We make TOMO, so you know where we stand. Here's what we believe more than anything we'd say about our own app: journal. Paper, a notes app, the back of a gym waiver, TOMO. Whatever gets it written down. A session you don't record is mostly gone by Thursday.
We built TOMO because the moment you most need to capture a session is the moment you're least able to. You just rolled for an hour. Your forearms are cooked, your hands are shaking, and you've got maybe two minutes of clear memory before the drive home scrambles it. TOMO was made for those two minutes.
The short answer
TOMO is better when you're wiped out after class, and when you look back weeks later.
Paper is better for drawing positions, and on price.
Neither one can tell you if your technique is right. That's your coach.
Side by side
| Question | Paper notebook | TOMO |
|---|---|---|
| Right after class | ||
| Your hands are shaking | Needs a pen, a dry page and a steady hand | Talk for about 90 secondsBetter |
| Sweat and spills | Pages smear and stick together | Nothing to smearBetter |
| Remembering to bring it | Easy to leave in the car or the gym bag | It's on the phone already in your pocketBetter |
| No signal at the gym | Works anywhere | Saves on the phone, uploads later |
| Weeks later | ||
| Finding an old session | Flip pages and hope | Search by technique, instructor or note; filter gi and no-giBetter |
| Spotting patterns | Only if you reread it | A weekly debrief that cites your sessions and names what keeps happeningBetter |
| What to study next | Your call | Picks from 650+ checked technique videos, aimed at your gapsBetter |
| Everything else | ||
| Who can see it | Anyone who opens your bag | Only you. Recordings are deleted once transcribedBetter |
| Drawing a position | Yes, and it's great for itBetter | No |
| Cost | A few dollarsBetter | Three months free, then $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year |
| Checking your technique | Neither can. Ask your coach or a higher belt. | |
Why paper is harder than it looks
Notebooks are great. Plenty of people have filled a stack of them, and if that's you, keep going.
But paper asks a lot of you at exactly the wrong time. You need a pen that still has ink and a page that isn't damp from your gi. You need a hand steady enough to write after the adrenaline of a hard round, and fingers that can hold on to a pen better than most people can hold on to Mikey Musumeci. Then you need to remember the notebook is in the car. Most training journals don't die in one bad week. They die in the parking lot, one skipped entry at a time.
Why TOMO works after a hard class
You open the app and talk, and TOMO does the rest.
Talk for 90 seconds
Say it in your own words while it's fresh. TOMO writes the session with techniques, rounds, submissions, injuries and notes, and you can fix anything before you save.
A weekly debrief
Once a week it reads everything you logged and cites your actual sessions. It'll notice the armbar that's caught you three weeks running, or the knee cut that finally landed. Ask it follow-up questions and the answers come from your own training.
Videos for your gaps
It picks from 650+ checked technique videos to match what your logs say you're missing.
Works in the parking lot
No signal? It saves on your phone and uploads when you're back online.
Yours alone
Nobody at the gym sees your journal, and recordings are deleted once they're transcribed.
What TOMO won't do
It won't tell you whether your technique is right. It has never seen you roll. What it gives you is a clear question, like "why do I keep losing the underhook in half guard?", to take to your coach or a higher belt.
- iPhone only, for now. An Android version is in the works.
- It's a subscription after three free months. There's no free tier after that.
- No drawing. If you think in diagrams, keep a small notebook for those. Plenty of people use both.
Quick answers
Is a paper notebook good enough for a BJJ journal?
Yes, if you write in it after class and read it back. The hard parts are practical: sweat, forgetting it in the car, and writing with shaking hands after a hard round. That's the gap TOMO was built for.
Can I use Apple Notes as a BJJ training log?
Yes. It's free, searchable and already on your phone. Paste a simple template into a new note after each class. It won't organize your entries or tell you what keeps happening, so that part is on you.
Should I use a notebook and a BJJ app together?
Plenty of people do. Keep a small notebook in your bag for diagrams, and use the app for the after-class entry and the weekly review.
What does TOMO do that a notebook can't?
You talk for about 90 seconds and TOMO writes the session: techniques, rounds, submissions, injuries and notes. Each week it writes a debrief that cites your own sessions, answers follow-up questions about them, and picks technique videos aimed at the gaps in your logs. Everything is searchable, and it saves even with no signal. Like a notebook, it can't check your technique. That's your coach's job.
How much does TOMO cost compared with a notebook?
A notebook costs a few dollars. TOMO is free for three months, then $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
Whatever you use, journal
If TOMO isn't for you, don't let that stop you. Grab a notebook and our free template, and after class write down what worked, what caught you and what you'll work on next time. Any journal beats a good memory, because nobody's memory is good after a hard roll.
And if you've tried paper and it keeps dying in the gym bag, give TOMO the three free months. You'll know well before they're up.
TOMO runs on iPhone with iOS 16 or later. After the free months it's $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year.