Passing
Removing the legs as an obstacle and establishing control past them.
Mount is a hip pin
Holding mount means pinning the hips under yours so the bottom player can neither bridge nor turn, and the escape it invites is the one that puts a knee back between you.
Foundational · Gi and no-giPressure passing versus loose passing
A guard pass is a way of getting past the knees to the hips, and the three families of pass, pressure, movement and the leg drag, each get there with their own cost.
Intermediate · No-gi firstThe knee cut pass
Driving a knee diagonally across the opponent's thigh line to arrive chest-to-chest past their legs, and why the upper body decides whether the leg work does anything.
Foundational · Gi and no-gi
Reading connected to this area
Journal
- Why the underhook decides half guard
Half guard is taught as one position with a long list of sweeps. Most of the list is closed at any given moment, and one arm decides which part is open.