HOW DOES DELIVERY WORK?

Our mats are delivered by a pallet network – MDS Transport. As the name suggests your delivery will be on a pallet. Delivery is in stages, first the mats are sent from the warehouse to the main hub, then sent to your local delivery office on large trucks. The following day they are loaded to smaller vehicles. This is when you should receive a call ahead to let you know that they are on the way.

Deliveries are kerbside which means the driver is under no obligation to help you inside with the mats so please arrange assistance on your side.

Deliveries are between 2-7 days depending on your checkout options.

HOW ARE YOUR MATS PACKAGED?

Mats are packed in hessian bags, 10 per bag for 20mm (approx 20kgs), 30mm (approx 30kgs) and 5 for 40mm (approx 20kgs). Judo mats and rubber mats are sold separately. Part bags can also be shipped.

WHICH MAT SHOULD I CHOOSE?

There are as many choices for flooring as there are uses for them, and that’s why the best way to decide what flooring is right for you is to contact Martial Arts Mats Ireland. Whether it’s through the handy chat portal at the bottom of your screen or if you prefer to give us a ring, we’ll be happy to help you examine your choices and find the perfect fit for your needs.

 

If you’d prefer to gain a little more knowledge on the products before calling, the articles in our extensive blog can point you in the right direction. Inside the blog site you’ll find articles detailing the different mats available, with a breakdown of the benefits of each of our products on the website. If you plan on installing and maintaining the mats, we also have instructional ‘how-to’ articles which can point you in the right direction on setting up your gym.

 

One thing to keep in mind when purchasing mats is to ask yourself for what purpose are you buying the mats. We offer two different types of mats: rubber and foam. Rubber is perfect for absorbing tremendous amounts of force and dispersing the kinetic energy, and this makes them ideal for weightlifting. However, although rubber mats have a little bit of springiness to them, they are not the best mat for cushioning falls.

 

Our foam mats are the choice for those in combat sports because they have an incredible ability to cushion falls. Unlike rubber, which is unforgiving, foam indents and cradles the weight of someone who falls. British Martial Arts Mats offers foam mats in three different types of foam mats: EVA, XPE, PU foam.

ARE YOUR MATS TOXIC?

All the mats offered at Martial Arts Mats Ireland are non-toxic. With that being said, EVA foam mats do off gas an unappealing smell. EVA is created through the use of an industrial chemical called formamide, which gives an acrid odour to the product. Although formamide is toxic in liquid form, during the manufacturing process, formamide evaporates, and the small amount that is left slowly dissipates in the air. This gas is not toxic and only leaves a lingering smell. One tip to get rid of the smell is to let EVA mats acclimatise outside. If you’d prefer an odourless flooring choice, purchase XPE foam mats which don’t have the same unappealing odour.

ROLL OUT MATS vs JIGSAW MATS

ARE YOUR MATS TOXIC?

All the mats offered at Martial Arts Mats Ireland are non-toxic. With that being said, EVA foam mats do off gas an unappealing smell. EVA is created through the use of an industrial chemical called formamide, which gives an acrid odour to the product. Although formamide is toxic in liquid form, during the manufacturing process, formamide evaporates, and the small amount that is left slowly dissipates in the air. This gas is not toxic and only leaves a lingering smell. One tip to get rid of the smell is to let EVA mats acclimatise outside. If you’d prefer an odourless flooring choice, purchase XPE foam mats which don’t have the same unappealing odour.

EVA Mat Testing – Martial Arts Mats Ireland

EVA, XPE, PU FOAM—WHAT DO THEY STAND FOR? AND WHICH IS RIGHT FOR ME?

Sometimes, when you happen across a new item to purchase, some acronyms can seem like someone has taken the alphabet, thrown it into a blender, and out popped the names of these products. We understand that insider-specific terms may cause some trepidation when purchasing mats. So, let’s delve into each type of foam listed above to get a better lay of the land.

 

EVA foam, which stands for ethylene-vinyl acetate, is an extremely versatile and durable substance. It is the most common type of mat that you’ll encounter, and that’s because it’s a masterpiece of invention, possessing both cushioning ability and anti-bacterial properties.

 

EVA foam is a closed cell foam, and is comprised of small pockets of carbon dioxide which are formed inside of the foam during the foaming process. These pockets are self-contained entities, not able to absorb liquid, and this means that EVA is water proof and anti-bacterial.

 

XPE foam, or cross-linked (X stands for the crosslinking) polyethylene, is resilient and possesses more shock absorbing properties than EVA foam. It’s a much harder foam when compared to EVA foam, and is ideal for projects that require dense foam. Just like EVA, XPE is a closed cell foam, so it is also waterproof. As a result, it also has anti-bacterial properties.

 

Last, PU or polyurethane, is a soft, open celled foam which is porous. PU effectively breathes, capturing air inside pockets in the foam, and when someone lands on the foam, they crash on a pocket of air. It should be considered the softest of the foams mentioned, and is the primary foam used in crash mats to protect someone falling from a critical height (over 1.5m).

 

At British Martial Arts Mats, we offer a high density Judo mat made from reconstituted PU foam, chips of PU foam pressed into a high density foam. These Judo mats are wrapped in an PVC coating with an anti-slip latex base.

HOW HARD ARE YOUR MATS?

The hardness of foam is determined by a shore durometer, a device which applies force against a foam causing an indentation, and it’s measured in  ‘shore c’ hardness. Foams that have smaller, tightly packed bubbles have a higher shore c factor and are able to absorb harder impacts, which makes them significantly harder to indent.

 

EVA foam is a made up of cross-linked particles which are tightly bound. It’s a hard foam which is used in thinner mats which aren’t suitable to cushion falls from critical heights (over 1.5m high). Proper polyurethane foam, in slab form and not the reconstituted chip foam mats, are much thicker and are used for crash mats, with some reaching thicknesses of 30cm. PU foam is incredible soft due to the porous air-filled pockets in the foam. XPE offers a middle ground between the porous PU foam and the dense EVA foam, offering better cushioning ability.

 

We offer a 20mm High Grip Premier Jigsaw Mat which is a combination of PU and EVA foam. The top PU layer cushions falls, while the EVA layer helps to redistribute the kinetic forces.

HOW DO I DETERMINE THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF MATERIAL?

Whether you’re looking to set up a major commercial training centre or small home gym in your garage, we’ve got you covered. Simply click on our ‘quotation request’ form in the top menu, measure the floor space that you’d like covered, and we’ll help you come up with how much material you’ll need.

What are your methods of payment?

We accept SEPA payments. PayPal and Stripe card payment over Secure Socket Layer channels.

HOW DOES DENSITY FACTOR IN?

Great question! The foam mats come in three different thicknesses at Irish Martial Arts Mats: 20mm,30mm, and 40mm. With limited cushioning ability, the thinner 20mm mats are an inexpensive mat best suited to striking sports like Boxing, Taekwondo, and Kickboxing. The 30mm mats are the perfect in-between mat, and provides enough cushioning for takedowns, whilst also providing proper traction for stand-up combat. Boasting superior cushioning ability, 40mm mats are perfect for grappling sport like BJJ, Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, and MMA.

Thickness is a great indicator of resilience, the ability for a mat to last after the being put through the rigours of regular use, but density is an even greater indicator of resilience.

Density is measured by the amount of material that is packed into a cubic metre(kg/cbm). It determines the ability for a mat to spring back to its original shape after being compressed. Mats with a lower density will dent and scuff, and, ultimately, will wear out much quicker than higher density mats.

It’s the density the drives the price of mats because the higher the density, the more materials used for the mats.

For example, we offer several types of 20mm mats that come in differing densities. At 80 kg/cbm, the 20MM KARATE JIGSAW MATS is much less dense than the 20mm High Grip Premier Mat, which boasts 120 kg/cbm. Both are made from EVA foam, but the Premier mat has more material packed into a cubic metre. Better still, the 40mm Judo mat has 230 kg/cbm density.

Seal of Approval

Our Jigsaw mats are approved by Chrispohe Pinna (France), Danielle Sprembery (Italy), WMAI and Master Steven Burtons 5 Thunder Chinese Martial arts Association. Our organisation often assists in promoting Dim Mak, Drunken Boxing and Be your own Body Guard courses alongside 5 Thunder Martial arts association.

Jigsaw Mats England
Kickboxing martial arts safe soft floor areas

Things to bear in mind when purchasing your mats

Buy once, buy for the long term don’t waste money with cheap alternatives that won’t last the test of time. Properly cared for, your mats will retain re-sale value.
Reversible tiles. Buy puzzle mats in 1m reversible tiles. Our EVA mats are reversible and tessellate, if one tile gets damaged you can flip it or switch it out, you just don’t have that luxury with old style matting.

EVA PU densities. Its important to get that PU and EVA balance.

jigsaw_mats1

Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) shock absorbing properties are often employed for use in sports equipment padding such as boxing and mixed martial arts. But it’s not enough just to absorb the impact, no one wants dents in their mats after a few gym sessions. The mats need to be durable, wipe-able and have that all important ‘memory’ so that they return to their original state, that’s where the Polyurethane (PU) comes in. Get too much PU though and you may as well be buying carpet underlay… get the picture? Beware there are jigsaw type mats out there that are essentially that! Our mats have the following characteristics;

jigsawmats2

Compression Strength 25% : 0.40 kg/cm³
Compression Set 25% : Under 3.5%
Water Absorption : under 0.003 g/cm³
Liner Shrinkage 70°C : ±5.0%
Thermal Conductivity : Under 0.04 (kal/m.hr °C)
Edge : Each mat comes with with four interlocking edges and border strips included.

EVA has many applications and characteristics.