Floor Surface

[al-209]

What is the best surface to perform on? Ive been doing my routine on 10mm matting, but dont feel im getting the benefit, especially the spinal rocks and 4cbd.

[Coach Bentz]

Alan,

The best surface in my opinion is the one that you can (and will) practice on. I use carpet of various thickness, bare wood flooring, a yoga mat if I am concerned about sliding around. I've practiced on gravel, marble, and concrete. Each surface provides great feedback on your technique.

Brian

[k2ster]

Alan,

I have been using interlocking mats and they work great! You can find them at any of the Big Box stores. I think they are cheapest at either WallyWorld or Target.

Caveat Emptor: be sure and buy them from the same store. Mats from Target won't fit those from Lowe's, for instance. (Found this out the hard way!)

I recommend getting two packs (around $15 each) which will give you plenty of space. Especially useful for Prasara Yoga or Intu-Flow® 2.

You can also use a yoga mat on top of the interlocking mats if you like the feel of yoga mats.

Hope this helps!
Keith Koger
Charlotte, NC

[Ryan Murdock]

I have been using interlocking mats and they work great! You can find them at any of the Big Box stores. I think they are cheapest at either WallyWorld or Target.

This is the same thing that I use on the cement floor of my basement.



Caveat Emptor: be sure and buy them from the same store. Mats from Target won't fit those from Lowe's, for instance. (Found this out the hard way!)


LOL - the same thing happened to me, Keith. I bought all mine at walmart, and one package of the bunch was different and totally incompatible with the others. There's always gotta be one in every group, it seems...

[k2ster]

This is the same thing that I use on the cement floor of my basement.

Me too! Darn those concrete basement floors!

Keith
Charlotte, NC

[Doughboy]

I, too, use the interlocking mats on top of my concrete pad. They work very well. I find that if I am mindful of my Flowfit or Prasara Yoga practice, or Intu-Flow, I can do it on the concrete, itself. If I am in the spinal rock exercise, I do not slam myself to the concrete, but do it correctly. Thus, the concrete is a great reinforcer of keeping my mind (and thus my breath) on the exercise at hand. Still, the mats are definitely nicer!

[al-209]

ihave been using the interlocking mats, but find that i do not have a firm base for the 4cbd as i sink in to them a little, thus putting me off balance a fraction

[Coach Gostnell]

Alan,

The best surface in my opinion is the one that you can (and will) practice on. I use carpet of various thickness, bare wood flooring, a yoga mat if I am concerned about sliding around. I've practiced on gravel, marble, and concrete. Each surface provides great feedback on your technique.

Brian And just to show you he means it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z1K7yjfq56o

(Make sure to have the sound up so you can hear Brian's editorial pre-comment. :D )

[hammer_2020]

And just to show you he means it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z1K7yjfq56o

(Make sure to have the sound up so you can hear Brian's editorial pre-comment. :D )

Teeheehee! That video brings back fond memories of rolling and falling practice on everything from soft grass to abrasive driveway tarmac. Being at least part-cat (in psychiatric makeup if not genetics :D), I have a preference for smooth, hard and clean surfaces myself as I not only get to keep my skin and remain (relatively) clean, but those also tend to tell me right away if I'm rolling and falling correctly or not. Mats tend to change the feedback and mask certain mistakes with regard to impact control and dissipation. Also, they don't provide as good a massage as nice, hard floors in certain floor exercises - side-to-side rocking on the spine just doesn't yield the same deep relaxation on mats that it does with a hard floor.

That said, for high volumes of repetitive impact, such as any jumping, sprinting or hard takedowns, nothing beats a nice, soft surface of some kind!

[Ryan Murdock]

Mats tend to change the feedback and mask certain mistakes with regard to impact control and dissipation.

I completely agree. As you progress towards mastery in different movements, its great to check yourself with the feedback of hard surfaces - but of course that doesn't mean you have to do it if it makes you uncomfortable. A hard floor has a way of reminding you if you're traveling over your boney bits rather than cushioning your joints with proper form and execution of the movements.

Back in the day, we always practiced martial arts on wood, concrete, gym floors, and ice (i used to flood my yard each winter and we'd train on that to develop our balance, throws, striking, etc). For a while we were taking hip throws on concrete, with no difficulty. Not that I recommend that, but it was certainly a revealing experience.

[hammer_2020]

Hardcore training there, Coach Murdock :D

In fact, our training group usually does most of its training on hard floors, but our takedowns are usually quite soft, emphasising more structural disruption than momentum or pickups and slams. I generally insist on mats or at least soft turf for harder takedowns, since none of us are proficient enough to risk heavy throws without breaking something. Still, it's definitely something to work towards, and worth doing every once in a while to free the psyche and the body from fear.

[Coach Gostnell]

Hardcore training there, Coach Murdock :D

In fact, our training group usually does most of its training on hard floors, but our takedowns are usually quite soft, emphasising more structural disruption than momentum or pickups and slams. I generally insist on mats or at least soft turf for harder takedowns, since none of us are proficient enough to risk heavy throws without breaking something. Still, it's definitely something to work towards, and worth doing every once in a while to free the psyche and the body from fear.

I'm not doing throws or takedown (currently anyway - I'm waiting for Coach Hurst :D ), and I haven't practiced neck rolls in the Donkey Dust like Coach Bentz, but my spinal rocks improved immensely once I started doing' em on the hardwood floor and occasionally, concrete. Plus I was able to extrapolate that "hard-surface" work into other areas of my practice, Flow Fit, etc.

[Coach Bentz]

And just to show you he means it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z1K7yjfq56o

(Make sure to have the sound up so you can hear Brian's editorial pre-comment. :D )

Ah crap, I forgot I left you the footage of that. God, must've taken me 24 hours to get the darn dirt out of my ears!

Now that you've posted that, of course, I'm taking it as implicit permission to post all the flattering photos of you on that trip that I initially censored. :)

[Joseph David]

Ah crap, I forgot I left you the footage of that. God, must've taken me 24 hours to get the darn dirt out of my ears!

LOL My friends are always editing me...No No don't show us...

[Coach Gostnell]

Ah crap, I forgot I left you the footage of that. God, must've taken me 24 hours to get the darn dirt out of my ears!

Now that you've posted that, of course, I'm taking it as implicit permission to post all the flattering photos of you on that trip that I initially censored. :)

What's not flattering about that?! It shows you have True Grit! Figuratively, and, um, literally. :D