Kick–Punch Chain Playbook

Mat Manual companion guide to "Kick, Then Hands: Mae Geri Into the Punch". Print it. The article explains why the punch belongs to the landing and why a short set-down changes the punch. This book drills that timing, measures the landing, and feeds you the answers a partner can give your kick, with a different first punch for each one.

Name: ______________________________ Dojo: ______________________________ Grade: ______________ Start date: ______________ Lead leg: ______________ Current part (Part 15 build): ______________

BEFORE ANYTHING: SCOPE AND SAFETY ☐ All partner work runs at agreed speed and agreed contact, stated out loud before each drill. Either partner can lower either one at any time with one word, and the drill obeys instantly. ☐ Kicks and punches go to pads or agreed target lines at controlled contact until a card says otherwise. Head contact follows your dojo's rules for your grade. Where it is not allowed, jodan (high level) work goes to a held pad or guard, never to a partner's head. ☐ Ankle-catch work, Parts 7 and 10, has its own rules and they are not optional. The catcher catches only a kick thrown at the agreed speed, height, and side. The catch is two open hands at the ankle. No grabbing the foot and turning it. No twisting the caught leg, ever. No lifting it higher, no pulling the kicker forward, no pushing them back, no touching the support leg. ☐ Release on signal. Before the first catch rep, agree the signal out loud: the word "Release," from either partner or the instructor. On that word the catcher opens both hands at once and steps back half a step. The kicker sets the foot straight down. A catch held past the signal voids the set; restart slower. ☐ The kicker never yanks, twists, or hops the caught leg free, and never punches while the leg is held. Hands up, wait for the signal. Any pain in the caught leg's knee or ankle, or in the support knee, stops the drill for the day. ☐ This is an intermediate book. Train it with mae geri (front kick), oi zuki (lunge punch), and gyaku zuki (reverse punch) already learned as singles, and with your instructor's knowledge.

Part 1: The Chain at a Glance

The standard chain, written for a left-leg-forward kamae (guard position) and a right-leg kick. Mirror everything for the other side. Both sides are trained in every part of this book.

Chain law: the landing foot names the first punch. A full forward landing names oi zuki. A short set-down names gyaku zuki (Part 8). A held leg names no punch at all until the foot is down (Part 10). Every card in this book is one of those three sentences, drilled.