Gloves come in the average Wholesale Three Phase Motors Manufacturers and are as small as 4 oz. for MMA, and all the way up to 20 oz. in boxing. You want to have a glove that fits tight and doesn't allow your hand to move around. Pick the appropriate glove for the style of training and invest in hand wraps to aid in the prevention of injury to the wrists.

Leg padding focuses on the shin area where most of the contact is made with a kick. Pads have different thicknesses and some will cover the top of the foot as well as the front of the leg. Shin pads use straps or a sleeve to hold the padding in place.

This list covers the principal pieces of martial arts gear required in the students daily training. All protective gear help to make training effective and safe.

The gear you'll need can be purchase at the academy your training at, in any chain sporting goods stores, or online through a reputable site. Make sure to purchase martial arts gear that is best suited for your training style and provides adequate level of protection. Make your training enjoyable with the correct choice in equipment.

The learning experience of one professional portrait photographer regarding what is needed and not needed to bring along on a location assignment. Beginning with just a camera and lens, then moving into a studio with multiple lights, then going back outdoors on location. Lots of lights and gear are fun to play with but become very cumbersome on location. Here's what I learned...

I’ve been a professional photographer for over 30 years. My first job as a

pro was with the local newspaper the summer of my Senior year in High

School. My job was as a “stringer” for the paper and I covered

local school sports events. Back then my gear bag carried my Pentax

K1000, 35mm camera, a telephoto zoom lens, a 50mm lens and a flash

unit. Well, I also carried several rolls of film back then as well.

The only

time I used my flash was when I was interviewing an individual in a

low light situation, or when I was covering some other kind of event

indoors. Even when I would photograph models for their portfolios it

would be rare that I would pull out the flash. Practically all the

time I would use only ambient light.

Flash

forward, (yes, pun intended), when I incorporated and went into

photography full time my focus, (heheh…), was on portraiture. At

that juncture of my career I began using studio strobes, and

primarily I used a four light setup. My lighting scheme consisted of

a Key light, a Fill light, a Hair light, and a Background light.

Even

back then I was concerned with economy and portability as my business

required that I set up my studio in several different locations, so I

had to pack it up and move it every week. For those reasons I opted

for moonlights rather than battery pack systems.

Of

course along with the strobes I had a variety of light modifiers such

as umbrellas, snoots and barndoors, and color filters. I had also

moved from the 35mm camera to a medium format camera, and along with

that I had a bellows that attached to the front of the lens and acted

as a lens hood/shade, and also accommodated various accessories such

as vignettes and soft focus filters.

In those

days I had a few large cases packed with studio gear that I lugged

around from assignment to assignment. And I became nearly obsessed

with adding things to my arsenal.

Then

about 12 years ago I started doing more outdoor location portrait

sessions. At first I wanted to bring along my studio strobes and

umbrellas and softboxes, but of course with the monolights I needed

to be able to plug them in. So I considered investing in battery

packs and strobes, but the problem with that was the weight, and with

all that gear the need to always have an assistant.

The

alternative was to create a studio-like lighting scheme using

light-weight, battery powered flash units. And since I had become so

used to and comfortable with using all the umbrellas and softboxes, I

wanted to have similar modifiers for my flash units.

At that

point I was carrying two cameras, (DSLR 35mm Nikons), three zoom

lenses, three flash units, small softboxes and batteries for the

flashes, radio transceivers, and three lightstands. Everything except

the light modifiers and lightstands fit into my location gear bag

that I could fairly easily carry on my shoulder. But I had to carry

an additional case for the miniature softboxes and accessories, and

of course the lightstands.

There

was an additional problem with the little softboxes. Where I live and

work most the time there is a breeze blowing. With the softboxes

attached to the flash units, it was like putting sails on them and

they were constantly wanting to blow over! I can tell you it’s very

distracting to have to be constantly on guard to catch lightstands as

they get blown around!

Finally

I cut the light modifiers from my location gear, and I found that by

adjusting the spread of light from the flash units by simply

adjusting the “zoom” feature, and using just two flash units, one

as a Key and one as a Fill, I am able to create a very natural

looking light on my subjects without the need of additional light

modifiers! And when I position my subjects so the sun is lighting

their hair, I have essentially a three light studio setup!

So now

while I still carry three flash units, one of them is primarily there

as a backup, and I can carry everything I need in one portable gear

bag, and just two light-weight lightstands. This makes it much easier

to move from one spot to another while at an outdoor location,

removes most of the danger of my flash units being blown over, and

eliminates the need to have an assistant on every assignment. And I

still get beautiful portrait lighting for my clients!