Originally Posted by Drunken Chicken
You'll want to absorb a lot of the impact with your legs so keep them ready to bend, same goes for your arms, since most hardtails use less travel than FR/DH full suspension bikes. Apart from that, decent protection helps confidence.
Thanks for the tips. I have one other thing I would like to know. How exactly do you launch off of a jump, or prepare for a drop? (I've been having a lot of trouble with that)