What gear does Rex bring, and what do I buy?

I turn up with the equipment. Mats, focus mitts and Thai pads, gloves to borrow, whatever else the hour needs. You buy nothing before a first session and nobody is selling you a starter package at the door.

Once you know you are staying, buy in this order:

• A mouthguard. Personal, cheap, and the one piece nobody should ever share
• Gloves, once you know whether you are doing more striking or more grappling
• A rash guard, if you are living in the no-gi
• Shin guards and headgear only if you are heading toward sparring or a match, and I will tell you which type the rules want

The mats are the part that surprises people. Your garage floor is concrete, a park is grass, a conference room is carpet, and none of that is yours to fix. Mats come out of the truck and go back in at the end. See mats and flooring. The pads are the other half of the load, because a moving target corrects you in a way a bag never will. See what pad work is.

You bring clothes you can move in, water and a towel. That is genuinely the list. See what to wear and bring.

Ask me before you spend anything. I sold this stuff out of the shop for years and I would rather you owned one good mouthguard than a bag of gear you never touch. See what gloves to buy.