Head-to-Head Sugo

A spirited activity exploring balance, structure, and connection through co-regulated pressure with the head and neck.

Where Solo Neck Wrestling built stability and mobility, and Head-to-Head Connection centered on sensing and sustaining contact, this Sugo extends that strength and sensitivity into influencing and being influenced.

• If you’re new to LMA, start with our table of contents

The activity

Partners begin facing each other, gaze lowered toward the hips, foreheads or crowns gently touching. Practitioners maintain head-only contact and try to steer each other using only the head. Hands stay free and relaxed.

Since every contact is temporary, the play becomes a continuous flow of giving, receiving, and stabilizing.

The goal isn't to "win" but to discover how subtle shifts of position change who is moving whom.

Waypoint

A Waypoint is a temporary position of stability or influence within continuous play.

In this activity, safe Waypoints include the side of the head, side of the neck, or under the head. Seeking these points helps redirect force and maintain flow, preventing direct collisions or ramming.

Physical and emotional safety rules

• Keep your gaze fixed on the hips to prevent injury. (This low gaze will remain a theme in future activities.)

• Whenever you attach or reattach, lower your gaze and gently connect your foreheads or crowns.

• Maintain head-only contact—no hands, arms, or body holds. Head and neck connection is included.

• Keep your roots apart and heels light.

• Let the neck and spine follow the head's lead. Think of it as steering with your whole body rather than through individual parts.

• For additional protection, wear a rugby headguard (a good investment if you already ground grapple or plan to in the future).

• Wear a mouthguard.

• Maintain a consistent pace. Avoid sudden changes in speed or tempo. Any abrupt acceleration forces your partner to speed up to brace, creating a feedback loop of escalating intensity and risk.

• If your reaction is slow, don't rush to catch up. Go with the flow and feel for your next opportunity.

• Use three-sided breathing—two inhalations through the nose, one exhalation through the mouth—to regulate tempo and ease your nervous system.

Video description

In the video, two practitioners stand in a soft sapling stance, their foreheads lightly touching. They move in small spirals, adjusting and rebalancing as their bases shift. Occasionally one yields, taking a step back before re-engaging. The rhythm is steady and reciprocal, alternating between giving and receiving. Their shoulders remain relaxed, eyes open, breathing calm. There are no bursts of laughter or jitters—this deep into LMA, practitioners are fully engrossed in the action. They move silently, present in their shared moment.

Circle time reflections

• Without the ability to grasp, what adaptations did you make to steer?

• Did you notice any emotional reactions due to head contact?

• When being redirected at the top of your structure (head and neck) rather than through your center (trunk), what happens to your balance?

• Is it easier or harder to control your direction when being led by the head?

• Is it easier or harder to face your partner? Why?

• Why does influencing the head influence so much of the rest of the body?

– Sam