Gear & prep

You need less to start than you think. This shelf covers what to wear, what to bring, what Rex carries in the truck, and the handful of things worth buying once you know you are staying: gloves, a mouthguard, hand wraps, shin guards when the kicking starts.

Read the answer on what to wear and bring first. For a first session it is close to nothing. Clothes you can move in, a bottle of water, no jewelry. Rex brings the pads and the equipment the session needs. Do not go to a sporting goods store the night before and spend real money on a bag of gear you picked by color. Train first, buy second, and ask him what to get when you are ready to get it. He will tell you what lasts and what falls apart in a month.

The rest of this shelf is the practical stuff nobody thinks to tell you: whether to eat beforehand, how much water is enough, why a rash guard beats a cotton t-shirt the minute you are on the ground, and how to stop your gear smelling like a locker room, which is a real problem with an easy fix. None of it is complicated. All of it is the difference between a good session and an uncomfortable one.