Ujitsu has just launched and with it, the world’s first digital ecosystem for Jiu-Jitsu. The app was created in the UAE with the goal of connecting all areas of the BJJ community together on one platform. The sport has grown at an incredible rate over the last few decades and now that it has spread all around the world, it’s the ideal time to make connection easier on a global scale. That’s what Ujitsu does and it’s been designed by Jiu-Jitsu practitioners themselves, so it’s been built with the community in mind right from the start of the development process.
Although it started in the UAE, Ujitsu has expanded into the biggest Jiu-Jitsu hubs in the world all across Europe and the USA. There are over 125,000 practitioners in the UAE and thanks to efforts to introduce this sport to schoolchildren around the nation, that number is growing every single day. Similarly in Europe and the US; the sport might not be a focus in schools but the benefits of it are widely-known and it continues to develop among children and adults alike. With the population of practitioners exploding, it’s surprising that the sport actually remains relatively fragmented from all angles.
That’s where Ujitsu comes into it. The goal is to give practitioners around the world a way to connect with one another and discover new opportunities in the process. Theoretically this could also help with one of the most common problems encountered by coaches all around the world; retention rates. If beginners are able to find a support network of other practitioners in the same situation while coaches are able to manage events and training progress, that could help people stick with it through the difficult early period. Ujitsu is meant to bridge that gap between practitioners, coaches, and academies themselves.
It isn’t just beginners who will benefit from using the platform though, as even the most experienced practitioners and coaches can get something out of it too. Discovering open mats and Jiu-Jitsu events anywhere in the world has never been smoother, making the life of a travelling competitor or even a casual practitioner on holiday so much easier. Anyone who’s ever tried to drop in to local academies or even change to a new gym when moving has no doubt experienced the frustration of trying to find out what’s available. By gathering everything you might need from class schedules to local practitioners in one place, the process has just become far more streamlined.
Even if someone is only ever training at the same location, Ujitsu provides a way to track your training progress at all stages. It’s always tough to measure improvement on a daily basis but by giving everyone a way to set goals and celebrate milestones, it becomes much easier to zoom out and see the bigger picture. Then for coaches themselves, the ability to see an entire academy’s goals and achievements in one place is incredibly useful. It also allows for increased communication and student engagement; an area where most coaches currently have to rely on general social media platforms instead.
These are all beneficial areas for any coach of course, but the real improvement is in time saved. If a coach can instantly decrease the amount of time spent on administration then that can free up time to offer more classes or even just improve the standard of coaching in general. Ujitsu is an intuitive platform with the ability to make everyone’s training journey easier, no matter the level they’re already at. If it’s adopted on a wide scale at a single academy, it’s easy to see how the benefits can compound and create a much more successful training environment.
Key Features To Use In Ujitsu
Ujitsu has a feature called ‘Find and Invite Sparring Partners’ and although there’s a lot to use in the app, this is probably the most useful element for the average practitioner. It’s how users connect with each other on an individual level and it’s easy to see how this can combine with open mat listings to create thriving local communities. Although this does happen in some places, building and sustaining that community is often done through word of mouth. This makes growth challenging and it can be tough for newer practitioners to really break in; but a digital ecosystem fixes those issues.
The platform is also expanding to include BJJ brands too, making the process of sponsorship or partnership so much easier for younger or newer athletes to navigate. Sponsorship is absolutely key for athletes to survive during the early stages of their career and there’s no real template for how to create those relationships. We’ve spoken to some of the biggest brands in the sport before and it’s clear that many competitors make a lot of mistakes when approaching them, but Ujitsu aims to fix that. By making everyone discoverable and contactable, brands will be better able to scout for talent and athletes will be able to acquire sponsors easier.
That isn’t all though, Ujitsu is also firmly at the forefront of AI development and they’re finding amazing ways to integrate technological advancements with Jiu-Jitsu. They’ve introduced Coach AI, Nutrition AI, and Body AI; which all work together to enhance performance. Using AI to improve technical skills, plan out your diet, and build a recovery schedule is genuinely groundbreaking. It’s a big part of Ujitsu’s overall mission to redefine the Jiu-Jitsu world and they are committed to continually updating the platform, improving the user experience and adding in even more valuable features as time goes on.
