Knee Cut vs Leg Drag
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The knee cut goes through the legs. Your knee slides across their thigh while you control their upper body. The leg drag goes around them. You pull a leg across your body and pin it with your hip. Use the knee cut when they're turned toward you and the leg drag when their legs are up and busy. When they defend one, the other is usually there.
Through the legs or around them
Both finish in side control or on the back.
- Knee cut
- Your knee slides across their thigh to the mat while you hold an underhook or crossface. Best against half guard and a bottom player who is close and turned toward you.
- Leg drag
- Their leg is pulled across your body and pinned with your hip, so their knees point away. Best against open guards with active legs, and it opens the back.
Chaining the two
Start with either. How they defend tells you when to switch.
- If they are close with a knee shield or half guard
- Knee cut. Win the underhook or crossface first.
- If their feet are on your hips and their legs are moving
- Leg drag. Redirect the legs across before they can hook you.
- If they block the knee cut with an inside hook
- That is reverse De La Riva. Pull the leg the other way into the leg drag.
- If they turn in to stop the leg drag
- Their knee comes back toward you. Drop into the knee cut on that side.
- If they turn away from either pass
- Take the back.
Scoring
Under IBJJF rules either pass is 3 points once you hold side control, north-south, or another position past the legs for 3 seconds. A pass straight to mount scores 3 for the pass and 4 for the mount.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, the knee cut or the leg drag?
Neither. The knee cut beats someone close and turned toward you; the leg drag beats active legs. Defending one tends to open the other, so chain them.
Do the knee cut and leg drag work in no-gi?
Yes. Both rely on hip and upper-body control more than gi grips, and you'll see both in no-gi all the time.
What guard stops the knee cut?
The knee shield and reverse De La Riva are the two main answers. Against reverse De La Riva, switching to the leg drag is the usual reply.
Passing from in front of the guard
Which pass to start with, and where each defense sends you: the other pass or the back.
See the passing chart Or build your own flowchart