Positional Game · GAME-RET-01
Finishing the Reversal — From Shin-to-Shin
Rung one of the guard-retention ladder, run finish-first. The seated player starts with a shin-to-shin already connected and only has to convert it — wrestle up or upgrade to an entanglement — so a guard player feels a won exchange before learning to earn one.
Start position
POS-STD-VS-SEATED
Round length
2:30 rounds
Reset rule
Reset when the bottom player wrestles up or confirms an entanglement, or the top player disconnects the shin-to-shin and clears the ankle line. Role rotates after each reset.
Top wins by
Disconnect the shin-to-shin and clear the ankle line.
Bottom wins by
Wrestle up to top, or upgrade the shin-to-shin into a confirmed leg entanglement.
Game Description
This is the first rung of the guard-retention ladder, and like the passing ladder it starts at the end — except the end belongs to the guard player. The seated player begins with a shin-to-shin already connected to the standing passer’s lead leg: a guard that is not defending but attacking. All that remains is to cash it in — wrestle up to top, or deepen the connection into an entanglement. Starting here lets a guard player feel what a won exchange from the bottom is before they ever have to dig one out of a bad position. It is the same finish-first logic the passing ladder runs, read from the other side.
How to Run This Game
Setup: Bottom player seated, a shin-to-shin connection on the standing player’s lead leg, hands ready. Top player standing with sound posture, no grips established.
Bottom wins by wrestling up to top, or by upgrading the shin-to-shin into a confirmed leg entanglement. The shin is the line that decides whether the guard engages — keep it connected and the passer cannot leave without paying for it.
Top wins by disconnecting the shin-to-shin and clearing the ankle line — beating the connection and getting past the first line. No pin is required from here; the guard player starts strong, so the passer’s leash is short.
Score: One point per win condition. Role rotates each reset.
Coaching Notes
The lesson of the rung is that a guard is offence, not a wall. The bottom player should be hunting the reversal from the first second rather than waiting to be passed — a connected shin-to-shin that only sits there gets stripped. Reward the player who turns the connection into a question the passer has to answer. Elevated tier: the upgrade runs into live leg entanglements, so only run it with practitioners whose tap-release reliability is established.
Progressions
Down the ladder the connection gets worse. The next rung is standing vs seated — the neutral position the retention and passing ladders share, here played from the guard player’s side. For how the rungs fit together, see reverse phase progression.