Knee Shield from Reverse De La Riva

Knee Shield from Reverse De La Riva is a passing sequence that clears the legs built around a handful of repeatable controls. The bottom player is in Reverse De La Riva guard with the inside hook wrapped around the top player's leg from the inside. Another common starting shape: the bottom player has a Reverse De La Riva hook plus a strong knee-shield framing the passer's chest, blocking knee slide and long step entries. The ideas that hold it together are positional sequencing, distance off the knee shield, and grip on the outside of the knee for control.

The knee shield chain is a sequence of small controls, not one athletic burst. Establish and maintain the gripping configuration before initiating the action. Use a hip escape or hip rotation to create the angle needed for the technique. Grab outside of the top knee and close the elbow to trap it. Take a collar grip to manage upper-body distance. Post the inside knee and walk hips away rather than pressing in. Pin the bottom leg, then drive the trail knee over the legs into the leg weave. Secure the back hug and progress to side control. Take collar plus outside-of-knee grips and close the elbow. The top player consolidates past the legs and establishes a pinning position such as side control or knee on belly.

Later in the knee shield, clearing your own knee before passing, stay-on-side leg weave finish, and rDLR can be reached from any open or half-guard position with the right angle tend to decide whether the position stays on track. Watch for these mistakes: Failing to set the grip or hook configuration before attempting the movement. Grabbing inside the knee, allowing the opponent to break the grip and re-shield or attack an arm. Leaning weight into the knee shield. Skipping the move-away step and getting elevated. The high-percentage version of knee shield from reverse de la riva is the one you can still chain when the bottom player recovers a hook.