Home made mats?

[Steve Loftin]

I am gonna make some home made grappling mats. I already have the padding and a tarp I will us to cover it. My question is....

what is the best type of adhesive to use?

I want something that is gonna last and that will not dry hard. I was thinking about using sealant or caulking, but I'm not sure if that will act as a good enough adhesive. Please, anyone with experience of this subject let me know. Thanks in advance.

God bless,


Steve

[Cliff Hargrave]

I heard of people using fabric glue, but it might get kind of expensive. I know this question has been posted alot at www.mma.tv so try there and someone can lead you in the right direction.

[Jack Stay]

I am gonna make some home made grappling mats. I already have the padding and a tarp I will us to cover it. My question is....

what is the best type of adhesive to use?

I want something that is gonna last and that will not dry hard. I was thinking about using sealant or caulking, but I'm not sure if that will act as a good enough adhesive. Please, anyone with experience of this subject let me know. Thanks in advance.

God bless,


Steve

Hello Steve,

I'm very curious as to what you are using for 'home made' grappling mats? The idea has always intrigue me.

All the proper Judo mats which I've admired here in Boston were covered over by a tightly held down piece of canvas. I've never seen what was under the canvas, but the falls were noticibly less painful than on the 1" thick wrestling mats at tournament.

There is a Judo club here in Boston that is using 'real' tatamis they purchased in Japan, and they're as hard as roof tile.

So I'm interested in the canvas covered variety of matwork space, and I'd be interested in what you have in mind. If my question doesn't bother you!

Thanks!
---------------
John 'Jack' Stay

[Cliff Hargrave]

Usually it's four layers of carpet padding covered with a tarp. Great for grappling, sucks for throws.

There is a certain kind of white foam used in industrial packing that works great. It is two inches thick and comes in sheets. If you can find it you usually can get the companies to give it to you since they just dispose of it. I can't remember the name of it though. My first dojo had a huge mat made out of this stuff, covered with a canvas tarp. The foam sheets were just duct taped together under the tarp. It gave a firm footing and was great for falling.

[Jack Stay]

Usually it's four layers of carpet padding covered with a tarp. Great for grappling, sucks for throws.

There is a certain kind of white foam used in industrial packing that works great. It is two inches thick and comes in sheets. If you can find it you usually can get the companies to give it to you since they just dispose of it. I can't remember the name of it though. My first dojo had a huge mat made out of this stuff, covered with a canvas tarp. The foam sheets were just duct taped together under the tarp. It gave a firm footing and was great for falling.

Thanks Cliff,

It never occured to me that there would be a difference between a 'grappling' mat and a mat for falling. I always knew that the standard highschool wrestling mats were never designed for Judo type falls, but I thought 'grapplers' were different than wrestlers, and therefore would have a similar, if not identical, mat as Judo.

But based on my experience with the rectangular shaped 'tatamis' placed together, and gym mats covered by a large square sheet of canvas, I found the canvas covered mats to be much preferable (less broken toes). So I've always planned on a canvas covered dojo work out area if I ever open my own place. (I am not a 'sensei', I am not qualified to teach, but I would like to open a place for Judoka and Ju-jitsuists to work out and to hold shiais [tournaments] for other Judo clubs).
__________________
John 'Jack' Stay

[Cliff Hargrave]

I used to have Resilite wrestling mats and they were terrible for throws. Plus they bit your toes, lots of broken ones over the years.

I am working out on Swain mats now and they are great.

[Jack Stay]

I used to have Resilite wrestling mats and they were terrible for throws. Plus they bit your toes, lots of broken ones over the years.

I am working out on Swain mats now and they are great.

With or without a canvas covering?

______________
John 'Jack' Stay

[Jeff Burger]

My brother has a high basement ceiling and turned it into a home dojo.

There was this company Valcour ( I believe). They do this home insulation, they drill a hole in the house and fill it with a liquid that later solidifies.

We made kicking sheilds and such out of this stuff.
We also had it poured on his basement floor and then put a carpet over it.
Its lasted over 20 years now and it was pretty cheap.

Jeff

[Cliff Hargrave]

With or without a canvas covering?

______________
John 'Jack' Stay

This school has the "Gold Medal" mats that are 1 meter by 2 meters. I dont know how many they have now but it's about 30' X 30' coverage.

http://smartwebsales.biz/swainsportsmats/cart/product_gold_mats.asp

[Steve Loftin]

Jack,

I am doing just as Cliff said, about 4-5 layers of carpet padding and a vinyl tarp on top and bottom. I'll probably use 100mph tape on the edges and then sew it with fishing line.

On the subject of mats for throwing, I can give you a great way to make them. These mats work awesome for throwing and grappling. My training partners and I made some mats like these years ago to serve as a floor for a wrestling/boxing ring.

We took old tires that were given to us by a service center and laid them on the ground. Then we used pallets that we got from a local newspaper office and laid them on top of the tires. On top of that we placed plywood. On top of that we placed padding. On top of that we placed a canvas tarp and tied it down snug. We did all of this for FREE from donated materials.

I got this off of a website a while back. It gives you a firm footing and great shock absorbtion for high amplitude throws. You can run an internet search for JUDO AMERICA and it should take you to the site where I go the info. It's a great site loaded with stuff.

God bless,


Steve

[Mike S]

I am gonna make some home made grappling mats. I already have the padding and a tarp I will us to cover it. My question is....

what is the best type of adhesive to use?

I want something that is gonna last and that will not dry hard. I was thinking about using sealant or caulking, but I'm not sure if that will act as a good enough adhesive. Please, anyone with experience of this subject let me know. Thanks in advance.

God bless,


Steve

One of my training partners made a mat using tires, foam, plywood, and a tarp. The tires for the base, the wood, followed by the foam, which was firm, and then the tarp. While it may seem like it would be a hard landing, we've done hip throws as well as grappled on this mat, and yet its very comfortable.

Mike Slosek

[Jack Stay]

Jack,

I am doing just as Cliff said, about 4-5 layers of carpet padding and a vinyl tarp on top and bottom. I'll probably use 100mph tape on the edges and then sew it with fishing line.

On the subject of mats for throwing, I can give you a great way to make them. These mats work awesome for throwing and grappling. My training partners and I made some mats like these years ago to serve as a floor for a wrestling/boxing ring.

We took old tires that were given to us by a service center and laid them on the ground. Then we used pallets that we got from a local newspaper office and laid them on top of the tires. On top of that we placed plywood. On top of that we placed padding. On top of that we placed a canvas tarp and tied it down snug. We did all of this for FREE from donated materials.

I got this off of a website a while back. It gives you a firm footing and great shock absorbtion for high amplitude throws. You can run an internet search for JUDO AMERICA and it should take you to the site where I go the info. It's a great site loaded with stuff.

God bless,


Steve

Hey Steve,

Great Advice! Thank you very much! You got my mind gears rotating on this one.

Thanks for the JUDO AMERICA information. Much Appreciated.

Yours,

John 'Jack' Stay

[Jack Stay]

Hey Steve,

Great Advice! Thank you very much! You got my mind gears rotating on this one.

Thanks for the JUDO AMERICA information. Much Appreciated.

Yours,

John 'Jack' Stay

Again, thank you Steve,

I wanted to include your Judo America suggestion, with their website on constructing a spring mat:

http://www.judoamerica.com/helpforclubs/springmat/

Now I know how Tohoku Judo club did it when they were located on Temple Street in Somerville, MA., so this has answered a long standing question with me.
_____________________
John 'Jack' Stay

[Steve Loftin]

No sweat. I am glad to be of some help. If you decide to make a spring mat, be sure to let me know how it turns out. Ours worked great while we had it up.


Steve