Maneuver master monk and maneuver defense ability

[Wonderhaven]

Hi all,

My players just hit 7th level last night. One of them plays as a maneuver master monk / fighter. At this level he gets an ability called "Maneuver Defense." The rule states:

"At 3rd level, if a maneuver master has an Improved combat maneuver feat, any creature attempting that maneuver against the maneuver master provokes an attack of opportunity, even if it would not normally do so.

This ability replaces still mind."

He has the Improved Grapple feat so this would mainly apply to grapples. He explained to me that once he grapples / pins an opponent he would be able to make an attack of opportunity every time the opponent makes a grapple check to attempt to break the grapple / pin. Is this correct? It seems like the opponent would be essentially dead as soon as the player grapples them if this is how it works.

Any advise on this would be greatly appreciated. I'm mainly interested in how these ability works per RAW.

[Remy Balster]

Quote:

If you are grappled, you can attempt to break the grapple as a standard action by making a combat maneuver check (DC equal to your opponent's CMD; this does not provoke an attack of opportunity) or Escape Artist check (with a DC equal to your opponent's CMD). If you succeed, you break the grapple and can act normally. Alternatively, if you succeed, you can become the grappler, grappling the other creature (meaning that the other creature cannot freely release the grapple without making a combat maneuver check, while you can). Instead of attempting to break or reverse the grapple, you can take any action that doesn’t require two hands to perform, such as cast a spell or make an attack or full attack with a light or one-handed weapon against any creature within your reach, including the creature that is grappling you. See the grappled condition for additional details. If you are pinned, your actions are very limited. See the pinned condition in Conditions for additional details.

Nowhere does it say that breaking free from a grapple is an attempt to use a combat maneuver against the monk.

If someone tries to grapple him... they provoke. If instead someone tried to get out of a grapple, that would not meet the criteria for Maneuver Defense.

Breaking free from a grapple is not "attempting that maneuver against the maneuver master".

[Are]

I'm pretty sure the intent is for maneuver defense to apply only to attempts to initiate a maneuver, and not to things such as escaping a grapple.

[Kazumetsa Raijin]

I'm pretty sure only the initial attempt of Grapple would provoke.

[Candral Rapturefall]

So would it be a reasonable assumption then that an attempt to reverse the grapple to become the grappler would however draw an attack of opportunity while an attempt to escape would not?