Training Floor

TallAdam85

TallAdam85

3rd Black Belt
Joined
May 23, 2003
Messages
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Location
Washington, Michigan
I am thinking of opening my own school soon now the location is great only thing is need to do something with the training floor was wondering how your school floor is and what parents like? Want it to look nice but don' want to pay more then the I need. I know the floor is very important because thats where I will be most of the time and want to invest in something nice


Me I dont care I have trained on carpet don't like it because it smells, rug burn on your feet ands stains with blood ext. I like wood just kinda cost alot but japan dojo feel to it. Mats are Nice but cost a lot, hard to spar on them and people become dependent on the mats and in real life there are no mats.

Heres what i found
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=249285-60754-630175&lpage=none

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=132318-35938-080066&lpage=none
Lets hear some feed back
 
I have my floor totally done in mats so I prefer them and as far as getting use to them outside training will keep them readt for all elements.
 
We have two large training areas, one is matted the other is wood. We have a 3rd smaller area which is carpeted. Don't like the carpeted area and will soon have it wood. Many like the matted area due to being kinder to the body and legs. The wood area is louder but allows us to work out with shoes. The wood floor is much more stable than the mat but working on the mats barefooted makes the feet have to work harder and allows the strengthening of the foot muscles more than working with shoes. We like having the different floors for the different type of training.

Danny
 
Having started in a room where the floor was cement (and yes, barefoot on cement will build your feet up fast!) I agree with those who prefer wood - but cost comes into it as well. When I redid my basement to create a workout space (also cement) I put down mats, because 1) I'm not going to work out on cement at home (it's cold down there!), 2) there was linoleum glued to the cement, and half of it came up, leaving me with exposed floor glue (hard to get off - and not really worth it). So while I love wood floors to work out on, I don't have the money to install a floating wood floor in my basement.

There are some other things to consider as well. There are wood floors, and there are wood floors. The wood floors in a racquetball court are different from the wood floors installed in a dance studio; it has to do with what is under the wood, and how it's supported. The type of wood will change the cost, and also the feel of the floor underfoot. And there are other options too - the Y where I teach has a room with some type of interlocking modular tiles that I have never seen anywhere else, which they use in a dance studio/yoga room; the tiles aren't quite flat, feel more like plastic than rubber, and seem to have some type of (rubber?) support under them - a reasonably forgiving surface, but a little strange the first time you walk out on it. From what they told me when it was being installed, it was cheaper than wood, and the upkeep is easier, once it was sealed. There are plenty of options - you just have to do your research and decide what works for you.
 
Whatever you do, do not buy pergo floors for training. They are really hard on the feet. (trust me I have them in my house)

In your situation and with the art you study and how much you want to spend you could go with puzzle mats of dollymer mats. Those my be your best choice's based on how much you want to spend. Whatever you do though find a company that will sell them to you at a wholesale rate to save yourself some serious money.
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In my main dojo and in the Dojang I train at, the flooring in carpet. In the YMCA that I just started teaching at, the floors are wrestling mats.
 
Hello, We train at a school cafeteria for over 10 years now, it is your regular hard floor vinyl flooring.

It has work for us, shoes or barefeet.

On this floor we do put mats once-n-while (mostly for the pee-wees learning to falls and rolls.)

We found out if your students learn to fall on the hard floors (NOT mats)...they are not afraid to fall/rolls.

If you use mats all the time for takedowns...they become afraid of the hard floors!

Today we do not use mats for the older students or adults....NO one is afraid to fall, do rolls or takedowns on the hard floors....

Something to think about? ......Aloha ( so far the floors have never being damage?
 
I prefer wrestling mats, but they are really expensive. Puzzle mats are good too, and a lot cheaper.

Even if you are not wretling, it's still safer. People slip and fall, you're still going to likely end up teaching break falls and some throws.

Carpet I would consider a bad choice, with all the sweat and blood going in, it will be very hard to keep clean. Especially with everyone barefoot.

Wood is ok, it's easier to clean. But also is not fun to fall on.
 
My dojo has mats, ive trained on wood, carpet, marble (really not fun to fall on) and outside in the elements. Mats are the most forgiving and I would use them.

my .02

B
 
My dojo got new mats last year. Our sifu posted a chart with the placement of each mat and encouraged people to donate a mat. I donated the one I used to line up on. For 3x3 mats, they sold very quickly. He left the chart up for months afterwards so everyone could see the group effort. It worked rather well.
 
TallAdam85 said:
I am thinking of opening my own school soon now the location is great only thing is need to do something with the training floor was wondering how your school floor is and what parents like? Want it to look nice but don' want to pay more then the I need. I know the floor is very important because thats where I will be most of the time and want to invest in something nice


Me I dont care I have trained on carpet don't like it because it smells, rug burn on your feet ands stains with blood ext. I like wood just kinda cost alot but japan dojo feel to it. Mats are Nice but cost a lot, hard to spar on them and people become dependent on the mats and in real life there are no mats.

Heres what i found
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=249285-60754-630175&lpage=none

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=132318-35938-080066&lpage=none
Lets hear some feed back
Click to expand...

I've trained in schools that had hardwood, carpet and mats. My current school has mats. I spar regularly on them and dont really encounter any issues. Of course, it makes it nice for takedowns, but then again, if someone doesnt know how to fall properly, they're going to get hurt anyways.

Judging by your post, I get the feeling you like the wood more than anything. You could always go with that, and get some folding mats for takedowns, ground work, etc.

Mike
 
If possible, avoid carpet or cement. Carpet is actually pretty easy to slip and fall on, and cement is very bad for the joints since there is no cushion.
 
Dojo I am in now has those interlocking mats. I'm guessing they are in squares of about 3 feet. SO the whole training area is marked out in those and then boxed in with wood molding. Makes for a really nice training surface. Can get a little slick with sweat ect. But no worse than normal wood.

Our Dojo also has an area blocked in with molding that contains some kind of Mats that we practice take downs and rolls on.

It is really nice to have both areas layed out and stable. No need to take time to pull out and put up regular mats. And since they are blocked in. They don't slide around and have to keep being slid back into position.
 
We have a hardwood floor but bring out 2 inch mats when doing certain techniques.
 
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