Fighting space construction

So I had the first setback with my new matroom yesterday.

Public service announcement: cats and mats don't go together well.

Though I'd been careful about not letting the neighbourhood cat (not even mine, but a frequent visitor) into my brand new matroom, after my inaugural fight (with Giant_slayer) I let the door open. And while we were having some food downstairs, the cat had some fun on the mats. Thankfully it only damaged one out of fifteen mats.

For the record: I'm not angry with the cat. It was my own fault, I should have remembered to close the door. Well, you live and learn.

Well, it's taken nearly two months of clearing out an old bedroom, planning, DIY-ing and redecorating, but my matroom is finished!

Phase One, anyway. (Phase Two will be a boxing ring.)

So there we are: just under 15 m2 of fighting space (470cm x 310cm for ground fights; approx. 275cm x 310cm for stand-up fights) for just a little over my initial budget of €600.

So cool, congrats.

He he it's possible to come by you to trade punches and kicks so? ;)

Yes, let me know if you're in the neighbourhood! :) (Not so much into kicks though – I'm into 'classic' boxing)

No more capoeira or kickboxing style thus?

Another view

I like the positioning of the speedbag, nice work and congrats on having a finished fight space!

Thanks! It's probably the only speedbag in the world with a view of tulip fields (in bloom at the moment!)

As you can see I ended up laying the mats with the light grey side up. The dark grey made the room look smaller.

Lol, definitely nice to have a view! The space does look better with the mats grey side up. I think I'm just a little biased, just put new mats in my space and went from grey to black lol

Show us a pic of your matroom! :)

Last one...

I hate that I can only attach one pic to each response...

Still a work in progress...

Wow, I love the lighting options, and the fact that you have so much space. And seats for an audience! 👏

(Oh yes and I hate the fact you can only attach one pic to a forum post as well.)

Thanks, the pics make it look a little bigger than it is but, still enough space for some spirited sparring.

And in front of an audience! :)

And yet another view (can't seem to upload more than one pic per post)

This has become an awesome space nan, very nice!

Thanks! Want to take a look some time?

Sounds tempting! :)

Right guys, my mats arrived! Now the big question... light or dark side up?

I'd say dark side up

Just ordered my mats! 😀

They're 15 1x1m puzzle mats, 2.5cm thick (ideal thickness for boxing, according to shop owner), two shades of grey. (I opted for grey, rather than the usual red/blue or black/yellow because grey is a neutral colour and easy to combine but also has a nice understated menacing quality to it – think navy or airforce. (I owned red/blue mats before and always found them a bit cheery; I've fought on black/yellow before and found the yellow a bit distracting.)

15 mats will be enough to cover the floor (310 x 475 cm, so almost 15m2. No mats for the walls at this stage, because...

... I spent about €450 (shipping included) which means 75% of my initial budget for this fighting space is gone, but I wanted to get new mats rather than 2nd hand ones (and tbh, the 2nd ones I found in the area were only a tiny bit less expensive than the new ones I ended up buying.)

I'll post a pic when they arrive, which should be in about a week's time.

Next step: paint walls and wooden beams in a colour scheme that will go with grey mats. I'm thinking of camouflage greys, browns and greens but still curious to hear your suggestions!

Cool space!

I would remove as much as possible, all furniture, perhaps some beams, remove or simply disconnect electricity outlets, protect window, etc, stuff that can be done easy/low cost.

Then I would put most of the budget on proper mats.
Either buy new puzzle mats ( i would go for thicker ones, thin ones are good for standup but not perfect for ground ) or better, look for used judo mats online, like ebay or something similar for Holland (maarktplatz?). Remember - thickness is important!

Buying used ones, make sure they are in good condition, clean and absolutely no humidity/water damage, that would make your fight room smell like a mouldy basement…

I would also fit mats on the walls, to be able to do standup mma, perhaps also inside of entrance door….

Then, with any money left, it would be a boxing bag. If space limited, make it removable, but position it so you can actually use it, not hidden in a corner…
Should be plenty of used ones for sale. Go for quality, like Fairtex or similar…. No cheap copy, buy a used quality one instead of new no-name, it adds to the ambience of a real fight space!

Finally, decorate the remaining walls with your fight gear, gloves, trofees, flags, whatever

If there is space, get a used big tvscreen, to be able to show fights etc while using the room :)

Good luck :)

Thanks for the advice, Boine!

I don't think I'd have the courage to remove any beams, but I might put cushions on them.
I'll definitely spend most of my initial budget on mats – new puzzle mats probably (you're right about thickness.) I'll get enough for the floor initially and maybe spend some more on mats for the walls later (I was actually also thinking of some mirrors... bad idea???)

A good thing about this room is that there are storage shelves high up already, so that's where my gloves and gear will go. No trophies to show off yet 😆

Mirrors…. Bad idea…..

Puzzle mats, go for 4 cm thickness, for example https://www.dragonsports.eu/en/160210-puzzle-mats

Regarding room, i would go for the one with the biggest floor space…
I wouldnt pay attention to daylight at all, on the opposite, cover the windows with wood and then mats on top, looks like a matted wall then, perhaps with the possibility to be removed, to open window and ventilate room…

Hi

Thanks for the invitation.

I have indeed already built mine, ah ah that doesn't mean people are eager to come ;). But well 32 square meter, including 24 square meter of judo mats, a punching bag, a bob, a training ladder on the wall and some striking targets. The same as on my profile :).

What kind of advice would you need? For me a really important part is the floor, of course, it can be really expensive except when you have huge promotional sale on mats (it was my case). Puzzle mats in hard foam can be a good compromise.

I think I'll be going for puzzle mats, I had them before in my old apartment (but a much smaller floor area.)

What's a bob?

And I'm sad to hear building a fighting space doesn't mean people will come :/

A bob: google ”boxing bob”…
Think you might need more space for a proper use of a bob…

Oh, and one more thing, can that radiator on picture be disconnnected and removed before mats go in?

Hah, right, I've got something that looks like a boxing bob already (just no human features.)

That radiator is the only source of heat in that room (not counting two bodies fighting LOL) and I'd be worried about leaving the room without any heat (it might have to double up as a spare bedroom from time to time.) Why would you want to disconnect it, to prevent injury? (I'd probably just stack some big pillows up against it.)

I get the heating issue... Though a radiator with a pillow on top doesn't really give a fighting gym atmosphere.... Remove it and use a portable electrical heater when it needs heating in winter montjs?

I'll think about it. I don't mind if the space doesn't look like a hardcore fighting gym – a practical fighting space would do me fine – but if I go for the pillow solution you can be sure it won't be a pillow with a flower pattern LOL

What's the budget?
And what is the space? Picture?

The space is my former teenage bedroom, scene of my very first fights! 😆

The total floor area is roughly 470 x 310 cm, but because of a slanting roof on two sides standing room is significally smaller, 275 x 310 cm.

Budget: 500-600 euro, initially.

I just recently moved back into my old family home and am planning to convert one of the empty rooms into a dedicated fighting space (I'm thinking of a matroom that can also double up as a boxing ring.)

Thing is, I've zero DIY experience and little money to spend, so I thought I'd create a group where those who are interested in building their own fighting space and those who might have already built one can swap ideas and experiences.

Want to help me (and others) out? Join this group and share your experiences!

So at this stage I've pretty much decided on the room that's going to become my fighting space and I'm in the process of clearing it out.

The room has a lot of bare wood, which I like, but the other predominant colours are white, aubergine (eggplant, for the Americans out there) and... lilac. Not a colour scheme you'd expect in a fighting space.

It occurred to me that if I'm going to paint, I'd better do it before the mats and anything else goes in.

So that got me thinking... which colours are best for a fighting space? What colours would get your adrenaline flowing? It would be great to hear your ideas and thoughts on the subject.