tonylaudati
02-06-2007, 11:27 PM
Having produced dozens of live KUNG FU FEMMES shows for the past two and a half years, safety is my foremost concern.
Whenever possible, we use a half-inch rubber mat at the various clubs, conventions and festivals that KFF performs at.
Obviously, the best mats are sold by sports manufacturers. But they can be pricey and in our case, sometimes impractical because we move from venue to venue.
The mat we use I made myself at a minimum cost, although some patience is required. Here's what you'll need:
Rubber Carpet Padding
Soft Cloth Felt
77 Super Spray Glue (3 or 4 cans)
Duct or Gaffer's Tape
Double-stick Carpet Tape
You start with the rubber carpet padding you can get at any Home Depot. They sell it in rolls of 6' x 12' or 6' x 36'.
Be sure and get the rubber padding and not the cotton type, which doesn't have the same bounce.
After you roll out the length of carpet padding you want to use, you position your roll of cloth felt (equal in size to the padding) at the head of the padding.
Then very carefully, you spray the glue onto the padding, and press the felt firmly on top of it. I found it best not to attempt this in sections wider than half a foot; I messed up the first one and had to buy new padding and new felt.
I used black felt because it won't get soiled that much, but obviously you can use any color. I've gotten wonderful compliments from my KFF girls who perform barefoot on the mat and love the feel of the felt.
Once your mat is finished, you can tape it down with duct or gaffer's tape, as well as double-stick carpet tape if the mat will be permanent.
I confess I always use gaffer's tape, which is more expensive, but we've never had a problem with it lifting up off the felt.
You'll probably want to make several sections of your mat and join them together.
We use three sections that are each 6' x 12'. The sections are folded up and tied with nylon rope for easy transport in my banged-up Toyota Corolla.
Certainly, a half inch mat will not offer the same kind of cushion as the thicker wrestling-style mats.
But I've been amazed by some dojos that have no mats or just regular carpeting (over concrete!).
With the KUNG FU FEMMES shows, there are times when we can't use a mat because it will interfere with the other acts.
But generally, we find that even a little padding is better than none at all.
Whenever possible, we use a half-inch rubber mat at the various clubs, conventions and festivals that KFF performs at.
Obviously, the best mats are sold by sports manufacturers. But they can be pricey and in our case, sometimes impractical because we move from venue to venue.
The mat we use I made myself at a minimum cost, although some patience is required. Here's what you'll need:
Rubber Carpet Padding
Soft Cloth Felt
77 Super Spray Glue (3 or 4 cans)
Duct or Gaffer's Tape
Double-stick Carpet Tape
You start with the rubber carpet padding you can get at any Home Depot. They sell it in rolls of 6' x 12' or 6' x 36'.
Be sure and get the rubber padding and not the cotton type, which doesn't have the same bounce.
After you roll out the length of carpet padding you want to use, you position your roll of cloth felt (equal in size to the padding) at the head of the padding.
Then very carefully, you spray the glue onto the padding, and press the felt firmly on top of it. I found it best not to attempt this in sections wider than half a foot; I messed up the first one and had to buy new padding and new felt.
I used black felt because it won't get soiled that much, but obviously you can use any color. I've gotten wonderful compliments from my KFF girls who perform barefoot on the mat and love the feel of the felt.
Once your mat is finished, you can tape it down with duct or gaffer's tape, as well as double-stick carpet tape if the mat will be permanent.
I confess I always use gaffer's tape, which is more expensive, but we've never had a problem with it lifting up off the felt.
You'll probably want to make several sections of your mat and join them together.
We use three sections that are each 6' x 12'. The sections are folded up and tied with nylon rope for easy transport in my banged-up Toyota Corolla.
Certainly, a half inch mat will not offer the same kind of cushion as the thicker wrestling-style mats.
But I've been amazed by some dojos that have no mats or just regular carpeting (over concrete!).
With the KUNG FU FEMMES shows, there are times when we can't use a mat because it will interfere with the other acts.
But generally, we find that even a little padding is better than none at all.