We met Thomas Herrero, communications manager and instructor, and Fabrice Le Mentec, head coach and founder, of Skol Emgann a Breton club with nearly 25 years of history that just made a bold bet: starting over from scratch in a brand new city.

A Club, A Conviction, A Bold Bet

Some clubs just exist. Others build something.

Skol Emgann is the second kind.

After nearly 25 years operating across neighboring towns in Brittany, the club made a rare choice: start fresh in a new city. Not out of necessity. Out of conviction. To lay the foundations of an academy built on technical excellence, a lasting commitment to developing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Morbihan, and a club culture that values hard work, courage, humility, and sharing.

Here, everyone must be able to progress in a demanding yet supportive environment — where you train together, where you grow together, and where your place depends neither on your background nor your profile.

When you move into an unfamiliar city without the local network you've built over decades, every decision matters. Especially the tools you use to manage the club.

Fabrice knew this better than anyone. And Thomas, responsible for development and communications, had the mission of finding the right solution fast. To structure the club, support its growth, and protect what matters most: the quality of practice, pedagogical consistency, and the spirit of the academy.

The Organized Chaos: When Everything Is Somewhere and Nothing Is Accessible

Before Kombat Evolve, Skol Emgann ran like many serious non-profit martial arts clubs do: on goodwill, resourcefulness, and a stack of tools that didn't talk to each other.

HelloAsso handled registrations. A custom Google Sheets CRM attempted to track members. And to cover all bases, they invested several months July through October testing MAAT, one of the most visible platforms in the BJJ gym management space.

MAAT didn't survive contact with the real world.

It covered registrations, part of the financial tracking, and attendance logging with a CRM layer for member information and documents. But it quickly remained too superficial and showed its limits. In particular, the absence of a web dashboard made daily management less fluid and less readable.

This isn't a theoretical criticism. It's the feedback of practitioners who tried honestly, invested real time, and concluded that the tool simply didn't match the reality of a French non-profit BJJ club with specific obligations CFJJB federation declarations, association requirements, serious pedagogical tracking.

But the real headache wasn't MAAT specifically. It was the structural problem that the whole accumulation of tools created. As Fabrice puts it:

"Our biggest administrative headache came from the decentralization of information and its lack of continuity. Every topic lived in its own tool. We were constantly cross-referencing, updating, and reconciling recruitment, member tracking, finances, scheduling, competitions..."

Ten subjects. Ten different places. No continuity. And a club in full growth mode that couldn't afford to lose hours on spreadsheet archaeology.

The Turning Point: Not a Tool A Meeting

What changed everything for Skol Emgann wasn't a product demo. It wasn't an attractive commercial offer. It wasn't a feature comparison chart.

It was a conversation.

When Thomas first spoke with Mansour, something felt different from the start. A genuine openness to dialogue and co-construction no sales pitch, no polished deck. At that point, Kombat Evolve was still in its early stages. And Skol Emgann had a very clear vision of what they wanted from a paid tool: a platform aligned with the reality of a BJJ club, not generic gym management software.

They weren't looking to buy software. They were looking to build something with someone who understood their world from the inside.

And that's exactly what they found. As Fabrice describes it:

"When we met Mansour, we met a passionate BJJ practitioner who coaches at his own club someone fully aware of the day-to-day challenges. Above all, we found a mindset similar to our own: building a solution centered on the members first, designed as a tool that accompanies their practice and progression not just a back-office admin system."

That's where everything shifts. Not when a QR code gets scanned for the first time. Not when the numbers line up in a dashboard. But when two parties who share the same vision of Jiu-Jitsu decide to build something together.

"Being able to collaborate with him as a founding partner club, shaping the product from concrete expressed needs, convinced us to commit to the project and trust the journey."

Skol Emgann wasn't becoming a customer. They were becoming a founding partner.

What Kombat Evolve Actually Changed

Once the tool was in place and adopted by the team Fabrice on the mat, Thomas managing development and communications the transformations were rapid and deep.

Centralization: The End of the Information Scavenger Hunt

All member information personal data, administrative documents, medical certificates, student attestations, documents required for CFJJB federation declarations and insurance obligations — is now in one place.

No more Google Sheets to synchronize. No more HelloAsso files to cross-reference. No more missing documents to track down two weeks before a competition.

"We find everything we need in one place all the data and documents for our obligations, including the CFJJB declaration and other mandatory administrative requirements."

For a French non-profit club, this is far from trivial. Regulatory obligations are real, deadlines are tight, and the consequences of an incomplete file are concrete. Having everything centralized isn't a comfort it's an operational necessity.

Attendance Tracking: Seeing What You Couldn't See Before

Before, a student's regularity was an impression. An intuition. "He comes pretty often." "She's been absent lately." Subjective feelings, never actionable data.

Kombat Evolve changed that. Fabrice and Thomas now see who's progressing, who's slowing down, who's quietly drifting before even the student realizes it themselves.

Most students don't quit a club all at once. They drift one absence, then two, then a month, then they never come back. Seeing those early warning signals in real time changes everything.

Class Pre-Registration: From Reactive to Proactive

With class pre-registration, the club no longer reacts to its sessions it anticipates them. Knowing in advance how many students to expect means adapting pedagogy, planning space, organizing groups, or even adding a time slot. It's the difference between managing a club and leading one.

Retention: The Leaderboard Effect

One detail worth highlighting, because it perfectly illustrates Kombat Evolve's philosophy: the attendance leaderboard.

This isn't a gimmick. It's a subtle gamification mechanic that taps into something deep in BJJ culture friendly competition, the visibility of effort, the pride of consistency. Students don't just come to train anymore. They come because they can see their regularity ranked alongside their training partners.

Add to that the automatic reminders that maintain the connection between classes, and you have a system that keeps engagement alive continuously not just on the day of the session.

The Results

On administration: over 10 hours per week saved.

For a club run with passion but limited resources, 10 hours a week is 10 hours that go back to the mat, to coaching, to students.

On retention: a very clear ground-level feeling, even through winter.

"We've mainly noticed an increase in engagement and, by extension, better retention even during the slower winter period. The ground-level feeling is very clear: the vast majority of our members remain regular and committed."

Winter is the ultimate retention test in BJJ. It's when schedules fill up, when it's cold, when natural motivation dips. If students stay invested through this period, it signals structural commitment not circumstantial enthusiasm.

On the main goal: achieved.

The club moved. The club grew. The 100-member target, set clearly at the start of the year, is now a reality.

SKOL EMGANN OBJECTIF 100 ATTEINT.

What Thomas and Fabrice Would Tell a Coach Still on the Fence

"Today, all clubs — private and non-profit alike — face growing challenges: more sedentary populations, rising costs especially private venues, lack of municipal facilities and time slots, fewer volunteers, increasing administrative complexity. In this context, adopting a solution like Kombat Evolve becomes, in our view, a necessity. For our club, it was obvious.

To a coach still hesitating, I'd say above all: try it seriously. The initial setup takes real time and attention — but it pays off quickly. Once the tool is in place, you simplify your management, regain clarity, and get back time for what matters most: your students, your coaching, and your mat." — Fabrice Le Mentec

Testimonials from the team

Bruno TASSEL TREMEL - President:

Kombat Evolve as a whole is a clear, indispensable, and well-designed aid for a sports club like ours. Among other things, as an app, it allows us to track students and monitor attendance, which helps us define the nature of our classes. Without being exhaustive, it brings together many helpful qualities, making it indispensable to our operations.

Elfie LOHNER - Treasurer:

“I think it's essential to have tools that highlight our progress and consistency. Kombat Evolve allows us to track our progress in a concrete way and approach our training with more structure and confidence. It's an app that supports fighters in their development, from leisure to competition.”

The Lesson from Skol Emgann

Skol Emgann's story isn't a technology story. It's a story about priorities.

Thomas and Fabrice knew that to grow their club in a new city, they couldn't afford to keep losing time on fragmented administration. They knew that retention isn't managed by feel it's built with data, engagement mechanics, and a clear vision of each student's journey.

They tried the market solutions. They tested MAAT. They built their own tools on Google Sheets. And when they met Mansour, they recognized something rare: a platform built by someone who genuinely understands Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, not just gym management software.

The result? 100 members. Clean, fluid operations. A club that didn't just survive its relocation but used the move as a foundation to build something solid, lasting, and true to its values.

Skol Emgann is based in Morbihan, Brittany, France. A non-profit BJJ club affiliated with the CFJJB, the academy has been part of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community for nearly 25 years. Thomas Herrero handles communications, development and instruction alongside Fabrice Le Mentec, head coach and founder.

Running a BJJ or martial arts gym in Europe? See how Kombat Evolve can transform your operations at kombatevolve.com