Cheap judo mats?

[An archist]

Does anyone know of a cheap alternative to judo mats?

[Dr Mindbender]

Does anyone know of a cheap alternative to judo mats?

Yep i had this exact problem when i wanted to practice nin jutsu at home.

If you're after the proper sort that they use in the dojos you're probably not going to get any cheap ones if by 'cheap' you mean less than a triple figure price. Even then you may be talking about going to the likes of craigslist to get some second hand ones.

I was able to pick up some economy range yogo mats at my local sports shop for about $20 per sq 16 feet. Those werent really appropriate for heavy duty martial arts training though because they were very thin and you'd end up hurting yourself.

I guess one alternative would be to get shitloads of cardboard sheets, newspaper and masking tape. Tear up the newspaper, roll it into balls and then using 2 sheets of cardboard simply tape it all together with the desired size and thickness. Can't vouch for the reliability of this as ive never tried but its got to be cost effective.

Course there is the idea that when youre training in martial arts you should be prepared to be able to fall on all surfaces because if you are attacked in the street your would be assailant wont be gracious enough to check that youre on a soft surface. As long as youre practicing in a controlled environment with a qualified instructor that is whats important.