| I have been teaching and training in the martial arts for | | | | Much like the smell you get when you enter a tire shop |
| over 20 years. Over this period, I have trained on | | | | or after you have painted a room. If you are sensitive |
| almost every type of terrain or surface. As a Martial | | | | to smells like this, best to let the mats air out before |
| Science and Ninjitsu practitioner, it is key that we train | | | | taking the time to piece them together. We decided to |
| in conditions closer to the real world. This is one of the | | | | get the mats out of the boxes (there were only about |
| reasons most of my classes and camps are taught | | | | 5 in each box) and open all the windows to let them air |
| outside or at a local park. | | | | out. |
| However, there are times when going indoors or | | | | The first school was about 1000 square feet with a |
| training under a roof or on a mat is a great alternative. | | | | solid concrete floor. We began piecing the mats |
| In the last 10 years, I have come to love one type of | | | | together by laying the interlocking sections on top of |
| training surface or martial art mat as the primary | | | | each other and then from our hands and knees - |
| martial art mat for my indoor training. These mats are | | | | pushed each piece into the next (later with experience |
| called, "Puzzle mats" and often times, "Jigsaw mats." | | | | we learned to do all of this standing). Each mat was a |
| After training with them so often, we now call them, | | | | little over 3 feet width and length. Therefore, we had |
| "Martial Science Mats." Just as it is important to have a | | | | plenty of mats to cover the space we needed to |
| good uniform, we have chosen these interlocking foam | | | | cover. |
| gym mats to be our main mat of choice. | | | | After about 15 minutes, our floor space was now |
| The reason we like them so much, is mainly because | | | | completely covered in mats in beautiful red mats. |
| of their versatility and proven practicality for all of our | | | | However, the width of the mats was about a foot |
| various training programs. We have tested these mats | | | | longer than the width of our floor. Since we wanted |
| with full contact sparring, grappling, fitness kickboxing, | | | | wall-to-wall mats, we simply used a box cutter to cut |
| self-defense and of course, our main system of | | | | the mats where they met the edge of the wall. These |
| martial arts - the Martial Science training which includes | | | | EVA Foam mats are very easy to cut. This gave us |
| rolls, falls, kicks, punches and most areas of the martial | | | | a perfect fit and some extra mat pieces we could use |
| arts. | | | | elsewhere. Since this first installation, I have been using |
| Until I opened my first of two Dojo's in Fresno, | | | | these mats everywhere. I use the when traveling to |
| California, I had never heard of puzzle mats. I | | | | demonstrations, setting up an outdoor training area or |
| remember when the order of about 100 mats came in. | | | | any location that needs a mat or area of protection. |
| I (and one of my long-term camp students from | | | | To see more information on Puzzle Mats and Martial |
| Holland) opened them up and began looking at them | | | | Arts Gear for your dojo, please visit the web site |
| with curiosity. When you first open the boxes, you will | | | | Pad-Up Martial Arts Equipment. |
| notice that new mats have a distinctive rubbery smell. | | | | |