Safe Rolling Playbook

Mat Manual companion guide to "The Spazzy Partner Problem (Including When It's You)." Print it. The article names the problem from both chairs. This book runs the room: the posted safety standard, the control self-check, the veteran's slowing toolkit in drill form, the developing player's paced progressions, flow-round formats, pairing policy, the conversation scripts, and the four-week control build.

Name: ______________________________ Academy: ______________________________ Belt: ______________ Months training: ______________

SAFETY, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE — THE STANDARD THIS BOOK ENFORCES ☐ Tap early and often, with hand, foot, or voice. A verbal tap stops everything instantly, whoever says it, whatever the position. ☐ Never crank a submission. Every finish in every drill and round in this book is applied with control, at a pace the partner can tap to. Control before submission, always. ☐ Protect your partner: your knees, elbows, head, and falling weight are your responsibility on every rep, at every speed in this book, including the slow ones. ☐ Any partner may stop any round at any time with a raised hand and the words "we are done." No reason is owed in the moment. ☐ Speed limits in this book are rules, not suggestions. A drill at 50% that drifts to 90% gets stopped and restarted, by either partner.

Part 1: The Posted Standard (Copy This to the Wall)

1. The tap is sacred. Hand, foot, voice, or a tap on the mat — all count, all stop the action instantly.
2. Control before submission. A finish you cannot apply slowly is a finish you may not apply at speed.
3. You own your limbs. Knees, elbows, and your falling body weight are aimed or they are parked. There is no third state.
4. Speed is agreed, not assumed. Every round has a named intensity (Part 5). Either partner may lower it mid-round with one word: "half."
5. Bad positions are training, not emergencies. Escape on a plan. Explosions are for the one drilled escape you actually own.
6. Talking is allowed and expected. "Slow down," "your shoulder, watch it," and "reset" are normal mat language, not weakness.
7. Declining is a right. "I am sitting this one" needs no sequel, from any belt, to any belt.
8. Near-misses get logged (Part 12). The room learns from the knee that almost landed, not only the one that did.