Inside Space War

Game Description

This game extends the isolated maintenance drill (DRILL-LE-05) into a full positional game with real reset logic. The attacker starts in a confirmed ashi garami and must hold it against a partner using genuine extraction tools — not cooperative movement but active attempts to escape.

The 90-second continuous hold (not cumulative) forces the attacker to solve the maintenance problem under sustained pressure. Most practitioners can hold ashi garami for 10–15 seconds against genuine opposition; extending that to 90 requires all of the adjustment skills from the maintenance drill, deployed fluidly in response to real extraction attempts.

No submissions are permitted from either player. This constraint keeps both players focused on the positional problem and prevents the game from resolving through a quick heel hook before the maintenance skill is tested.

How to Run This Game

Setup: Full ashi garami confirmed — attacker’s inside leg hooked at the partner’s hip, outside leg across the shin, hip-to-hip connection established. Coach or training partner confirms the start position before the clock begins.

Attacker manages three continuous tasks:

1. Hip connection: Re-drive the hip whenever the partner creates distance with the secondary leg push.
2. Hook repositioning: Follow the partner’s shin movements — outside hook travels with the shin, not against it.
3. Rotation response: When the partner rotates toward their stomach, follow to outside ashi (trained in DRILL-LE-04) rather than resisting the rotation. The outside ashi connection is counted as valid for the 90-second clock.

Extractor’s full tool set:

• Secondary leg push to the attacker’s hip (creating distance)
• Knee flexion to dislodge the outside hook
• Rotation toward the mat (to expose outside ashi or create the transition gap)
• Toe-pointing to reduce heel exposure (relevant when any finish is added in progressions)
• Arm posting to generate hip displacement

Score: Five points per side.

Coaching Notes

The game typically reveals one of three maintenance failure patterns within the first 30 seconds. Hip-passive practitioners lose hip connection on the first secondary leg push and do not re-engage — the partner is out within five seconds. Hook-static practitioners maintain the hip but lose the outside hook as the partner moves their shin — the outside leg goes limp while the hip stays active. Rotation-resisting practitioners fight the partner’s stomach turn rather than following to outside ashi — the fight creates the scramble that produces the extraction.

Each failure pattern maps directly to a specific correction drill. Coaches can use this game as a diagnostic tool: observe which failure pattern appears, direct the practitioner back to the relevant isolated drill (DRILL-LE-05 for hip passivity; DRILL-LE-04 for rotation resistance), then return to this game.

The outside ashi transition counting as a valid hold is an important coaching point. Practitioners who don’t know this will resist the rotation and scramble — practitioners who understand it will follow the rotation smoothly and accumulate hold time without interruption.

Progressions

1. Add the ankle lock as a win condition for the attacker — the game now tests both maintenance and finish timing. The extractor’s urgency increases when they know the attacker is finishing.
2. Allow the extractor to use counter-entanglement (entering 50/50). This makes the game a full leg entanglement exchange with the 90-second maintenance clock running — much higher complexity.
3. Run as a timed challenge: how long can the attacker hold? Best time on the board for each practitioner creates individual accountability.