where to purchase tatamis for a new school

gentlemen,

i have taken on the task of finding a source for tatamis for our soon to open school. i have a couple of questions: am i spelling tatami correctly? second, does anyone know where i can find a supplier of them or someone who would be selling them used. i checked the buy,sell section of the site and fired off an email to someone already.

thanks,
stephen hanson

[kenkyusha]

What is your location? How much are you looking to spend? Must they be tatami or will any matting system do? Do you have a specific time-frame?

Be well,
Jigme

(BTW, we have some women here at E-budo too, so lets not exclude them)

[Edited by kenkyusha on 10-06-2000 at 11:40 AM]

thank you. our location will be in houston in a shared gym. we were looking at tatame because of the mobility. we will share a floor with some other groups that will use the underlying wood floors. we consider a wrestling mat but thought it would be difficult to store. we were hoping to find something within the next week or so and procure them within about two weeks after that...if you can suggest another matting system, please feel free to do so.
thank you,
stephen hanson

[JD Porter]

http://www.promats.com

They've got a tri fold mat -- 2 of them work out to 12*12 or 10*10, and they store up small, and they've got thick, good stitches and sturdy velcro flaps. They fold up and store quickly, too.
Our dojo has a few, and I'm considering getting some for home.
Is anyone actually seeing my posts??? I've replied on a few topics but nobody's replied. Am I just boring/obnoxious, or does everyone agree with me? *cough*

[Mark Brecht]

You should check around in the local school systems or even community centers. They sometimes give away their old mats (various types, often still in acceptable shape) for FREE when they get new ones...

[BC]

Did anyone hear a cough?

Seriously, though, JD, do you think the promats are of good quality and thickness? I'm looking into getting some mats for my home, and they were on my list of ones to consider.

[JD Porter]

Promats are good stuff... the tri folds are good for rolling, breakfalls and throws and I do plan on getting some when the money starts rolling in (any day now... ). Our dojo also has some thicker ones from promats which we use for climbing ropes and nets, as well as more adventurous acrobatics that consist of multiple layers of foam of varying density. They were remarkably stiff and unflexible when we bought them, but they're loosening up a bit. You can also get remnants and 'reconditioned' mats from them. Hope it helps

Mark's also right, and I seem to remember someone selling some used mats on the cheap.