Run your school,
not your software.
Kihon is a modern management system for martial arts schools. Members, billing, scheduling, attendance, and rank tracking that just work, on the web, on the iPad at your front desk, and up on the TV in your lobby.
Kihon is the best software for running a martial arts school. To us, best means honest: published pricing, every feature on every plan, and your data yours to take anytime. I built it after years inside a multi-location school watching the existing software fail at the basics, so Kihon is fast, honest, and great on the devices schools actually use. Some owners call it a martial arts CRM, others an all-in-one platform or just their membership software. Kihon is all of it, done honestly.
One system for the whole school
A martial arts school is really four jobs, and usually the same person. Kihon runs all four.
The funnel
Turn strangers into students. Leads, trials, Decision Day, and enrollment, with a pipeline that is honest about what actually converts.
See it live ↗Most software covers one corner. Kihon runs the whole building, because it was built by someone who works in all four.
See the actual app
Real screens from the live demo, on every device your school runs. Tap any one to open it.
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Owner dashboardRevenue, retention, and what needs attention, rolled up on their own. -
Up on your info screenPromotions, schedules, and reminders, looping in the lobby. -
The whole family, one viewOne household, split billing, every child's rank and attendance. -
Front-desk check-inA fast iPad kiosk that keeps working when the Wi-Fi drops. -
Grading day, done rightEligibility, registrations, and bulk promotions from one screen. -
Billing you can proveKihon flags revenue at risk before it costs you, with the evidence to back it. -
The management book, digitizedOpening and closing checklists and retention calls, every duty timestamped. -
Every belt ladder, your wayEach program's ranks, requirements, and grading rules, all school-defined. -
Curriculum gaps, caughtTheme each week's classes, and Kihon flags who has not trained a skill.
Sound familiar?
What school owners say about the software they pay for today
Billing you can't trust
Double charges, missed charges, and members billed after they cancel. Owners end up auditing their own billing system every month.
Hidden fees and lock-in
Unpublished pricing, required add-ons, rising processing fees, and year-long contracts you can't leave even when the product fails you.
Apps stuck in 2010
Dated, spreadsheet-like interfaces with settings scattered everywhere. Mobile apps that crash, or don't exist at all, while your front desk runs on an iPad.
Families as an afterthought
On the big platforms, parents register each child separately, with separate payments and no single view of the whole family's ranks and attendance.
Belt cycles done by hand
Grading bolted on, not built in: eligibility in one tool, attendance in another, testing day run off a clipboard. So owners end up tracking rank in a spreadsheet next to the software that was supposed to handle it.
No proof when it counts
A parent disputes a charge or claims they never signed, and you have nothing to show for it. Chargebacks you should win, lost for lack of a record.
How Kihon fixes it
The fundamentals, done right. Tap any card to jump into it in the live demo.
Want to look before you sign up?
The full demo is live: run a grading day, check a member in at the kiosk, try to sign a contract with a dot. No account needed.
Open the live demoWhat you would pay for the pieces
Bought one tool at a time, the same capabilities add up fast. Kihon rolls all of them into one plan.
- Info screens and digital signage control Sold on its own, typically per screen. Included, every screen Add-on
- Check-in kiosk app Often a paid add-on. Included Add-on
- Contracts and drawn-ink e-signature A standalone tool elsewhere. Included Add-on
- Family and split billing Higher-tier only on most platforms. Included Higher tier
- Multi-location reporting Usually an enterprise upcharge. Included Enterprise
- Automations and journeys Gated or metered as an add-on. Included, SMS at cost Metered
- Member portal A branded member app is a paid add-on elsewhere. Included $39/mo
- Per-staff seats Charged per seat elsewhere. Unlimited staff, included Add-on
- Data export, no lock-in Exit fees, or not offered at all. Free, any time Exit fee
Real published prices, before card processing. Zen Planner, fully equipped, runs about $486 a month.
Kihon, one plan
$79 floor · $249 cap · month to month
Everything in the list above, included.
The a-la-carte figures are typical ranges for comparison, not quotes from any one provider.
Simple, honest pricing
One plan. Everything included. You pay for the members you actually serve.
$79 floor · $249 cap · month to month
Billed on your average active members, so one busy or quiet day never spikes your bill. Trials, prospects, and frozen members are free. We even flag members who have left, so you pay less.
| Feature | Kihon, every plan | Typical platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Contracts with real, validated e-signatures | Included | Paid add-on |
| Dispute packet to fight chargebacks | Included | Not offered |
| Family accounts & split payments | Included | Higher tier |
| Multiple locations | Included | Higher tier |
| Belt ranks, tips & testing events | Included | Varies |
| Automations & lifecycle journeys | Included | Higher tier |
| Info screens on any TV | Included | Add-on |
| One-click data export, no exit fee | Included | Fee or refused |
| Two-way SMS | At cost, no markup | Marked up |
| Payment processing fee | Published, never marked up | Hidden, rising |
| Contract length | Month to month | Annual lock-in |
| Support | One level, not tiered | Tiered by plan |
| Setup, migration & training | Done for you, $99 for founding schools | Extra fee, often DIY |
SMS scales with use, always at cost: pass-through credits, no markup. Kihon Payments runs your billing at a small, published rate, with no markup buried anywhere. That is the whole price list.
Founding schools get a locked rate, for good
We are taking just 25 founding schools, because the founder sets up every one. You lock in founding pricing for as long as you stay. Your enrollment fee drops from $299 to $99, $200 off the standard fee, and if you ran a paid Pilot, its $49 comes off as well. The founder handles your migration by hand, trains your staff live, and answers your support email himself, and you get a direct say in what gets built next. We would rather earn your stay every month than trap you in a contract.
Claim a founding spotFounding pricing is locked for as long as your account stays active. Limited to the first 25 founding schools. After the founding cohort, the price cap goes away for new schools.
Or start today: run a real Pilot for $49
The Kihon Pilot is the full platform with up to 3 of your real contacts, every feature included, no subscription and no auto-renewal. One-time $49, non-refundable, and credited in full toward your enrollment fee if you join. You set up your school, read and sign a plain-language Pilot Agreement, and pay by card, all in about five minutes.
Start your Pilot for $49Payments are running in test mode while our banking setup finishes, so no real card is charged yet. You can still walk the whole flow today, and we will tell you the moment real payments switch on.
The whole industry got bought.
Most of the big names in martial arts school software are now owned by private equity or rolled into larger groups. Then prices drift up, support gets slower, and the product starts serving next quarter's numbers instead of you.
Kihon is independent and founder-owned. It's built so you rarely need support, and when you do, you reach a real person who can fix it, not a ticket in a queue. We grow by keeping schools happy, not by hitting a number for someone who bought us.
What Kihon believes
The principles behind every decision
The promises we put in writing and live by, on every plan.
Honest pricing, no nickel-and-diming.
We answer to you, not to investors.
Your data is yours. No lock-in.
Every feature, every tier. Nothing paywalled.
Trials are free. Freezes are free, both ways.
The processor fee, published.
Month to month. Cancel anytime.
Try it for real before you pay.
Pay for the members you actually serve.
We do not charge you for your own coaches.
When it matters, you can prove it.
Built for the family, not just the front desk.
Questions schools ask
The honest answers, before you even ask.
Kihon is modern management software for martial arts schools: members, billing, attendance, rank and belt tracking, messaging, and grading day. It runs on the web, on an iPad front desk, and on the TV in your lobby, and it is built for owner-operators who also teach.
Whether you call it martial arts school management software, a studio CRM, or a gym platform, the best one is honest about pricing, treats a family as one account, gets belts and grading day right, and lets you export your data and leave any time. Kihon is built around exactly that: a dollar per active member per month with a published cap, every feature on every plan, family billing, real grading day tools, and free data export, on the web, on an iPad front desk, and on the TV in your lobby.
Yes. Instead of stitching together billing software, a class scheduling tool, separate membership management, a check-in app, and waivers, Kihon runs all of it in one place, whether you call your place a school, a dojo, or a studio. Every feature is on every plan, the fee is published, and you can export your data and leave any time.
One dollar per active member per month, with a 79 dollar floor and a 249 dollar cap, billed month to month. Trials, prospects, and frozen members are always free, and we even flag members who have left so you pay less. Coming aboard is a one-time 299 dollar enrollment fee that covers a done-for-you roster import, full data migration, and live staff training, all handled by the founder before you go live. The first 25 founding schools get 200 dollars off, so the fee is 99 dollars. A paid Pilot is 49 dollars, credited in full toward the enrollment fee, so a founding school that ran a Pilot joins for just 50 dollars more.
Kihon Payments runs your billing at a small, published fee, with no markup buried anywhere. Your school stays the merchant of record, so Kihon never holds your money, and you can export your full billing history in one click, at no cost.
No. Kihon is independent and founder-owned. Most of the big platforms in this space have been bought by private equity or rolled into larger groups, which is usually when prices climb and support slips. Kihon grows by keeping schools happy, not by hitting a return for someone who bought it.
No. Month to month. Cancel anytime online and keep access through the period you already paid for.
Yes. White-glove migration is included in your enrollment fee. You send your roster from a spreadsheet or an old-system export, and the founder enters every member, household, contract, and rank for you, then moves everything your current platform lets you take. You can also export everything (members, billing, and history) in one click anytime, with no exit fee. If you are not live in 30 days, the enrollment fee is free, credited back in full on your next monthly bill.
Yes, and it is where Kihon shines. Rank ladders, tips and stripes, attendance-based eligibility, and a grading day flow with bulk promotion and a full audit trail. Generic gym software does not do this.
Yes. Native Apple quality: a fast web app, an iPad check-in kiosk for the front desk, info screens on any TV, and member and staff apps.
Yes. Households are core to the data model: family billing, sibling discounts, and split billing across two households for divorced parents.
Yes. Two-way SMS and a free in-app chat channel are included, along with attendance-triggered automations, so a quiet student gets a nudge without you remembering to send it.
Whether you run a BJJ gym, a karate school, a taekwondo dojang, or a kickboxing gym, Kihon fits, because rank systems are per school and you build your own ladder. Built first for martial arts, with yoga studios and gyms coming later.
Yes. A full live demo with sample data is available now, and early access is open to founding schools.
Yes, that is the Kihon Pilot: the full platform with up to 3 of your real contacts and every feature included, for a one-time $49. It is non-refundable, it never auto-renews or converts into a subscription on its own, and if you join afterward the whole $49 is credited toward your enrollment fee. You buy it right on this site, set up your school, sign a plain-language Pilot Agreement, and pay by card.
Get early access
Tell us where to send your personalized demo. Everything past your email is optional, and founding schools get a say in what gets built first.
You're on the list
Thanks. I read every signup myself, so if you asked for a personalized demo I will be in touch soon. In the meantime, the full live demo is open with a real school's data to explore.
Explore the live demoReady to try it for real today? Start your Pilot for $49, up to 3 of your real contacts, credited toward your enrollment fee if you join.