Zebra mats

[makotodojo]

Dear all,

I hope you are well.

I have a question for anyone with experience with Zebra Mats. I will be installing wall to wall Zebra grappling mats in my Dojo in about a week.

If any of you own these in your Dojo or even have trained on them, I would appreciate any feedback you can provide. How do they feel, hold up etc. Any cautions, installation tips just general stuff.

Thank you for reading,

[fightgrrl]

did you already buy them? I'd suggest Tiffin for same quality but cheaper.

[makotodojo]

did you already buy them? I'd suggest Tiffin for same quality but cheaper.


Hello,

thank you for your reply. Yes, they have been purchased already. We upgraded from manchino Mats. Which btw are very good mats too. They really held up over the years.

Regards,

[David Anderson]

I have a question for anyone with experience with Zebra Mats. I will be installing wall to wall Zebra grappling mats in my Dojo in about a week.

If any of you own these in your Dojo or even have trained on them, I would appreciate any feedback you can provide. How do they feel, hold up etc. Any cautions, installation tips just general stuff.


HI Richard -- I became intimately acquainted with Zebra mats at the Las Vegas AikiExpo two years ago. They seem to be very good quality mats, made of thick dense foam. I expect they will hold up well over time. I don't know what your current mats are like, but the Zebras are very 'fast'...a firm nonslip surface that seems to have just enough give to protect you without being soft.

They require a smooth clean floor to be laid on...otherwise they can slip. Be careful to get them started in the centre of your room and be picky about getting the edges together just right, because they are a great deal of trouble to shift once they're laid down...they won't slide for nothin'. You don't want gaps...if they grab a toe or finger at the wrong time you might leave it behind. Ouch! Don't bend the corners or edges as this can damage them.

That's all I can think of...oh yeah, wear your truss when you carry them from the skid to the floor...those suckers are heavy. We laid down many hundreds...maybe thousands...in Las Vegas and it was a heck of a workout. Have fun...

[makotodojo]

Dear Mr. Anderson,

thank you very much. Your post was very helpful.

Sincerely,

[makotodojo]

Dear all,

the mats arrived a couple days ago and are installed. They are great!

I do have a question regarding cleaning them. Without buying zebra's cleaner, do you have any suggestions on cleaning them?

Thank you.

[Aaron T Fields]

I have Zebra mats down and have used them for about 5 years. The reality is that most judo mats are very similar. Zebra may be a little softer than SWain, but with either mat you cannot go wrong. The key is springing your floor if you have a "hard floor" under the mat. I have built and helped to design several floors, if you need any suggestions feel free to contact me.


As to the clearner, just use a bleach water solution and a mop. There is no real advantage in buying a commercial cleaner. I am a firefighter and we use bleach water solutions to decon a lot of nastier stuff than will ever be on your mats. Good luck with the mats.


Aaron Fields
seattle-jujutsu.org

[makotodojo]

Dear Mr. Fields,

thank you for your reply.

I would indeed like to hear about springing the floor.

I will send you a PM

Arigato,

[dsimons]

They rock. Cleaning is necessary and every 5-years we power wash ours to get the grim out (you all know what I am talking about). They are wonderful overall for safty. Cleaning on a weekly basis is easy with a mop and I use a bleach/pee-b-gone mix and thats fine.