Leg Lock Full System Game

Game Description

This is the integrated expression of the complete leg lock system for the Advanced practitioner. Earlier games in this series isolated components — ankle lock from ashi, outside heel hook from outside ashi, inside heel hook from cross ashi. This game removes those positional constraints and requires both practitioners to use the full submission toolkit continuously across position transitions.

The game is symmetric: both players have the same win conditions, the same entry access, and the same submission availability. The role-rotating structure ensures both practitioners develop the complete system — attack and defence — within each session.

This game requires:

1. Both practitioners having completed all prerequisite drills and individual position games.
2. Explicit agreement on heel hook inclusion before the session begins. Default: ankle lock and toe hold only. Heel hooks require explicit bilateral agreement and demonstrated tap-release reliability.
3. A coach present for the session.
4. The mandatory tap protocol confirmed verbally before the first rep.

Pre-session confirmation: Both practitioners state the tap protocol aloud. Both confirm which submissions are included in this session. Coach witnesses.

How to Run This Game

Setup: Both players seated in butterfly guard, facing each other. No pre-established entanglement. Coach signals start.

Both players manage the full system:

1. Entry: Choose the entry based on what the partner’s posture and footwork allows — shin-on-shin to ashi, K-guard (a seated leg entanglement position), standing reap, or direct sit-in. The entry earns the starting position; the starting position determines which submission lines are available.
2. Position selection: Once in an entanglement, choose the finish based on position — ankle lock from ashi or outside ashi; toe hold from ashi or 50/50; outside heel hook from outside ashi; inside heel hook from cross ashi (if agreed).
3. Transition decisions: When the partner counters or the finish is blocked, transition to the next position — ashi to outside ashi, ashi to cross ashi, ashi to 50/50. The position is the asset; submissions are the outcome of the correct position.

Tap protocol: Two taps plus verbal “tap” for all submissions. Attacker stops the finish motion at tap, then releases. Ten-second pause after every tap. No exceptions regardless of round time.

Rotation rule: After each score, the scoring player takes the guard-bottom position. The player who was just attacked starts in the kneeling or standing position. This creates the same symmetric exchange structure as the kimura full system game.

Score: Five points per side. Track by submission type and by position — this data is useful for identifying each practitioner’s system gaps.

Coaching Notes

The full system game reveals the practitioner’s dominant position (where they are strongest) and their transition capacity (whether they can move between positions when blocked). Most practitioners at Advanced level have a primary system — often ashi garami with outside heel hook — and are weak at the transitions into and out of 50/50 and cross ashi. The game surfaces this directly.

The role-rotating structure is the key pedagogical element. Practitioners who play the same role repeatedly develop a narrow understanding — they can attack or they can defend, but not both. Rotating after each score creates continuous skill development on both sides of the system within a single session.

Safety note: The full system game has the broadest submission scope of any game in the series. Coaches must be active and present — not monitoring from across the gym. When heel hooks are included, the ten-second pause enforcement is the most important coaching action. Practitioners in competitive states skip pauses; the coach enforces them.

The 30-second positional hold as a win condition alongside submissions is important at this level. Practitioners who understand that maintaining a dominant entanglement without finishing is a valid scoring event develop patience and positional quality. Practitioners who chase finishes without maintaining position consistently lose their entanglements and produce nothing — the game’s scoring structure teaches them this directly.

Progressions

1. No positional hold win condition: Submissions only. This increases finish commitment and urgency — appropriate for experienced practitioners preparing for competition.
2. Standing start: Both players begin standing. The entry problem is added before the entanglement problem — the full competitive context from the first contact.
3. Open live rounds: Remove the role-rotating rule and the round structure. Play continuous live rounds with no positional reset. This is the full competition-equivalent environment.