Training, check-ins and badges

Question 1

What does “home gym” mean?

Accepted Answer

Your home gym is the academy where you usually train. You only get one. The site calls it three different things: Main gym on the gym page, Home academy in your profile, Main in the list of your gyms. It is always the same thing. Setting it is worth it for three concrete reasons. The My sessions page shows you today's classes at your gym. You check in from there, without looking for anything. You show up in the gym's student list, so your coach can see you. You unlock the Home Gym badge and one of the three requirements for a complete profile. The gym name also shows on your public profile and on your card. You can change it or remove it whenever you want. The check-ins you have already done stay where they are.

Question 2

How do I set my home gym?

Accepted Answer

There are two ways. They lead to the same result: use whichever is easier for you. Way 1 — from the gym page. Open the gym map. Find your gym and tap its name to open its page. At the top, under the gym name, tap the star button Set as main. On a computer it is to the right of the name. Check that the star turns solid red and the button stays lit in red. That means it is done. Way 2 — from your profile, Tatami tab. Tap your photo at the top right and choose My profile. Tap the Tatami tab. Scroll down to the Home academy field. Type your gym name in the Search for your academy… box and wait for the list that opens below. Tap the right gym in the list. Scroll to the bottom and tap Save changes. Check that the green ✓ Saved message appears. On the Tatami tab the gym is not saved until you tap Save changes. If you leave before that, your choice is lost. If you cannot find your gym in the list, it is not on BJJ Square yet. You can suggest it from Propose a gym.

Question 3

Can I train at more than one gym?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On top of your home gym you can mark as many secondary gyms as you want. It helps if you do Gi in one place and No-Gi in another, or if you often train away from home.

To add one:

Open the gym page from the gym map.
At the top, under the star button, tap I train here too.
Check that the button turns into I train here with a check mark.

To remove one:

Tap your photo at the top right and choose My profile.
On the Profile tab, scroll down to the Where you train box.
Tap the grey × to the right of the gym you want to remove.
Check that the gym disappears from the list.

Note: In the Where you train box your home gym has the red Main label. If you remove that one, the site asks you to confirm first.

Careful: The I train here too button does not show on the gym that is already your main gym. That is normal: a gym is either main or secondary, not both.

Note: You can check in at any gym, even one you never marked. Marking it only makes you show up in its student list.

Question 4

What does my coach see when I add their gym?

Accepted Answer

When you set a gym as main or secondary, you enter that gym's student list. Whoever runs the gym sees you in the dashboard, on the Students tab, with: your name and your photo your belt and degrees the Home gym or Secondary label how many check-ins you have done at that gym and when the last one was Picking his gym, on its own, sends him no alert. You simply show up in the list: if he does not open the dashboard, he does not notice. So tell them in person or on WhatsApp: “I put myself on the gym on BJJ Square”. Otherwise you could be waiting for nothing. To actually get a notification to him, send him the confirmation request: “Tatami” tab, “Coach confirmation” section, “Request confirmation” button. He gets the alert “X asks for your confirmation: student at Y” and answers with three check boxes — student, belt and coach. If nobody manages the gym yet, nobody opens the dashboard. Your coach has to claim the gym first.

Question 5

What does being “verified” by the gym mean?

Accepted Answer

Whoever runs the gym can tap Verify member next to your name. From that moment you have the Checked label in their student list. It means one thing only: the gym confirms that you really are one of its students. It is not used for anything else. In particular: it is not needed to check in: you can check in without it it does not change the points you get it does not unlock any badge it does not give you extra features There is a way to ask for it: the request you send from the “Tatami” tab, “Coach confirmation” section, also covers gym membership. Whoever runs the gym answers with three separate check boxes. Student verification is a different thing from belt verification. Your belt is normally confirmed by your coach: by promoting you from the gym dashboard, or by answering the request you send from “Coach confirmation”. The BJJ Square admins only step in if your coach is not here.

Question 6

What is a check-in?

Accepted Answer

The check-in is how you say “I trained today”. You do it yourself, from your phone, once for each session. Every check-in does three things. It gives you 10 points (25 the first time at a new gym). It goes into your history, on the My sessions page. It makes the badges recount: if you have reached a requirement, the badge unlocks right away. A check-in counts for today only. You cannot record yesterday's training. Your check-in is public only as a number: on the gym page other people see “3 here” for a class, not the list of names. Whoever runs the gym does see the name and the time.

Question 7

How do I check in?

Accepted Answer

The most direct way is from your gym's page. You need to be logged in already. Open the gym page: from the gym map, or from the My sessions page if it is your home gym. Scroll down to the Today's check-in box. It sits under the events and the board, above the weekly class schedule. Find the row of the class you took: the time is on the left. Tap the red I'm here button to the right of that row. Check that the button turns into the green Checked in label. Below it you see +10 points in green (or +25 points · first time here! 🎉). If you unlocked a badge, you see it written next to it. The Today's check-in box only shows today's classes. If the gym is closed today, or has no classes on that day, you only see the Free training row. If you see Log in to check in instead of the button, you are not logged in. Tap that text and sign in with your account. If Something went wrong, try again. appears in red, reload the page and try again. If it keeps happening, write to info@bjjsquare.com.

Question 8

How do I check in with the gym's QR code?

Accepted Answer

Some gyms put a QR code at the entrance. It lets you check in without looking for anything. Open your phone camera and point it at the QR code. Tap the link that appears on the screen. If you are not logged in, the site asks you to sign in and then brings you back to the check-in by itself. If the gym has classes on today's schedule, you get the question Which class are you joining?: tap yours. Wait for the message Checking in at… with the spinner. Check that the green circle with the check mark appears, with the title Checked in! and your points below it. The check-in lands on the class you picked, not on a generic session: your history shows the time and the class type, and that class's attendance counter goes up by one. At the bottom of the class list there is still an Open training button: use it if you only dropped in for sparring or an open mat. If the gym has no classes scheduled today there is nothing to pick: the check-in starts on its own as an open training as soon as you open the link, with no confirmation asked. If you see You're already here today, you had already checked in at that gym today. You do not get points twice. If you see Invalid code, the QR does not match any gym. Report it to whoever runs the gym: the code has to be reprinted from their dashboard.

Question 9

What is “free training”?

Accepted Answer

Free training is a check-in that is not tied to any class on the schedule. You find it at the bottom of the Today's check-in box, with the Free check-in button. Use it in these cases. The gym has not added its class schedule, so there is no row to tap. There was no class today but you went anyway, for an open mat or to drill. You are away from home and trained at a gym you do not know. It counts like any other check-in: same points, same badges, same history. You can do only one free training per day for each gym. On the second try you see You already did a free check-in today. and you get no more points. In your history free training shows as All levels, because the site does not know what kind of class you did.

Question 10

I cannot find the check-in button

Accepted Answer

There are three real reasons. Check them in this order. 1. You are not logged in. Look at the top right: if your photo or your initials are not there, you are not signed in. Go to Log in and sign in with your account. Go back to the gym page: the I'm here button is there now. 2. You have not set your home gym. In that case the My sessions page shows no classes: instead you see the Set your home gym box with the Find your gym button. Tap that button and choose your gym. 3. The gym has not added its class schedule. Then the Today's check-in box only has the Free training row. Nothing is broken: nobody has uploaded the schedule yet. Tap Free check-in: your training gets recorded anyway, with the same points. If you want to see the classes, ask whoever runs the gym to add the schedule in their dashboard. If you are on a gym page and there are no classes today, you still see Free training, as long as you are logged in. The box only shows today's classes. If there is no Gi on Tuesday, the Gi row does not show on Tuesday. That is not an error.

Question 11

Can I check in for a past or future day?

Accepted Answer

No. A check-in counts for today only. There is no way to record training from yesterday, from last week or from tomorrow. There is no calendar to pick a date from. If you forget to check in, that session is lost: no points, no history. Nobody can add it by hand, not even your coach. Get into the habit of doing it as soon as you get to the gym, while you change. That is when you remember. The check-in is not a booking. It does not tell the gym that you are on your way.

Question 12

Do I really have to be at the gym to check in?

Accepted Answer

Technically no. The site does not check where you are. It does not use your phone location and it does not verify that you are on the mat. The check-in works from the sofa too. But it is a trust deal with the community: the numbers only mean something if they are true. And above all: your coach sees everything. In their dashboard, on the Attendance tab, they read the name, date, time and class type of every check-in at the gym. They see how many check-ins you have done at their gym in total. They see when the last one was. They see if you “clocked in” on an evening when you were not there. Padding your numbers looks bad in front of your coach and your training partners. And it takes value away from the badges of people who earned them. The QR code at the entrance is a convenience, not a control: anyone who knows the link can use it from outside too.

Question 13

Does my coach have to confirm my check-in?

Accepted Answer

No. The check-in is automatic and final the moment you do it. The points arrive right away, you see them in green under the button. The session goes into your history right away. The badges are recounted right away. There is no “waiting for confirmation” state. There is nothing to wait for. Your coach cannot reject or cancel your check-in either. They can only see it on the Attendance tab of their dashboard.

Question 14

I checked in by mistake: how do I delete it?

Accepted Answer

If the check-in is from today, you undo it yourself. Next to the green “Checked in” label there's an Undo link: you'll find it on the Check-in page and on the gym's page. What happens when you undo it: the points from that check-in are removed from your total badges are recalculated: if that check-in is what unlocked one, the badge goes away if it was your first time at that gym, the first-visit bonus moves to your next check-in there, if there is one If the check-in is from an earlier day, ask whoever runs the gym: from Roll call they can remove an attendance up to six days back. You get a notification when they do. For anything older, write to info@bjjsquare.com with the gym's name and the date: the admins fix it by hand. If you only picked the wrong class but you really were at the gym, there's nothing to do: the session still counts.

Question 15

Can I check in more than once on the same day?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In one day you can check in for every class on the schedule, plus one free training. A concrete example: if today you do Fundamentals at 7pm and No-Gi at 8:30pm, you tap I'm here on both rows. That is two check-ins and you get 10 points for each. On the same class you check in once only: the button turns into Checked in and cannot be tapped again. Free training can be done once a day for each gym. If you train at two different gyms on the same day, you can check in at both. This is meant for people who really do train twice. Not to multiply the numbers. If you clock in for classes you did not attend, the badges lose their meaning. A 300-session badge is worth something because there are 300 real sessions behind it.

Question 16

Where do I see the history of my training?

Accepted Answer

Tap your photo at the top right. In the menu that opens, choose My sessions. Scroll down to the Check-in history box. For each session you see the date, the gym name, the class type and the points you got. The first time at a new gym is marked with First time in orange. Above the history there are four boxes with numbers: Check-ins (the total), This week (this week), Streak (days in a row) and Gyms (how many you have visited). The history shows the last 50 sessions. Older ones still count in the totals and in the badges, but they do not appear in the list. If the box says No check-ins yet. Log your first training at the gym!, it means you have not recorded anything yet. Go to My sessions

Question 17

How do points work?

Accepted Answer

There is only one way to get points: checking in. 10 points for every check-in. 25 points for your first check-in at a gym where you had never trained (10 base plus a 15 bonus). The first-time bonus counts once per gym. If you go back to the same gym, from the second check-in on it is 10. There are no other ways to get points. A complete profile, competition results, events, badges or inviting a friend give you none. Points are never taken away. They do not expire, they do not drop if you stop training, nobody can reset them. You see your total on the Badges & points page, in the Points box at the top.

Question 18

What are badges and how do you unlock them?

Accepted Answer

Badges are small recognitions that mark your milestones: the first check-in, 50 sessions, 5 different gyms, and so on. There are two families of badges. Automatic: they unlock by themselves when you reach the requirement. You do not have to ask anyone. Awarded by your coach: historic and seniority badges, which recognize the experience you gained before BJJ Square. Tap your photo at the top right. In the menu that opens, choose Badges & points. Scroll: the badges are grouped by belt color, from White to Black. A badge you have earned has a lit box, a colored trophy icon and the date you got it. A badge still locked is faded, with a padlock and a line saying what you are missing. The belt color of a badge only shows how hard it is. It has nothing to do with the belt you wear.

Question 19

Which badges exist and what do you need to get them?

Accepted Answer

These are the badges that unlock by themselves. They are grouped by belt color: the darker the color, the tougher the milestone. White — *First Tap*: 1 check-in. · *On The Mat*: complete your profile. · *Home Gym*: set your home gym. Blue — *Blue Hustle*: 50 check-ins. · *Drop-In Debut*: train at 2 different gyms. · *30-Day Streak*: 30 days in a row with at least one session. · *Seminar Rookie*: 1 seminar (not obtainable today). · *Voice of the Mat*: 1 review (not obtainable today). Purple — *Purple Grind*: 150 check-ins. · *Globe Trotter*: 5 different gyms. · *Open Mat Regular*: 10 open mats outside your gym. · *World Traveler*: train in 3 different countries. · *Seminar Addict*: 5 seminars (not obtainable today). Brown — *Brown Consistency*: 300 check-ins. · *Mat Nomad*: 10 different gyms. · *Competition Debut*: log 1 competition result. · *Seminar Veteran*: 10 seminars (not obtainable today). · *First Professor* and *Professor Regular*: classes taught (not obtainable today). Black — *Black Belt Presence*: 500 check-ins. · *Dojo Hunter*: 20 different gyms. · *Global Grappler*: train in 5 different countries. · *Seminar Legend*: 20 seminars (not obtainable today). · *Master Teacher*: 200 classes taught (not obtainable today). · *Home Mat*: 2 years at the same gym (not obtainable today). Gyms and countries are counted from your check-ins, not from the gyms you marked in your profile. For a gym to count you have to have trained there at least once. The badges marked “not obtainable today” depend on features that do not exist on the site yet. We talk about it in Some badges look impossible to get.

Question 20

Which badges does the coach award?

Accepted Answer

Some badges cannot be worked out from check-ins, because they are about what you did before you got to BJJ Square. Those are awarded by hand by whoever runs your gym. Historic badges (prior experience with that belt): *Established Blue* *Established Purple* *Established Brown* *Established Black* Seniority badges (years of practice): *1 Year Veteran* *3 Year Veteran* *5 Year Veteran* *10 Year Veteran* On the Badges & points page these badges show Awarded manually until you have them. Your coach gets no alert when you add yourself to their gym. If you want these badges, ask them yourself: they award them from their dashboard, on the Students tab.

Question 21

Can I claim the historic badges myself?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but only if you are in one of these two cases: your belt is verified by the BJJ Square admins you are the owner or co-owner of a gym registered on the site If you are, a red Claim button appears on the badges you are entitled to. Tap your photo at the top right and choose Badges & points. Scroll to the badge you want. Tap Claim at the bottom of the badge box. Check that the box lights up and today's date appears at the top right. There are two limits, and the site checks them by itself. For historic badges your belt must be at least that color. With a blue belt you can only claim *Established Blue*. For seniority badges you must have filled in Start year in your profile, Tatami tab, and enough years must have passed. If the Claim button does not appear on any badge, you do not meet the requirements: ask your coach to award them, or get your belt verified from the Tatami tab of your profile.

Question 22

I reached the requirement but the badge does not appear

Accepted Answer

Badges are not recounted all the time. The count is redone at two moments only: when you check in when you open the Badges & points page So the answer is almost always to open that page. Tap your photo at the top right. In the menu that opens, choose Badges & points. Wait a few seconds: the spinner turns while the site recalculates. Check the badge: if the requirement is reached, it is now lit with today's date. This also applies to badges that do not depend on training, like *Home Gym* and *On The Mat*. After saving your profile, open the Badges & points page to see them appear. If the badge stays locked after you open the page, read the line under its name: it says exactly what is missing. The number in the boxes at the top (for example Check-ins) tells you where you are.

Question 23

What does “complete profile” mean?

Accepted Answer

For the *On The Mat* badge the site looks at three fields only. Photo, bio, socials and weight in kilos do not count. Home academy, that is your home gym Start year, the year you started BJJ Weight category (IBJJF) All three are on the same page. Tap your photo at the top right and choose My profile. Tap the Tatami tab. Fill in Start year. Choose your Weight category (IBJJF) from the list: it must not stay on Not specified. Search for your gym and choose it in the Home academy field. Tap Save changes at the bottom of the page. Check that the green ✓ Saved message appears. After saving, open Badges & points: that is where the *On The Mat* badge lights up. Start year is needed for one more thing: without it you cannot claim the seniority badges.

Question 24

Some badges look impossible to get

Accepted Answer

It is true: some badges cannot be obtained at all today. The features behind them do not exist on the site yet. We would rather tell you than let you chase them for nothing. Seminar badges — *Seminar Rookie*, *Seminar Addict*, *Seminar Veteran*, *Seminar Legend*. In the class schedule gyms cannot set the type “seminar”: so no check-in is ever counted as a seminar. Review badge — *Voice of the Mat*. There is no page on the site to leave a review for a gym. Teaching badges — *First Professor*, *Professor Regular*, *Master Teacher*. The site does not count the classes you teach, not even if you are a registered instructor. Gym loyalty — *Home Mat* (2 years at the same gym). The count of years at the same gym is not calculated today. They stay in the list because they are already planned and will light up by themselves when the features arrive. You are not doing anything wrong. All the other badges work: check-ins, different gyms, countries, open mats away from home, day streak, competition results, profile and home gym.

Question 25

What is the “streak” and how do you lose it?

Accepted Answer

The streak counts the days in a row when you did at least one check-in. Two sessions on the same day count as one day. You see it in two places: in the Today's check-in box, at the top right, with the orange flame: “5 day streak” in the Streak box at the top of the My sessions and Badges & points pages You lose it by skipping a day. If you did not check in yesterday or today, the streak restarts from zero at your next session. There is one day of slack: if you checked in yesterday but not yet today, the streak is still alive. If you skip today too, it goes back to zero. Watch out for one confusing difference. The 30-Day Streak badge looks at your longest streak ever: once you reach it, it is yours forever, even if you stop afterwards. The number in the Streak box shows your current streak instead, and that goes back to zero as soon as you skip a day. So you can see Streak 0 and still have the 30-day badge. That is not an error.

Question 26

Where do I find notifications and which ones will I get?

Accepted Answer

Tap your photo at the top right. In the menu that opens, choose Notifications. If you have unread alerts, there is a red dot with the number next to it. Unread notifications have a light pink background and a red dot on the right. Opening the page marks them all as read. You can also tap Mark all as read at the top right. You get a notification only in these cases: your gym posts an announcement on the board (only if you marked it as main or secondary) someone invites you as co-owner of a gym someone accepts or declines your invite to co-manage a gym an admin verifies your belt someone lists you as their coach, or your coach confirms or rejects the link one of your students asks for your confirmation from their “Tatami” tab: membership, belt and coach in a single request your coach answers the confirmation request you sent him a coach links you to his gym because he had pre-registered you: gym, membership and belt arrive already confirmed one of your students says you awarded them a belt your coach confirms or rejects a promotion you logged your coach logs a belt for you from the Promotions tab your coach awards you a badge one of your competition results is verified or turned down by your coach you get permission to publish events as an organizer you are given an organisation to manage an event you proposed is approved or rejected your account is suspended or restored by an admin You get no notification for the points you earn, nor for the badges you unlock by training — the ones your coach awards you, on the other hand, yes. And none either when your coach changes your belt from the gym dashboard: the alert only arrives if he logs it from the “Promotions” tab. You find those things out by opening the site. Notifications exist only inside the site, on the Notifications page. Nothing arrives on your phone and no email arrives. In Settings the Email notifications line is marked soon and is not active. You cannot turn them off or choose which ones to get. There is no setting for that. Notifications about events are written out in full. If one of your events isn't approved, the notification also carries the reason, and tapping it takes you to “My events”, where you can fix it. Go to Notifications

Training, check-ins and badges

Other topics

Didn't find your answer?