The Best Mats?

[fitzy]

Hi all,
Does the AHA recommend any particular type of mats?
Should I be buying mats that meet a certain Australian standard?
Does the AHA insurance that we get with membership cover injuries on mats that meet/don't meet Australian standards?
I am an instructor in northern NSW and I would love some feedback on what you think are the best mats for Hapkido. My experience consists solely of training on 40mm jigsaw mats. This is probably what I will look at purchasing. However some jigsaw mats have been too soft and some too hard and many like from Clark Rubber, too expensive. I have just been looking at mats all morning on the internet, so here is my spin on things;

Jigsaw Mats
Pro's;
Highly portable
Small jigsaw tabs interlocking are safer on toes.
Affordable- from $44-$100/sqm

Con's;
Take longer to set up
Large jigsaw interlocking tabs can catch toes.
Can be too soft, sometimes no good for kicking.
Can be too hard, sometimes no good for falling.

Can anyone give me the run down on 'roll out type mats?' They come with all different type of surfaces (ie www.regupol.com.au). Which ones are good for Hapkido? Prices seem to start from $100/sqm (www.universalselfdefense.com.au)
Thanks

[dmarie]

I am not aware of an Australian Standard - I think the main thing is to buy a mat that is fit for purpose - as you say - not too soft and not too hard.

Also consider the grip - too much grip can be bad for the knees - especially for students wearing shoes.

The instructor at Bondi recently bought some mats (not jigsaw) so you could contact him (via the club directory) and see what he bought and how it is working out.

I also know one instructor who said it took them 2-3 years to break in the jigsaw mats they bought and now they are just right. So maybe buying second-hand jigsaw mats might be good - though they will probably have missing teeth (toe traps).

The best mats I have bought were ex-Aikido ones with a canvas cover and wooden frame (I believe they are being used at Murwillumbah) though they are not convenient, take a lot of effort to deploy and pack away and the wooden frame can be a bit if a hazard - but the falling surface was great.

Modern judo mats can be great - if you have a wooden floor, the suction on the bottom keeps them in place.

I think the ideal would be to get soft jigsaw mats (40mm) and make a cover for them (like the surfaces they have in Korea) that provides the right grip and prevents toes from getting caught. However this may not be the cheapest option.

Good luck - I hope others with more experience will chip in as well - great question - thanks for posting it. You could also try posting it on the Hapkdidoforum.com then you would get feedback from all over the world (check first to see if anyone has not already asked the question on their forum).

[elapornik]

Hi,

I did the disco when I was looking for some mats for home. The best two by far from the half dozen I tried were zebra mats and the swain dollamur mats

http://sportech.com.au/Sportech/equipmentMartialArtsMatInfo.asp

http://www.zebramats.com.au/

as you've already stated good mats are expensive, but from what I found, you get what you pay for. Another consideration is what type of floor you're putting them on. The first time I tried mine was on a sprung floor and there is a word of difference between that and the concrete floor in my garage.

In the end I got lucky and bought a dozen ex tournament jigsaw mats from zebra for about $15 each, they tend to have a surplus around the end of november so if you can hold off till then you might get lucky

another decent mat I haven't tried but have been told about are the 30mm ones selling on ebay for about $25 each. do a search forjigsaw mats and you'll see them.

[dmarie]

Watch this discussion over on Hapkido forum - one of them has put up a related question:

http://www.hapkidoforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2912&p=33307&sid=f7cd7a2ec1a5b7729a266c034cf940a0#p33307

[fitzy]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I will take up those leeds you posted.
Our situation is- we train in the local community hall which has a wooden floor, so 40mm minimum thickness mats sounds right to me.
By the way, what is a sprung floor?
Thanks.