Center-to-Side Chain Playbook

Mat Manual companion guide to "Down the Middle, Around the Side." Print it. The article explains why the ranges of the two kicks match only on a forward set-down, and why angling off breaks the whole chain's geometry. This book builds that one chain — naeryo chagi (axe kick) down the center into dollyo chagi (turning/roundhouse kick) around the side — with its cut kick branch and the angle-off defense trained inside the same system, through a four-week build to free rounds where the branch scores too.

Name: ______________________________ School: ______________________________ Grade: ______________ Start date: ______________ Lead side (circle): Left / Right Ruleset (circle): WT / ITF / School Head-height work agreed for you (circle): Yes / No Current week (Part 11): ______________

BEFORE ANYTHING: PARTNER SAFETY AND AGREEMENTS ☐ 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. ☐ Hogu (chest protector) is worn for all partner kicking work in this book. Body kicks land on the hogu at the agreed contact. A kick that cannot be controlled does not count as a rep. ☐ The axe kick travels down the center line, and the center line includes a partner's head line when they stand still. Axe kicks in partner cards are thrown to be blocked up the middle or to pass the agreed target line at controlled height and contact — never dropped onto an unready partner. Any partner may require axe kick work on pads only, for any session, with no reason given. ☐ Head-height roundhouse finishes run only where your ruleset allows head kicks, your school teaches them at your grade, and both partners have agreed to head-height work that session. When any of those is missing, every "high" line in this book means the upper hogu line, and no kick goes to a partner's head. ☐ Angle-off drills (Part 7 and Part 14) move a defender diagonally into open floor. The space behind and beside both partners is checked clear before every set. Collisions with other pairs end the set, and the session log (Part 16) records it. ☐ 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 (Part 16).

Part 1: The Chain (and Its Branch) at a Glance

Two lines, one decision. If the foot sets down backward, there is no chain, whatever the kicks looked like.

Chain law: the defender's answer to the axe kick chooses the second kick — roundhouse for block-up and straight-back answers, cut kick for the angle-off.