Technique library

The backstep pass is a dynamic guard pass used to counter the De La Riva hook by redirecting your hips and stepping over the hook, often leading to side control or a back take. It exploits the open hip angle of the DLR guard and neutralizes the opponent's hooks with precise leg and upper body positioning. This pass is essential for dealing with flexible, modern open guard players.

The body-lock pass is a modern no-gi guard pass where the passer secures a tight grip around the opponent's hips and drives forward, neutralizing their legs and mobility. This pass is highly effective against open guards, especially in no-gi, due to its ability to bypass frames and force chest-to-chest control.

The cartwheel pass is a dynamic, acrobatic guard pass that involves leaping over the opponent’s guard with a cartwheel motion to bypass their legs and land in a dominant position. It is effective against seated or De La Riva guards, capitalizing on surprise, mobility, and timing to overwhelm defensive frames. This pass can result in immediate side control or an opportunistic back take if the opponent turns away.

The cartwheel pass is an explosive, dynamic open-guard pass used against a seated guard player. By launching your hips and legs over the opponent, you bypass their frames and land directly into side control or threaten the back. This pass is highly effective against opponents relying on arm-based frames or when their posture is upright and mobile.

The Crucifix Pass vs Turtle is a method of breaking down a turtled opponent and establishing dominant crucifix control. This pass is crucial for both positional dominance and submission setups, especially in no-gi and submission grappling contexts.

The Double Under Pass is a classic stack pass where you secure both of your opponent’s thighs with underhooks, elevate their hips, and drive their knees towards their chest to immobilize their guard. This pass is highly effective against open guard players and is a staple in both gi and no-gi competition due to its direct pressure and control.

The Double-Sleeve Pin Pass is a pressure-based guard pass in the gi, starting from open guard with both of the opponent's sleeves pinned to the mat. By immobilizing the opponent's arms, the passer can eliminate frames and execute a knee-cut pass into side control with minimal resistance. This pass is highly effective against active guard players who rely on sleeve grips for retention and attacks.

The folding pass is a pressure-based guard pass where you collapse the opponent’s knees toward their chest, pinning their hips and legs with your body weight to immobilize their guard. It is highly effective against open guards, especially when the opponent has their knees up and is framing, allowing you to bypass their legs and settle into dominant positions like side control or mount.

The Forced Half-Guard Pass is a pressure-based guard pass where the top player intentionally allows the opponent to establish half guard, then uses heavy control and systematic dismantling to progress to side control. This approach is highly effective against dynamic open guards and neutralizes leg entanglement threats.

The Galvão Pass is a dynamic open guard pass that transitions directly from a knee-on-belly position to mount, popularized by Andre Galvão. It emphasizes strong grips, explosive hip movement, and precise knee placement to bypass frames and establish dominant control.

The Gift-Wrap Pass uses a cross-wrist grip from front headlock control to immobilize the opponent’s upper body, opening a pathway to side control or the back. This pass is highly effective against turtled or supine opponents, as it severely limits their defensive options and exposes dominant transitions.

The Half-Guard Underhook Pummel Pass is a pressure-based pass from top half guard, using an underhook to flatten and control the bottom player. By pummeling for the underhook and systematically freeing the trapped leg, you transition to dominant side control. Mastery of this pass is crucial for shutting down half guard specialists and maintaining top progression.

The Headquarters (HQ) Pass is a neutral passing position where the top player controls one of the bottom player's legs between their own, often with the opponent's shin or knee across their thigh. This pass is essential for neutralizing open guards like De La Riva, shin-shin, or knee shield, allowing the passer to dictate tempo and transition to dominant positions.

The Hip-Switch Pass is a dynamic half guard pass where the top player rotates their hips to face away from the opponent, flattening the bottom player's hips and freeing the trapped leg. It is particularly effective against knee-shield and deep half variations, enabling a direct transition to side control.

The Inside Step-Over Pass is a dynamic open-guard pass used from the top of shallow X-guard, allowing the passer to bypass the bottom player’s entangling hooks by stepping their inside leg over the hips. It is especially effective against opponents who rely on inside position and leg entanglements, transitioning directly to side control with strong upper body control.

The K-Pass is a standing knee-cut guard pass that uses a staggered stance and a 'K' shaped leg configuration to slice through open guard. It is highly effective against modern guards, allowing for strong top pressure and easy transition to side control while minimizing exposure to leg entanglements.

The knee-cut pass is a dynamic guard pass that uses a slicing knee to split the opponent's guard, transitioning from combat base to side control. It is highly effective against open and half-guard, offering strong upper body control and mobility. Mastering this pass is crucial for competitive grapplers due to its versatility and ability to shut down many guard retention strategies.

The Knee-Pin Smash Pass is a pressure-based half guard pass where the top player pins the opponent’s bottom thigh with their knee, immobilizing the hips before advancing directly to mount. This pass is favored for its control and ability to nullify knee-shield and deep half entries, making it a staple in both gi and no-gi competition.

The Knee-Through Smash Pass is a pressure-based half guard pass where the top player uses a deep underhook and drives their knee through the opponent's legs to transition directly to mount. This pass is highly effective against knee-shield and deep half variations, neutralizing frames with tight chest-to-chest connection and heavy weight distribution.

The Kneeling Leg-Weave Pass is a staple guard pass used from a kneeling posture to slice through a seated or open guard by weaving your arm between the opponent's legs and pinning their far thigh. This pass is highly effective for shutting down dynamic guard players and leads directly to tight side control with strong upper body isolation.

The Lapel-Trap Pass is a gi-specific guard pass that uses your opponent’s own lapel, threaded under their leg, to immobilize their hip and knee, allowing you to pass with heavy pressure. This pass neutralizes common open guard retention frames and is highly effective against flexible, lapel-savvy guard players.

The leg-drag pass is an open guard pass where you redirect and staple the opponent's leg across their body, creating a dominant angle to enter side control. It is highly effective against modern guards and enables strong upper body control while minimizing exposure to entanglements.

The Leg-Staple Pass is a pressure-based half guard pass where the top player pins the opponent’s near-side thigh using their shin and knee, then transitions directly to mount. This pass is highly effective for nullifying knee shields and strong half guard frames, making it a staple in both gi and no-gi competition.

The Long-Step Pass is a dynamic half guard pass that uses a back-stepping motion to clear the bottom player's legs and transition directly to mount or side control. It is especially effective against knee-shield or deep half guard frames, allowing the passer to bypass entanglements with precise angle and weight distribution.

The near-side knee slide pass is a pressure-based guard pass designed to defeat the lasso guard by sliding your knee over the opponent's thigh on the same side as their lasso. It neutralizes the lasso hook by pinning the leg and controlling the upper body, allowing you to progress to side control. This pass is crucial for competitive grapplers facing flexible guard players who use the lasso to stall or attack.

The North-South Pass via cartwheel is a dynamic open guard pass where the passer launches their body over the opponent’s legs, landing chest-to-chest in north-south. This bypasses traditional leg entanglements and can surprise opponents who rely on framing or guard retention hooks.

The Outside Step-Over Pass is a standing guard pass used to neutralize single-leg-X or ashi garami entries by stepping your free leg around and over the entangling hooks. It is a high-percentage solution for disengaging leg entanglements and transitioning directly to dominant top positions like knee-on-belly or side control. Mastery of this pass is crucial for competitors facing modern open guard and leglock games.

The Over-Under Pass is a staple pressure passing technique used to bypass open guards by controlling one leg over your shoulder and the other under your armpit. Its effectiveness lies in its ability to neutralize the opponent’s hip mobility and create relentless forward pressure, making it a high-percentage pass at all levels.

The Reverse Leg-Drag Pass is a dynamic open-guard pass used primarily against the De La Riva (DLR) or reverse DLR guard. By redirecting the opponent’s top leg across their body in the opposite direction of a traditional leg drag, you nullify their hooks and expose a direct route to side control. This pass is especially effective for countering inversion-based guard players and preventing the re-guard.

The Saulo-Style Pressure Pass is a fundamental standing guard pass that uses heavy chest-to-chest pressure and precise grip work to systematically flatten and control the opponent, neutralizing their guard retention. This pass is renowned for its reliability in both gi and no-gi, especially against flexible or dynamic open guards.

The single-underhook pass is a staple half-guard pass where the top player uses an underhook to flatten and control the bottom player, progressing to side control or mount. Its effectiveness lies in neutralizing the opponent's frames and mobility, making it a high-percentage option at all levels.

The Smash Pass from top half guard is a pressure-based guard pass that uses chest weight, cross-face, and hip control to flatten and immobilize the bottom player, allowing you to free your trapped leg and advance to side control or mount. This pass is highly effective against flexible or knee-shield players and is a staple in both gi and no-gi competition.

The stack pass is a high-pressure guard pass used after opening the closed guard, where the passer drives the opponent's knees toward their chest, immobilizing their hips and clearing the legs to secure side control. It is a fundamental pass that leverages gravity and bodyweight, making it effective against flexible guards and in gi or no-gi scenarios.

The standing leg-weave pass is a dynamic guard pass where the passer, from standing, threads their arm between the opponent's legs and controls the far thigh to flatten and bypass the guard. This pass is highly effective against open guards that rely on knee-shields or frames, allowing the passer to neutralize hip mobility and transition directly to side control.

The Step-Around Pass is a dynamic half guard pass where the top player clears the bottom hook by stepping their free leg around the opponent’s legs, transitioning directly to side control. It is effective against knee-shield and tight half guard frames, allowing for a fast transition without engaging in prolonged upper body battles.

The Toreando Pass is a dynamic standing guard pass where you redirect the opponent’s legs laterally and quickly move around their hips to secure side control. It is essential for passing open guard against mobile opponents and is highly effective in both gi and no-gi formats due to its speed and angle change.

This is a dynamic passing sequence that chains the torreando (bullfighter) pass directly into a knee-cut pass, exploiting the opponent’s reactions to the initial lateral movement. It is highly effective for breaking through active open guards, especially when the opponent recovers frames or hip mobility after the torreando attempt.

The Tripod Smash Pass is a pressure-based guard pass used to flatten and neutralize the butterfly guard by pinning the opponent’s knees together and driving your weight forward. It is highly effective against active butterfly players, enabling direct progression to side control while minimizing exposure to sweeps or submissions.

The X-Pass is a dynamic, standing open-guard pass that uses a combination of grips and a lateral step to bypass the opponent's legs and establish side control. It is highly effective against seated and supine guards, especially when the opponent plays a shin-shin or ankle guard. Its speed and angle change make it a staple for both gi and no-gi competition.

The Z-Guard Pass is a method for passing the knee-shield (Z-guard) variation of half guard, a common defensive frame in modern grappling. Mastery of this pass is essential for anyone facing flexible or defensive guard players who use the knee-shield to prevent pressure and distance closing.