Questions, answered

FAQ

Developed by an honest to goodness blue belt, so you know it's legit. A training journal for Brazilian jiu-jitsu. You log your sessions — what was taught, who taught it, who you rolled with. Track your hours, promotions, and competitions alongside them, and watch the stats fill in across your whole journey. It's a journal, not a social network. No feed, no followers, and nobody sees your notes but you.

Using it

How do I put it on my home screen?

BJJ Journal is a web app — it installs straight from the browser, no App Store in between. On your home screen it gets its own icon and opens full-screen like any other app; it’s the same journal, wearing an icon.

iPhone or iPad: open app.bjj-journal.co in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.

Android: open it in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu, then Add to Home screen — some phones word it Install.

One catch: apps like Instagram open links in their own built-in browser, which doesn’t offer Add to Home Screen. If you don’t see the option, tap the ⋯ menu and choose Open in external browser, then install from there.

How do I log a session?

Tap + Add Session. Date, Gi or No-Gi, class length, what was covered. Everything else — instructor, partners, tags, notes, photos, video URL — is optional. Twenty seconds if you're in a hurry; as detailed as you like if you're not.

The New Session form: date, class type, a Gi or No-Gi toggle, instructor, technique, notes, photos, and hours.
How do I log a competition?

Comps tab → +. A competition holds one or more divisions — so if you competed Gi and No-Gi at the same event, that's one competition, two divisions, each with its own bracket, placement, and matches. Log each match as you go or after: opponent, result, method, the score if it's points. Losses count too. Especially losses.

Editing a competition: event name and organizer, with two divisions below — Gi with three matches and a 2nd-place medal, No-Gi with one match. Editing a division: gender, Gi or No-Gi, belt, age division, weight, division size, and placement. Editing a match: opponent, a Win or Loss toggle, method, points, advantages, and penalties for both sides, a note, and a video URL.
Can I add video?

Not directly — but every session has a spot for a video URL. Find the technique on YouTube, or upload your own somewhere private and paste the link

Can I import my old training history?

Yes. Grab the template from your Profile — it's a CSV showing exactly what the app expects, with one example row you'll want to delete. Get your history into that shape (a spreadsheet app works fine), then import it back. Everything previews before it writes, and it's all-or-nothing: no half-finished imports. Fair warning: this is a desktop job. You'll want your file and a real screen. Want the full walkthrough, including handwritten journals? → The import guide

My phone keeps "correcting" jiu-jitsu words.

Your keyboard doesn't know omoplata is a word. Teach it: Settings → General → Keyboard → Text Replacement — add the terms you use and autocorrect stops fighting you. We made a list of the usual suspects → BJJ terms your keyboard will fight you on

What's the belt next to a training partner's name?

The belt they held when you trained together — not their current rank. Your partner gets promoted, your old notes don't change. That's the point: your journal remembers things as they were.

A session note: date, instructor, and school up top, the technique notes, tags, and training partners listed with the belts they held at the time. The training-partner picker: a searchable list of names, each with a belt color next to it, and two partners checked.
I spelled a partner's name two ways and now they're two people.

Happens to everyone. Manage → Training Partners → open one → Merge. Every session moves to the surviving name, belt history included. Works for instructors too.

Your data

I deleted something by accident.

Deleted sessions and competitions sit in Recently Deleted (in your Profile) for 30 days before they're gone for good. Restore puts everything back — a competition comes back with its divisions and matches intact.

The Recently Deleted panel: a deleted session with a Restore button and a note that it deletes for good in 30 days.
I overwrote a note and saved. Is the old version gone?

No. Every note keeps a history of its past versions. Open the note, tap History, and you can see exactly what changed, copy from an old version, or restore it outright.

Note History: an older version of a note with removed text struck through in red and text added since highlighted, above Copy text and Restore buttons.
Can I get my data out?

Always. Profile → Export downloads a ZIP of plain CSV files — every session, competition, promotion, and partner, readable in any spreadsheet app. It's your training history. You can leave with it any time.

Where does my data live?

In a managed Postgres database (Supabase), isolated per account and enforced at the database level — not just by the app being polite. Photos are compressed and stored privately. No ads, no analytics resale, nobody reading your notes.