# Mats or No Mats?



## kubachi (Nov 16, 2011)

I was watching a bunch of videos on YouTube last night of belt testings, everything from white to yellow to 2dn and 3rd dan. I was surprised at the number of people, especially the higher rankings, who used mats for their rolls, falls, etc. I had the luxury of a mat for about 5 minutes. How about you?


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## Nomad (Nov 16, 2011)

While it's important to be able to roll without mats, I think that they are a very nice thing to have around; and if you have them, why not use them?  Falls and rolls, especially when done repeatedly for long periods of time, can be pretty hard on one's body.  This is exacerbated as we get older (as some of us already are).  Taking some of the impact out of the fall/roll is, IMHO, a good thing, even if it may lead some to believe that they're better at falling/rolling than they actually are.

Much like many of the "harder" training styles & methods, there's a time and place for it, but I don't like the idea of disparaging people who choose not to roll across broken glass and gravel on a daily basis simply because they don't have to. 

As someone who is pretty good at rolling and falling, and has nonetheless received a mild concussion from a throw that took me in an unexpected direction awhile back, I was pretty happy that _that_ technique had been done on mats and not in the parking lot outside.


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## MAist25 (Nov 16, 2011)

Yea I have almost always used mats. They are just something that is necessary to make sure students dont get hurt. If you take a hard fall and get injured, you will be spending more time at home recovering than at the dojang training and getting better. Mats simply allow us to train harder and more frequently because we dont have to worry as much about getting hurt and therefore spend more time training, less time recovering.


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## Carol (Nov 16, 2011)

I don't do hapkido, but I find training without mats to be very difficult, for a couple of reasons.

Some people learn stuff rather quickly and can apply what they learned with a relatively few number of missteps.  I am...not one of those people.   I prefer to have the extra protection around me for when stuff happens....not just restricted to rolls and falls, but also for learning stuff like kicks and other elements that would cause me me to get way off balance.

The other aspect is, mats reduce impact on your knees, hips, and back.   For some people (like me again ) this means training = less pain.  Less pain = more training!

Personally I am not currently at a school (need to fix that...LOL) but I work out with an informal group of folks.  We started looking for places to train and settled on a peat bog near my house.  The uneven ground presents some interesting footwork/'balance challenges, but has the benefit of being nature's crashmat.  Helps all of us be a bit less sore the next day.


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## dancingalone (Nov 17, 2011)

Our aikido dojo uses a permanent matted floor, so the bulk of our training is on mats for safety.  We do have annual outdoors training, so students do get some exposure to taking falls on turf and even concrete (not mandatory, but the advanced students give it a go) on occasion.


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## kubachi (Nov 17, 2011)

I hadn't really thought about the fact that once we're injured due to training, our training STOPS. Some of the other class locations do have the matted floors, (which I love) but ours is definitely the oldest building. There are mats in the corner though and last night before class I had a quick chat with the instructor about how my daughter was getting frustrated at her lack of rolling and sprawling power. Man, did he ever remedy that problem! He spent time before class with her alone on the mats, I stepped outside to talk to some other students (my daughter and I have an agreement that once in the dojang, the other doesn't exist) for a few minutes. By the time I went back in, there was my 12 year old kid, who had said an hour earlier "I don't want to go to class tonight" doing these beautiful front and back rolls and standing sprawls that made me look around for the kid I actually walked IN with earlier. She was so excited with herself, she jumped up and gave me a hug and did the "watch what I can do" thing. And she did great, all night. It was a long and grueling class but there was a lot of laughter and most definitely some pain (yes, I was dropped to my knees more than once) and by time to leave, she was talking a million miles a minute about Hapkido and how that had been her favorite class so far! So I agree, mats are needed. Of course, I can't give all the credit of last night's success to the mats because the Master was amazing with the kids and it was particularly nice to share a quick private "thank you" nod and smile with him right before we walked out the door.


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## oftheherd1 (Nov 18, 2011)

Kubachi 

Glad you and your daughter are finding more pleasure in Hapkido and the shared experience.  Amazing what those Masters can do when given a chance, isn't it?  I would guess learning to break fall well, and without awkwardness or pain is a big miles stone for her.  If you are lucky, you will have trouble keeping her out of class now.  Isn't Hapkido fun?  ;-)


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## kubachi (Nov 18, 2011)

It's more than fun! I obsess over it, going over and over the techniques in slow motion in my head, first concentrating on my upper body and hands, then the feet. I'm currently looking into a weekend dojang where people can practice, regardless of where they pay for training. It's a long break between my last class of the week and the first class of the next week because of the weekend and I feel like a slug. And my kid would spend every waking minute on Xbox live if I didn't keep her busy.


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