Turtle Attack System

Mat Manual companion guide to "Attacking the Turtle Is a Sequence." Print it. The article explains why the turtle opens in order rather than to force: a sankaku (triangle) turnover entry first, okuri eri jime (sliding lapel strangle) when defending the roll opens the collar, and osaekomi (pinning) when the roll completes. This book builds that sequence as a decision tree drilled branch by branch, with the turtle side trained as seriously as the attacking side, and the newaza (groundwork) continuation clock treated as a real condition of every drill.

Name: ______________________________ Dojo: ______________________________ Grade: ______________ Start date: ______________ Lead side (circle): Left / Right Current week (Part 11): ______________

How this book is used: work the parts in order in the first cycle. The cards build on each other, the reaction cards assume the mechanics cards are passed, and the free-practice formats in Part 13 assume every reaction card has been passed singly. Bring the book to the mat, fill the logs in pencil during the session rather than from memory afterward, and let the pass standards, not the calendar, decide when you move on. In a second cycle you may enter at the part your review in Part 27 names, but the safety block and the read check are re-run at the start of every cycle without exception.

BEFORE ANYTHING: PARTNER SAFETY AND AGREEMENTS ☐ Ukemi (breakfalling) is checked before any throw progression in this book, for both partners, at the landings the chain actually produces. A pair that has not passed the check trains the cards at entry speed only, with no completed throws. This gate is pass/fail and is never waived for seniority. ☐ All throwing runs at agreed speed and agreed intensity, stated out loud before each drill. Either partner can lower the speed or stop the drill with one word, and the drill obeys instantly. ☐ Stop on any pain, dizziness, or loss of control, from either partner, with no argument and no finishing the set first. Log what happened in the session log. ☐ No technique in this book is finished by force against a partner who is defending correctly at drill speed. A rep that needs force to land is a failed rep, and it is logged as one. ☐ STRANGLE SAFETY, PASS/FAIL, ON EVERY CARD: tap early and often to strangles, and tap unembarrassed, out loud when a hand is not free. Tapping is a training rule in this book, not a result, and a partner who hesitates to tap is retrained before the next set, not praised for toughness. ☐ Apply every strangle slowly, at a pace the receiver sets in early cards, and release the instant the tap lands, the voice sounds, or the partner goes quiet or limp. Quiet or limp means release first and check the partner, never finish first. ☐ Control before submission. The strangle branch is taken from a position already won by the turnover grips. A collar grabbed from a scramble and yanked is a failed rep and an unsafe one. ☐ Never crank anything in this book, the neck included. Pressure arrives from grips and posture settling, never from a sudden pull. Stop on any pain, dizziness, or neck discomfort, from either partner, instantly. ☐ Turnover rolls are drilled at agreed speed with the receiving partner's head and neck kept clear of the mat and of the attacker's weight at every stage. A roll that loads the neck is stopped mid-rep by either partner's word.

Part 1: The Chain at a Glance

One entry, three endings, and the turtle's defense chooses among them. If a rep shows hauling instead of a branch, it was not this system.

System law: branches are chosen by the defense, never by preference. A sealed turtle gets the capture worked. An opened collar gets the strangle. A completed roll gets the pin. Wanting a different branch is not a read.