The Best Floor Mats For Martial Arts Gyms

If you don’t have a dedicated space that is purely a gym for martial arts, then your only real option is puzzle mats which can be assembled and disassembled relatively quickly. Standalone gyms should no even consider purchasing cheap mats since they are generally lower quality and do not last as long as professionally installed mats.

Gym owners who have their own dedicated space should consider companies such as Dollamur for permanent installations. There are some cheaper alternatives to permanent mats such as “Flexiroll” options, however these still cost considerably more than puzzle mats.

As many martial arts gyms are not fortunate enough to have their own building, puzzle mats are the only viable alternative. These mats are easy to store and will cover a wooden floor extremely easily. Given that they are designed to lock together, you do not have to worry about rips, tears, or any kind of damage. In a worst-case scenario, you will have to throw away a single piece of mat. This is not nice but is far cheaper than replacing an entire floor space.

What Type Of Mats Are Best For Different Martial Arts?

For the most part, puzzle mats are best for the striking martial arts. This is because you will need very thick mats to practice grappling martial arts – and in particular judo. High impact sports such as judo should only be trained on permanent thick mats or Flexiroll mats.

Puzzle mats are not really too appropriate for judo since impact throws can be devastating. Often in judo gyms, you will find that there is a dedicated crash mat to practice throws on, in order not to injure uke. If you absolutely have to use puzzle mats for impact throwing sports such as Sambo or Judo, it is advised that you use ones that are at least 2 inches thick.

As for striking martial arts, puzzle mats generally do just fine. This is because if everyone trains as they should, nobody should really be hitting the floor with any significant force. At worst you may have slips and falls, alongside muay thai clinch-style takedowns. These kinds of falls are much more forgiving on the body and do not hurt anywhere near as much as judo throws.

Exactly What To Consider When Buying Martial Arts Puzzle Mats

Martial arts puzzle mats have quite a number of pros and cons. In summary, they are lightweight, portable, easy to clean, and don’t cost much money. The negatives of puzzle mats are that they wear out a lot faster, are nowhere near as thick as permanent mats, and can be annoying to constantly put down and take up at the start and end of every class.

Thickness

Most mats operate on the basis of the thicker the better. You cannot really buy puzzle-based floor mats which are too thick given that they are designed to be portable and used for martial arts. There are already quite a lot of limitations of what you can and can’t do with portable puzzle mats, so thickness is usually a bonus.

Of course with that being said, thicker mats are more expensive since they use more material and are heavier to ship.

Gauging thickness should really depend on what martial arts you are expecting to use the mats for. 1/2 inch thickness can be used for any martial art which doesn’t use grappling based takedowns. For combat that does require being on the floor or having some kind of takedown, a recommendation of between 1-2 inches is encouraged.

Once again judo and sambo are the exception to this rule and are discouraged from being practiced on portable mats.

Durability

Durability is mostly a factor that you can control yourself. Most mats are made from the same or similar materials, so customer reviews are really the only thing you can go by in advance.

However, looking after your mats will keep them in good condition. This means making sure that when storing them, they are not too hot or too cold, damaging the structure of them. Also keeping mats dry after use is very important, mold and damp can destroy almost all materials, so it is important not to store puzzle mats outside.

Also making sure obvious mistakes are avoided such as people walking on the mats with sneakers are avoided. Footwear other than specialist wrestling shoes can easily rip and tear martial arts mats.

Reversible

Having reversible mats can be a real benefit since they have more longevity. During training, if a single side is use continuously, there is no doubt that this side of the mat will wear down a lot faster than the underside.

By having the use of both sides of a single mat, you can get a lot more use out of your mats. Whilst this won’t be a 100% increase, it will be a noticeable difference.

Shock Absorbing

As previously mentioned – puzzle mats are certainly not ideal for judo. However, many people in less affluent gyms still practice martial arts such as karate, bjj, muay thai, and many other martial arts on these mats. All of these martial arts have takedowns to at least some degree – which is why shock absorption is important.

Shock absorption will dampen any hard falls. Given that puzzle mats are certainly not the thickest, having decent shock absorbers will make falls a lot more pleasant. Of course, for most of the striking martial arts, this is not 100% necessary, but should certainly be considered for the likes of muay thai and BJJ training.

Water Resistance

Having martial arts mats that are water resistant is a 100% necessity. People are going to sweat, spill bottles of water, and even bleed on mats when they are used for any period of time.

It is important that these liquids do not permeate the mats and are instead kept on the surface and then wiped clean. Unless a mat is heavily worn down, it will not become structurally unsound and start breaking apart from liquids.

Thankfully, almost every mat on the market is waterproof and can be used outside, provided the weather is reasonable.

Made Of Safe Materials

As most mats for martial arts are coming straight out of China, it is important to know exactly what they are made of. Most mats will be made of approved materials for each country, but it is important to check nonetheless. The reason for this is that if your are standing on them, you certainly do not want toxic materials on your bare skin. Open wounds are not common in martial arts but do sometimes happen, in this case, it is even more important to stay away from cheap Chinese chemicals and plastics.

Best Floor Mats For Martial Arts

Meister (1.5 Inches Thick)

Available in two colors (black and green), it is highly recommended that you buy this mat in black since it is a lot easier to both clean and hide stains. A textured surface layer ensures that the mat will last a long time and not just wear down and remove its thickness.

Being 1.5 inches thick is the main selling point of this mat since it is stronger and firmer than most other puzzle mats. This means that if you want to practice a variety of martial arts on mats like this you can do. BJJ and muay thai can easily be trained on mats of this thickness, not just pure striking arts.

One key feature of the mats is that they are fully reversible, meaning that you’re able to use both sides. As previously mentioned in the article, being able to use different sides of a single mat will increase the lifespan use and save you money over time.

Check The Price Of The Meister EVA On Amazon

Velotas – (1/2 Inch Thick) Budget Choice

If you’re after cheap mats for your garage or a small gym setup then Velotas are your best choice. Obviously, the main draw is value for money. Velotas mats are considerably cheaper than all other alternatives, with the trade off being they are 0.5 inches thick. This limits the martial arts you can practice to non-takedown based practices and also means they will wear out faster. However, if you only want puzzle mats as a temporary solution, then there is no need to spend a lot of money.

Velotas use a strange ridged pattern you would find on potato chips rather than a tatami style texture. This is unusual but does make them easier to clean as you can simply slide a damp cloth from top to bottom without dirt becoming stuck.

Check The Price Of The Velotas EVA Foam On Amazon

Dollamur – Flexiroll (1.25 Inches Thick) – Best For Wrestling & Judo

As one of the market leaders in high quality mats, this is exactly what you get from the Dollamur flexiroll. By far the most expensive mats on this list, Flexiroll is far superior quality to puzzle style mats, but costs considerably more money.

Perhaps the main benefit of Fleixroll is that you can practice literally any martial art on it. Although temporary, this is exactly the same style of mat that you will find in wrestling and judo gyms. Whilst you shouldn’t be aiming to body slam your opponents through the floor, Flexiroll is more than cushioned enough to take breakfalls from standard double leg takedowns and hip throws.

All in all, if you want something to wrestle on, this is pretty much your only choice. Training grappling martial arts on puzzle mats is simply unsafe, so paying extra for your own personal safety should not bother you too much. In short, Dollarmur Flexiroll is very expensive but well worth the money if you are a judoka or a wrestler.

Check The Price Of The Dollamur Flexi-Roll On Amazon