Martial Arts

With a fun-loving nickname like “Gumby,” Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) legend Alan Marques doesn’t let on he’s one of the martial art’s most skilled and respected teachers and practitioners.

As part of the announcement for Dollamur being named the Official Mat of USA Judo, Mike Swain gave a live interview with Rick Tittle, Sports Byline.com. Listen to the interview below. See the Facebook Live mat demo at: CLICK HERE

LISTEN TO INTERVIEW: CLICK HERE

In normal times owning a martial arts studio can be both challenging and rewarding. However under a world of pandemic and lockdown orders it’s only challenging. How you face this current challenge may very well determine whether or not you’ll be in business or not when the “all clear” is given. In this article we’re going to take a look at what some school owners are doing to maintain their student base along with some ideas that you can implement now so that you and your students are in the best position possible to succeed in a post COVID-19 world.  

When asked about his favorite Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique, Alan “Gumby” Marques uses his best closed guard to deflect the question.

With the FLEXI-Connect, there are fewer seams and not tape required. Gracie Barra, the largest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu organization in the U.S., uses these mats,” says Swain. “We introduced our hybrid mats in 1988 and they are used in major tournaments, globally.

Alan “Gumby” Marques, owner of Heroes Martial Arts in San Jose has three words to sum up the atmosphere at his state-of-the-art facility downtown: cooperation, competition and challenge.

Dollamur Sport Surfaces (Dollamur) – the world's leading manufacturer of high-performance sport flooring for martial arts, wrestling, fitness, gymnastics, cheerleading and yoga – has been named “official mat” of USA Judo.

Dollamur mats aren’t only for the competition floor – They’re perfect for your home gym and some are even small enough to carry through the park to your outdoor workout. Use them for yoga, cross-training, functional fitness, wrestling, martial arts – The list goes on!

Coach Harman coaches kids as young as 3 years old and focuses on fun and over-celebrating a child’s successes and achievements. “I try to ignore their bad behaviors or failures at that age,” Coach says, he doesn’t want to teach them to fear failures, so all of his attention is focused on their successes.

At the peak of any training season common rashes and infections will occur on sport surfaces. Through-out regular training, mats should be cleaned daily to prevent what is commonly referred to as “Mat Funk,” a combination of infectious conditions such as ring worm, herpes simplex, impetigo, staph infections/MRSA and scabies.