In Saint-Malo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu has had an address since 2010. Saint-Malo Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, SMBJJ to its regulars, was born the same year as many French clubs of the first wave, but its recent history is rarer: in five seasons it went from 60 to 180 members. A neighbourhood club that turned into a real organisation, with everything that implies behind the scenes.
At the helm is Gaëtan Gommelet, president and instructor since 2019, a brown belt. And he puts it bluntly: as the club grew, the administrative side became a second job.
Fifteen years, three affiliations
SMBJJ’s history can be read through its successive affiliations, each matching a stage of its development:
- 2010: Saint-Malo Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is founded
- A first affiliation with Gracie Barra
- Then Caio Terra’s team
- Since 2016, Baptiste Landais’ Moka Team
That path is not instability, it is a search. Each affiliation brought its own method and network, and the team eventually found in Moka Team the technical framework that matched its project. Fifteen years after opening, the club has a style of its own and has been rooted in Moka Team since 2016.
Proudly parochial
Ask the team what makes SMBJJ different and technique will not be the first answer. The atmosphere will.
The club was built on two things: kindness on the mats and unapologetic Saint-Malo pride. The city flag is stitched onto the gis. People come to improve and stay for the atmosphere. The Monday-night beginner and the weekend competitor train together, with the same mindset: serious in training, genuinely relaxed the rest of the time.
That is probably what explains the growth. A club does not triple in five years on teaching alone; it does it because people keep coming back and telling others about it.
Eleven classes a week, from hobbyist to competitor
To absorb 180 members, the team built a schedule of 11 classes a week, Monday to Saturday, gi and nogi, led by a large coaching staff.
That range is what lets the club keep very different profiles under one roof: the recreational practitioner who trains twice a week, the competitor going from tournament to tournament, the beginners discovering ground work. Everyone finds a slot without the club having to choose between the two audiences.
How the club uses OSS Academy
That is the flip side of growth: the bigger the club, the heavier the admin. Current memberships, fees, scheduling, attendance tracking, belts, communication with 180 people. Gaëtan spent three years looking for an app able to absorb all of it, without ever finding a complete solution.
With OSS Academy, SMBJJ now handles in one place:
- Members: a single club roster, always current, with each member’s details
- Schedule: all 11 weekly slots visible to everyone
- Attendance: the roll is taken at the start of class, individual tracking is automatic
- Payments: fees tracked inside the app, with no parallel spreadsheet
- Belts: promotions and progressions recorded over time
- Communication: club news lands on members’ phones
The club even stopped worrying about a website. Rather than building one from scratch, SMBJJ made its public OSS Academy page its official site: a page included in the subscription, in the club’s colours, with a schedule that is always current.
The second job went back to being what it should have been all along: a jiu-jitsu club.
Do you run a BJJ, grappling or wrestling academy? Create your academy on OSS Academy and focus on your students.
Gaëtan Gommelet
President and instructor, Saint-Malo Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
BJJ brown belt, leading the club since 2019
