Knee Cut Pass from Single-Leg X Guard

Knee Cut Pass from Single-Leg X Guard is a passing sequence that clears the legs built around a handful of repeatable controls. Top player has cleared the bottom player's hip foot from one-leg-X and has the inside knee across the belly. Another common starting shape: top player kneeling in single-leg X with the bottom player holding two pant grips and a strong cross pant grip that cannot be stripped. The ideas that hold it together are overextended cross-pant grip = underhook gap, drop the knee to lock chest-to-chest before knee slicing, and recover inside foot position before knee slicing.

The knee cut pass chain is a sequence of small controls, not one athletic burst. Slide the inside knee diagonally across the partner's belt line. Drive chest weight forward to flatten the partner. Trap the near arm to deny the underhook recovery. Use a hip switch to peel the foot from the hip with the same-side hand. Punch the underhook into the gap between the bottom player's overextended grip arm and ribs. Slide the inside knee to the mat as the underhook lands, transitioning to chest-to-chest. Lift the freed foot to hook between the bottom player's knees, then knee slice across with the other hand also underhooking. Underhook the trapped leg to lift it slightly off the hooks. Top player has driven the knee across the partner's torso into a knee-on-belly or side-control finish.

Later in the knee cut pass, use the back-step fake to set up the knee slice switch, underhook denial, and extend the opponent tend to decide whether the position stays on track. Watch for these mistakes: Sliding the knee without forward chest pressure, allowing a guard recovery. Trying to break the strong grip with two hands and getting passed-defended. Leaving the inside knee up after the underhook, allowing the bottom player to push back into the X. Not getting the foot to the inside before sliding the knee, which leaves the leg trapped. The high-percentage version of knee cut pass from single-leg x guard is the one you can still chain when the bottom player recovers a hook.