Chain-Building Workbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "Three Attacks Deep, Then Stop." Print it. The article teaches the construction rules: a first technique that genuinely threatens, a second that answers the likeliest defense, and a third t…
| Art | Shotokan Karate |
|---|---|
| Family | Karate |
| Level | intermediate |
| Format | deep-dive |
| Topics | sparring, training-plans, fundamentals |
Mat Manual companion guide to "Three Attacks Deep, Then Stop." Print it. The article teaches the construction rules: a first technique that genuinely threatens, a second that answers the likeliest defense, and a third that exists only if the first two earn it. This book makes you build to those rules on paper, test what you built against fed reactions, audit it against the breaking points, and keep only what survives. It gives you two fully worked chains as models, blank worksheets with varied prompts, audits from both chairs, and the personal chain card you take into sparring and grading preparation.
Name: ______________________________ Dojo: ______________________________ Grade: ______________ Start date: ______________ Instructor: ______________
BEFORE ANYTHING: SCOPE AND SAFETY ☐ All partner work in this book runs at agreed speed and agreed contact, stated out loud before each drill. Either partner can lower the speed or the contact at any time with one word, and the drill obeys instantly. ☐ Chains are thrown at real targets at controlled contact. Control is part of the construction standard: a chain that only works when thrown hard at a partner is not built yet, however good it looks on paper. ☐ Head contact follows your dojo's rules for your grade, with headgear where your school requires it. Students whose schools do not allow head contact train jodan (high level) links to touch a held guard or pad, never a partner's head. ☐ Kicks in chains are drilled with the same control. A kick link that cannot be stopped short does not go into a worksheet for partner testing until it can. ☐ Stop any drill for pain, dizziness, or a partner who has stopped defending honestly. A fed reaction is a training gift, not a target that holds still for your third technique. ☐ This is an intermediate book. Students train it with a foundation in ippon kumite (one-step sparring) and their instructor's knowledge.
Part 1: The Construction Rules at a Glance
Every worksheet in this book tests the same four rules. Learn them as a checklist before you fill in a single box.
| Rule | The test in one line | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The opener threatens | Thrown alone, at full commitment and controlled contact, it would score or drive the partner back | Replace the opener. Do not hide it inside a chain |
| 2. The second answers a defense | You can name the likeliest defense to technique 1, and technique 2 takes what that defense gives away | Rewrite technique 2 from the defense, not from your favorites |
| 3. The third earns its place | You can name what technique 2 gave you: a foot, a line, a guard position, a folded posture | Cut the chain at two and drill the exit as the final link |
| 4. The exit is built in | The card names how you leave: covering hand, angled step, guard, range restored | A chain with no exit is unfinished, even if all three links pass |
Chain law for the whole book: a chain is three decisions, not three techniques. If a box on any worksheet can only be filled with a technique name and no reason, the worksheet is not done.
Chain-Building Workbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "Three Attacks Deep, Then Stop." Print it. The article teaches the construction rules: a first technique that genuinely threatens, a second that answers the likeliest defense, and a third that exists only if the first two earn it. This book makes you build to those rules on paper, test what you built against fed reactions, audit it against the breaking points, and keep only what survives. It gives you two fully worked chains as models, blank worksheets with varied prompts, audits from both chairs, and the personal chain card you take into sparring and grading preparation.
What's Inside
- Part 1: The Construction Rules at a Glance
- Part 2: How to Use This Book
- Part 3: Worked Example A: The Jab and Reverse Family (Filled)
- Part 4: Worked Example A: Reaction Tree and Audit (Filled)
- Part 5: Worked Example B: The Kick and Punch Family (Filled)
- Part 6: Worked Example B: Reaction Tree and Audit (Filled)
- …and 23 more sections
The full guide is a paid Mat Manual product. Checkout is not connected yet — no payment is taken on this page.
Free companion article: Three Attacks Deep, Then Stop — the full article, free in full.
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