Martial Arts Mats – Jigsaw or Puzzle Mats, What Works Better?

If you have decided that you are going to set up your own martial arts school, or if you are going to set up a training area in a spare room of your home, you will need some martial arts mats to train on. It is very important that you choose mats that are a durable, have good impact resilience and shock absorbency power. You will want a mat that is not too soft or squishy, because they tend to cause ankle and knee injuries.
There are a lot of different mats you can choose from, but one of my favorites that I have used is the jigsaw or puzzle mats. These mats have become one of the hottest mats available today. They are used in a variety of sports such as gymnastics, judo, ju jitsu, mixed marital arts are made of ethylene vinyl acetate foam that is thick and sturdy, offering a comfortable layer of cushion between you and the floor.
The jigsaw martial arts mats have a textured finish that offers you better traction for training; they interlock like a jigsaw puzzle hence the name, and come in a variety of colors for you to choose from. One of the greatest benefits of these mats is that they are lightweight for easy setup, and take downs. You can choose to cover the whole floor or just a section of the floor, and they can be easily transported.
Some other great benefits of the jigsaw or puzzle mats are that they are easily cleaned with a little water and a soft cleaning solution. If one side were to get damaged you can flip that piece of the mat over for a brand new looking piece, and if they are damaged too bad you can easily replace that section of the mat without having to buy a whole new mat.
No matter what types of mat you choose make sure that you do some research on them so that you know if that type of mat will work for your training style. I have found that the jigsaw mats seem to be a great all around mat for any space or style of training you will be doing.