BaconTastesGood
Blue Belt
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2007
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Before I found the local places to train I thought I was going to have go old-school and practice in my basement with DVD instruction. Horrible, but that was how desperate I was to learn some of this stuff. Thankfully I've bypassed that by finding a couple decent schools, but I ended up buying these mats anyway.
With a wife and kids, I obviously couldn't just take over the entire basement with mats, so I needed something reasonably portable. The standard blue folding mats were way too bulky and heavy (and expensive), and puzzle mats were a pain in the ass. I luckily stumbled across the Swain Flexiroll portable mats. I'll try to add pictures when I get a chance.
After placing an order for the 1.25" thick mats through one of my schools I got them three weeks later. The late shipping really sucked, but they claimed they had run out due to an excessively large order from another customer right before we placed our own. I ordered two of the 5' x 10' textured green 'tatami' style mat.
The mats were well packaged and even included a big roll of 'mat tape', which you can use to tape two mats together side by side. The tape was free, which was a nice touch, however I've never used it so I'm not sure how effective it is (or not).
The first thing I noticed about the mats was their weight or, rather, their complete lack of it. These things are light. Not "it doesn't take much effort to lift it" light, but "a six year old girl carried them across the room" light. They're practically made out of air.
They're extremely comfortable to roll on -- they're actually used as makeshift beds when the kids are sleeping downstairs in the basement when company is over -- but can take a pretty good hit. It's amazing how resilient the mats are given their almost complete lack of weight.
The roll-up functionality is effortless and simple, it's basically like rolling up a carpet (but a lot easier). They come with velcro straps to keep them rolled up, which is a nice touch.
I'm a little worried about the long term reliability of the connective material between the links, but so far they've been holding up really well. They're soft enough that I can perform aikido breakfalls on them, but I would not recommend their use for suplexes or really brutal throws -- they are soft enough that a controlled landing is decent, but an uncontrolled fall would probably still suck.
Their portability makes them great for demonstrations -- they're much easier to pack up than blue folding mats -- and you can easily stow them away in a closet when not in use and unroll them when you want.
Cleaning is a cinch as well -- just wipe them down and you're set. The foam side of the mats do tend to get things "stuck" in them like insects, hair, and any other debris on a typical floor, but that's the side facing away from me so I don't really care.
Amazingly enough, these are $20 cheaper than the portable folding mats, although probably not as durable in the long run. For people that need portability or want something that's handy for grappling (but not necessarily for big slams) I can recommend these highly.
