mats and sweep kicks

[Tainan Mantis]

Hi All,
I am looking to buy mats and was hoping with more experience could give some advice.

I would like a mat that is good with sneakers, but not so 'sticky' that you can't do sweep kicks.

It doesn't have to be very soft. I will probably have some sort of throws mat that I roll over the harder mat when I need it.

Something like puzzle mats is what I had in mind. But our school in Taiwan had these and it was impossible to do sweep kicks on them.

[MasterKiller]

I use Dollamur mats. They are ok for sweeps, but you will burn your toes and feet if you do it barefooted (until you build up a callous).

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Dollamur-Wrestling-Mats__W0QQ_armrsZ1

Plus, they roll up out of the way, which is convenient sometimes.

[Oso]

different puzzle mats have different 'durometers' or springyness and therefore different levels of 'stiction' or slipperyness.

Martial Arts Mart here has some that I think are on the less sticky side...you do need to go ahead and get set up with a wholesale account though to get wholesale pricing

www.tigerclaw.com

you'll be serviced out of the Knoxville TN branch and they have always been very helpful.

Century's mats are about the softest I have seen and you probably won't like them but they do well as a sparring surface for light/controlled throwing when placed over another layer.

There is another company:

http://www.wandix.com/interlocking_mats/sports_mats.html

that has the stiffest, slickest mats I've seen.

all mats will get softer and more sticky to the feet over time as they break down.

all mats will grab shoes with more aggressive treads or very soft rubber soles.

the venerable Adidas Samba does well on most mats.

the one kicker is that all the different brands of mats use a different shape to their 'puzzle' so they will not be usable with other brands

something pricier but nice are gymnastic or cheerleading mats/floors. they can be found here as well as other places

http://www.tiffinmats.com/gymnastics/

Tiffin Mats are also about the best folding mat on the market...you should want at least a 2" mat for hard throwing and I usually like to put a 2" folding mat on top of the 7/8" puzzle mat...with the puzzle mats providing another 3' or so of safety zone outside of the folding mats just in case

[EarthDragon]

canvas covered tatami it what we use. anything with a rubber compound or rubber properties will stick.

[WinterPalm]

We train for the street so we only practice throws and sweeps on concrete with needles, condoms, feces, and broken glass everywhere.
It's called reality training.:cool:

[EarthDragon]

LOL winterpalm where do you live? sounds like a dirty place, perhaps you should move...

[GreenCloudCLF]

Swain mats are > then all other mats

[WinterPalm]

LOL winterpalm where do you live? sounds like a dirty place, perhaps you should move...

The streets bro, the streets.:cool:

[David Jamieson]

We train for the street so we only practice throws and sweeps on concrete with needles, condoms, feces, and broken glass everywhere.
It's called reality training.:cool:

so... you train on the low track? across from the old railway station? lol
certainly sounds like it...just east of chinatown right? hahaha.

[EarthDragon]

LOL nice winterplam good answer... try this..... add the word "holmes"
ie the streets holmes the streets.. its sounds meaner dont you think? LOL

But seriously who else trains on tatami? in the 80's in my karate days was a wooden floor (that sucked), then my orignal 8 step schoool was carpet (rented space) then in SF it was tatami and my school is tatami you can either wear shoes or barefoot its works well for both..

I did a seminar at a school with a rubber floor as I was demonstraing a throw my partners foot stuck and twisted his ankle. he was wearing pinetree MA shoes.. tainan i suggest you invest the money on good flooring it can be expensive but to me its worth every penny

[WinterPalm]

so... you train on the low track? across from the old railway station? lol
certainly sounds like it...just east of chinatown right? hahaha.

Holmes, you been outta the neighbourhood for way too long! I'm talking about River Heights straight up!



Bro.


:cool:

But really, Tatami is good...that's the Judo standard here and it is decently soft but still hard so you get toughened up quite a bit after the 1000th throw.

[David Jamieson]

River Heights!? :eek:

dayum! tha's my old hood.

the land of kippahs and sitting shiva...
what has become of you oh river heights....

it's a dark day :(


:p

[sanjuro_ronin]

Swain mats are > then all other mats

Correct, some even roll up nice for storage.

[Oso]

yea, i saw those new swain rollups...but they stole the idea from the gymnastic mats which have been around for a long time.

swain is good, no doubt.

but, for the type of stuff I know he is doing, the carpeted gymnastic mats would rock...but pricey.

those wandix mats are really rather slick for a puzzle mat and can be had for less than $2 a square foot last I checked.

[Tainan Mantis]

Thanks for the good advice and a bit of comic relief.

I spoke with the maintainance man of the place I just started leasing.
He told me that the TKD school that was there before me used the same carpet that had been living there since when this unit was an insurance place 5-6 years ago.

So this super thin layer of carpet is still sitting there on bare concrete after how many years I don't know, but more than 6!

CHEAPEST OPTIONS
Cheapest thing to do is leave that crummy carpet until I have looked at all my options. I don't want to regret a $2000-$5000 decision.

FANCY OPTIONS
This is an idea of what I would like, and might do.

Puzzle mats that are thin and good for everything but hard slams and throws.
we could wear sneakers on these.

Then, another layer of mats that rolls over that. I saw some that roll open in a second or two.

That would be what we use for more throws and roll practice.

It would be for barefoot practice and also what we would use for sparring.

So, I am thinking along the lines of the regulation san shou size for this roll out mat.

SAN SHOU SIZE
What is the regulation san shou size? Anyone have that number off the top of their head?

TATAMI
I don't know if we mean the same thing when we say tatami.
The Judo school in Taiwan that I went to used tatami, it is woven grass of some sort.

Most of the skin gets very raw, even for me. I could see a lot of newbies suffereing greatly. Also, I have searched for tatami in USA, I think you have to buy it all imported from overseas. But, I wouldn't use it for my school. Might use it for a tea shop though.

Used it for a bed when I lived in Taiwan for about a year.

[MasterKiller]

What is the regulation san shou size? Anyone have that number off the top of their head?. I dunno about regulation, but a standard boxing ring is around 18 x 18 ft or 20 x 20.

I have a 16X 16 ft mat, and it works pretty well.

[EarthDragon]

tainan,
the tatami needs to be covered with canvas as I explianed I woulndt suggest not covering it. It comes in sections and yes its woven and bundled straw, the reason for the covering is for longevity of the matts and health reasons bactieris blood sweat..

the reason I like them for my school is you can fall on it, tumble, use sneakers, just socks or barefoot. its great for the kids classes as well as adults.

[Oso]

tatami: all the 'tatami' mats you'll see listed at Swain and others are foam core w/ a plastic or rubber like outer layer that is embossed to look somewhat like real tatami.

my sparring area is usually set up at 16x16 though I can go as big as 20x20 but don't usually....you'll need 25 of the standard size puzzle squares to make a ring 16'4"x16'4". 9 of one color and 16 of another if you want to have the smaller center area.

most fight competition areas are around 20' or so and range from 18' to 22' (wrestling circles are 22' i think) as MK said.

definitely check out the wandix mats for slickness and economy...call and ask if they'll send you a sample...if they won't, let me know and I'll send you a piece of one of mine.

and definitely check out tigerclaw's ...i know they'll send you a sample piece.

[Tainan Mantis]

...if they won't, let me know and I'll send you a piece of one of mine.

and definitely check out tigerclaw's ...i know they'll send you a sample piece.

Thanks Matt.
Jim's old student, my new one, is giving me a lot of help.
What we have planned so far is to stain the concrete and use that for know.

That way, I can take an extra month or two looking at my matt options while I do all the other fun stuff.

Like register with the department of agriculture. Wierd stuff that takes a lot of time and has no apparant reason.