History
Zebra was created in 1997 with the objective of bringing world class flooring systems to the striking arts and grappling martial arts industries. Focusing on highest quality, tatami-style mats, Zebra set out to produce thinner and firmer flooring systems.
Its founder, Chuck Blanski, was a pioneer in martial arts flooring and has been influential in the industry or over fifteen years. As an executive officer of Federal Sports Technologies, he was instrumental in the acquisition of what is now known as Swain Sports. By 1997, sales of the Swain Sportsmat had built Federal Sports Technologies into a multi-million dollar business.
Since introducing Zebra Mats, we have become the first flooring company to market premium quality mat systems for all martial arts disciplines. Zebra was also first to market with specialty mat systems for cardio kick boxing and cardio karate programs, adding specially coated vinyl to allow use of shoes without damaging mat finish and performance.
In 2009, Zebra partnered with Landmark Athletics Inc. a formidable Canadian company recognized as one of the leading fitness facility outfitters in Canada, specializing in everything from full construction services & sport flooring to fitness equipment supply. The alliance has proved to be more than fantastic for Zebra in Canada, allowing the Canadian martial arts market to receive top notch local treatment as it expands rapidly. Expensive shipping rates to Canada are a thing of the past now that we have our mats warehoused in Toronto, Ontario.
Zebra has been the mat of choice for many major competition tournaments and seminars nationwide - ATA National Tournaments, Arnold Martial Arts Festival, Disney Martial Arts, Gracie BJJ World Championships, Aiki Expo, US Open Judo, and USA Judo Junior Olympics. The mats are manufactured in meters to qualify for international competitions and are available in a variety of thicknesses to cater to any application.
Kathy Long, Cung Le, Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar, Sean Sherk and George Dillman are among the many elite martial artists that prefer Zebra. But most of all, thousands of hard-working martial arts school owners find Zebra to be Simply Z Best in the industry.
To learn more about Zebra, call 1-866-896-8565