually with a paying parent.
- How you build it
- Set up as: Age-band programs with their own grade set, linked to a family account.
- How it bills
- Billing: Billed to the parent, with sibling pricing.
Family membership
Households where a parent trains alongside two children.
- How you build it
- Set up as: One primary account holder with all members linked.
- How it bills
- Billing: A single household charge with family rates.
Grading fees
Collected each grading cycle, separately from dues.
- How you build it
- Set up as: A one-time item sold through a landing page to eligible students.
- How it bills
- Billing: Single charge per grading, paid in advance.
Seminars and courses
Visiting instructor seminars and dan preparation courses.
- How you build it
- Set up as: A one-time item with a digital form attached.
- How it bills
- Billing: One-time purchase, open to your own students and visitors.
Uniforms and equipment
Gi, belts, mitts, and club badges.
- How you build it
- Set up as: Retail point of sale at the desk, or sold online.
- How it bills
- Billing: One-time purchase on the same books as membership.
Attendance That Feeds Your Grading Decisions
Not a register in a drawer — a record you can actually act on.
Students check in at the desk by name or phone number, or on a self-service kiosk as they arrive. That attendance history then does real work: it decides grading eligibility against the thresholds you set, it shows you which classes are full and which are fading, and it surfaces the students whose training has quietly tailed off.
Where Generic Gym Software Fails a Traditional Dojo
Kyu / dan grade system
Fully configurable grades with your own names, colours, order, award dates, and requirements.
Syllabus requirements
Custom fields, tags, and notes on each profile to record progress against your syllabus.
Grading eligibility
Attendance thresholds and time-in-rank minimums tracked automatically per grade.
Grading fee collection
Sold online in advance as a one-time item, with a record against each student.
Grade-band communication
Tag-based audiences so dan grades and beginner parents get different messages.
Post-grading retention
Attendance-gap automations and retention reporting by grade and age group.
Kyu / dan grade system
A single “level” field, or a fixed belt list you cannot change.
Syllabus requirements
Nowhere to record kata or kihon progress.
Grading eligibility
Worked out manually each cycle.
Grading fee collection
Cash and cheques on the day.
Grade-band communication
One email to the entire dojo.
Post-grading retention
You notice months later.
What You Get on Day One
Fully configurable grade systems
Kyu and dan grades, junior syllabi, stripes, and any colour or naming convention your style and association use.
Award dates and promotion history
Every grade recorded with its date and awarding instructor, building a permanent record per student.
Eligibility requirements per grade
Attendance thresholds and minimum time-in-rank so grading lists are objective and quick to produce.
Digital forms and agreements
Membership agreements, medical forms, and grading consent signed digitally and stored on the profile.
Online grading fee and seminar sales
Sell grading fees, seminars, and courses through landing pages with payment captured up front.
Tag-based communication
Message a grade band, a squad, or a program directly by text or email from your dojo’s number.
Family accounts
Link parents and children in one household with a single payment method and family pricing.
Retail point of sale
Gi, belts, and equipment sold at the desk or online, on the same books as your membership revenue.
Generic gym software does not know the difference between a green belt and a brown belt. Red Belt Gym tracks every grade in your syllabus, exactly as your association defines it.
Built by martial arts school owners who grade their own students. See the results on the case studies page.
From School Owners Running on Red Belt Gym
"Some of the best software on the market for helping every martial arts academy run smoothly! If you haven't checked them out, you're missing out!!"
Daniel O'Brien "I'm so excited to be one of the first gyms to get on board with Red Belt Software. Not only is Brian one of the best guys I know in Martial Arts, but he's also one of the smartest and hardest working people in the game. The software is everything we need for our gym, packaged into one easy system."
Brandon Mccaghren "Red Belt software is everything you want and nothing you don't. Easy to use, highly customizable and the best customer service in the business. It saves me money but more importantly, time."
Johnny Buck Frequently Asked Questions About Karate Dojo Software
Can I configure my style’s exact kyu and dan system?
Can I track kata and syllabus requirements per grade?
How do I build a grading roster?
Can I run a separate junior syllabus alongside the adult grades?
Can I collect grading fees through the system?
Can I manage several programs — kids, adults, and a competition squad?
Can students book their own class times?
What happens to my records if I switch from my current system?
How These Features Work Inside Red Belt Gym
Create Belt Ranks
Setting color-based categories helps you keep track of student progress. Find the creating and editing process for ranking in this article.
Read the guide How-to guideAssigning a Belt Rank to a Student
Once you have created your class schedule, follow this step-by-step guide for managing martial arts ranking systems, tracking student progression, and updating belt levels.
Read the guide How-to guideCreate Styles and Classes
Setting martial arts styles helps you keep track of your offerings and allows students to be assigned to the appropriate program. Learn the creating and editing process here.
Read the guide How-to guideCreate Program Age Groups
Setting age-based categories helps you assign students to classes with the appropriate skill level. Learn the process for creating and editing groups.
Read the guide How-to guideKey Performance Reports Overview
Understand available and upcoming performance reports in Red Belt Gym, including student growth, revenue trends, churn, and lead diagnostics.
Read the guide How-to guideManage Family or Group Accounts
Learn how to add and archive dependents to your martial arts school.
Read the guideSee Red Belt Gym Running Your Dojo
Bring your grading syllabus and your class schedule to the demo. We will configure your kyu and dan structure on screen so you can see your own dojo in the system, not a generic example.
- No credit card, no commitment
- Full data migration included
- Live in 48 hours