Ideal thickness of the mats you're training on.

As times goes by practicing/training Aikido and made a lot of ukemis on 1", 1.5" to 2" mats or sometimes with no mats.

What are your individual feedbacks or experiences on how thick is the mats that you want to do your ukemis on?

TIA

It's not the depth, it's what they are made of.
I'd rather have a firmer fake tatami and be cautious about mat burn than thick sinky gym mats that offer no support.
Personal preference though? Give me a sprung gymnastics floor every time :-)

Will also depend on what kind of floor you are on. On a concrete slab (foundation) you will probably need 2".
We have 1 3/8" but it is on a wooden aerobics 'floating floor' and a second floor of the building - not bad at all.

The best was a gymnastics floor with foam blocks under 2 sheets of plywood and blue foam mat on top, sometimes you got mat burn, but the floor was very forgiving.....

Dear Janet and Larry,

Thank you very much for the responses that I received from both of you.

I am thinking of getting the Dollamur rollflex and I am still deciding which thickness of mats that I am going to get. The 1.3/8", 1.5" or the 2" and it's going to be for my class with new students with no experiences in doing ukemi. I want them to be safe and be comfortable doing the ukemi with the proper mats. I know that the safest way doing ukemi is proper guidance and safe instruction. I started this class last month and it's only every Sunday morning from 10:00 am to 11:00 am and the mats that are provided to us are too soft and very squeezy for doing Aikido. This is only for the love of it doing it and there's no profit to make. The mats will be out of my pocket purchase as the place can't afford to provide for the proper mats. This place is just too nice of a location and for $25/hour class with 4 sessions/month no place here in Vegas can match or beat that. It's only through donation from students of $2.00 to $5.00 per class or how much they can afford to donate just to cover the $25/hour class room fee. If some students won't be able to afford such fees, then it will a game of PAPER, SCISSOR or ROCK .

Thank you all and best regards.

I use exclusively the 1 3/8" Series 400 Mancino Mats lad out on the concrete floor. Nothing underneath. Been working fine for use for 15+ years.

In the Big Rock Candy Dojo
There's a mat that's soft and fine
Where the uke's always take the throw
And your waza always shine

Where the nikyo's seem so gentle nice
And the sensei has a smile
With never a teaching remark that's curt
And every pin worthwhile
The tatami's soft
Take the highest loft
In the Big Rock Candy Dojo

The bestest best dojo.

Scott Harrington

Hello Steve,

Thank you very on the in infos in regards to the Mancino mats. I checked their website and yes they are really well made.

Hi Scott,

Thank you for that poetry in motion . I really like it. It will make the ambience in the dojo in harmony.

The only mats I would ever buy are Zebra Mats or Swain Mats, both are basically artificial tatami mats. They have a fairly firm surface that's very nice to walk on but gives just enough when you take a hard fall. I have gotten Zebra mats for two different dojos in the past. Each time they were used and purchased directly from Zebra. Zebra and Swain both provide mats for judo and grappling tournaments around the country and will often sell the mats after a tournament instead of paying the cost to ship them back to the warehouse.

You might consider the mats you are looking at over the 'squishy' ones to see if the combination works. I suspect you could get away with the thinner mats over the 'to soft' ones. After they learn ukemi you could transfer them over to the new mats.....