Combination and Counter Playbook: Drill Cards for the Second Attack, Reaction Maps, and the Six-Week Build

Mat Manual companion guide to "Your First Attack Failed. Now What?" Print it. The article teaches the logic: a real first attack draws a real reaction, and the reaction is the opening. This book installs it: pair-by-pair drill cards with entry counts and the exact reaction your partner feeds, a counter menu keyed to their attacks, the six-week build from uchikomi to free randori, and tracking sheets that count second attacks instead of wishes.

Player: ______________________________ Club: ______________________________ Coach: ______________________________ My tokui-waza (favorite technique): ______________________________

SAFETY — READ FIRST ☐ Ukemi (falling technique) before throws: no player receives full-speed combination finishes until their breakfalls are checked for every throw in the pair. ☐ Control the partner's fall on the second technique especially. Combination finishes arrive when uke is off balance and thinking about the first attack. Your sleeve stays in hand to the mat. ☐ Never throw a partner who cannot fall safely today. Fatigue, injury, and a new pair being drilled at speed are all reasons to drop to entry-only work. ☐ Counters that drop your weight across a partner's planted knee (careless tani-otoshi above all) are banned in this book until a coach has taught you the safe version at walking pace. Part 9 carries the rule per counter. ☐ Mat awareness: combination drilling travels. Check the space your chain will cross before the set starts.

Part 1: The Pair Cards — How to Read Them

Every pair in Parts 2–5 is one card with the same fields:

Stage key used on every card: Stage 1 uchikomi (entry repetition) with the fed reaction, no finish. Stage 2 nage-komi (throwing practice): both techniques finished, partner defends the first and receives the second. Stage 3 moving nage-komi off a walking start. Stage 4 the pair appears inside Part 11's formats.