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Douglas Wylie
5th July 2006, 18:02
I am trying to find mats for aikido and judo. I am looking at the Swain/Zebra tatami style mats and trying to find the best deal. I came across the puzzle style judo mats http://www.maols.com/mats/id24.htm and am wondering if anyone has any experience with these.

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks

Chuck Clark
5th July 2006, 22:19
We really like the Zebra brand mats. We have had them now for almost six years and they seem no worse for wear. They clean easily and are well made. The people at Zebra have been good to do business with as well. I have sent several people to them and they have all been satisfied with their experience and the sport tatami.

I will do business with them again for sure.

Jose Garrido
6th July 2006, 14:40
If you have the money, I would go for the Zebra mats. You can get them at a discount if you talk to them about picking up some of their tournament mats.

I have been using the Zebras for a very long time and have purchased another 40 not long ago. They withstand a good pounding and are easy to move on.

Sheree Adams
6th July 2006, 15:25
I agree... I'm using the zebra mats and they work great and the folks were really nice to deal with.

Tim Mailloux
7th July 2006, 18:21
The Zebra & Swain mats are basiclly the same thing. I think the Swain mats may be 1/8" and thicker. But that's nothing. Years ago when I worked out the deal to purchase them for my old aikido dojo I played the two companies against one another for the best deal. Eventually I really lucked out. Zebra rents / loans brand new mats to various martial arts events for promotional purposes. After the event they sell the used mats at a nice discount with a warrenty. The mats we got were used for 3 days at a Judo Tournamant. They shipped them right from the tournamanet to the dojo. We save about $35 per mat this way. So when you call ask about this. I was lucky and they had an event happening right then, you may have to wait several weeks to several months to get that kind of deal.

Also, the reason most aikido dojo's use Zebra mats is that Zebra makes them in the light green. That color looks most like tatami. The last I checked Swain mat only came in blue, red and white.

Erik Tracy
29th July 2006, 18:07
I was just at the Black Belt Magazine Festival up in Long Beach on Friday.

Both Swain and Zebra had booths there. Both offer choices of color in mats - including the 'greenish' tatami color.

One of the guys I was with to check out the Festival tried out both types of mats as they had set up two seminar areas with each vendors' mats in each area. He liked the feel of the Swain a bit better: the corners on the Zebra felt harder and the Swain did not feel as slippery as the Zebra. But that's a personal preference call and might have to do also with how the mats were used that day

fwiw,
Erik Tracy

Aaron T
29th July 2006, 20:24
I have worked out on both Swain and Zebra quite a bit. Our club has Zebra mats, simply becasue at the time we got a better deal. Both Swain and Zebra are easy to deal with and produce a fantastic product.

One thing I will say is that the floor in which they are placed on, no matter the type of mat, is critical. Save yourself and spring the floor. If you need help feel free to contact me directly and I will give you some ideas on how to build yourself a decent floor. I have built three myself, all three different, and consulted on about three others.

As to puzzle mats, forget them and spend the extra to get something decent.


Aaron Fields
Seattle Jujutsu Club, Hatake Dojo
Sea-Town Sombo
www.seattle-jujutsu.org

Jose Garrido
31st July 2006, 16:17
I have mine directly on concrete and found it to be just fine. However at one of my previous locations I had them on top of a material called Dow Ethafoam 70. The Ethafoam was inexpensive and it made the mat very forgiving.

I just personally preferred a harder mat.

Jose Garrido

icynorth
11th August 2006, 19:35
How about any suppliers in Canada? I am looking for some new mats, but mine have to be taken down at the end of each class. I use a warehouse for the dojo.

Douglas Wylie
12th August 2006, 03:35
I went with Zebra.

Thanks for the help.