The Knee Slice is arguably the most effective way to pass half guard and has been used for years at the highest levels.
Whilst half guard is sometimes a tricky position to pass, if done correctly the Knee slice can open the guard and secure side control. Also known as the Knee cut pass, it involves sliding your knee through the bottom leg.
This pass has been used most effectively by the likes of Cobrinha, Romulo Barral and Lucas Lepri.
In short, the Knee Slice involves cutting through the leg of the opponent and slicing your knee on the floor. When done correctly, you should end up in side control with your opponent pinned.
Table of Contents
Setting up the Knee Slice
Starting in the top half guard, the top player must set up the correct grips before continuing. To do so they must first create an underhook on the opponent. This is vital as without it the pass can go horribly wrong. For instance, if the top player does eventually pass the legs without the underhook, the guard player can get the underhook and use this to take the back.
This is typically seen with newcomers who get overexcited whilst passing. Instead of taking time to secure the underhook, they slice the knee through and give their back. For the guard player, they have to do relatively little to get the back from this position as the passer effectively gives it up freely. With this in mind getting and keeping the underhook is of vital importance when doing the Knee slice.
It should also be known to have a good base whilst doing the Knee slice. Whilst in the position you should have your weight into your opponent and base out on your other leg. Sometimes people will base on their far knee instead of keeping on their toes. This is wrong as it relieves the opponent of your weight. With less weight on your opponent, they can use more energy due to being more comfortable; with this in mind, it may be easier for them to retain guard.
After getting the underhook, the next step is to attack the legs. Usually, the bottom players knee will be framed against you in Z guard. Whilst this is a problem, you should still be able to pressure through this knee will force. After this you should then pass the bottom leg. The idea here is to slide away from the opponent whilst moving forward. In doing so the legs are passed. Whilst maintaining the underhook you can now hold side control. In a competition setting, you would typically get 3 points for the pass when held for 3 seconds.
For a more powerful Knee slice you can also used your free hand. With the far hand, you can grab their nearside hand and pin it to the floor. This is often used in MMA as it stops the opponent from using their hand to try and recover. Not only this but whilst finishing the slice if you keep the hand pinned it keeps the opponent connected to the floor which makes it even harder for them to recover. Alternatively, you can use your free hand to push down their knee to begin with to open the legs up. This is also applicable in the Gi by getting a deep collar grip which also pins the opponent to the ground.
Submissions from the Knee Slice position
As you advance through BJJ, it is ideal to chain passes with submissions to keep the opponent guessing. One way of doing this is by setting up submissions whilst you pass. For example, in the gi you can untangle the opponent’s gi and thread it through their arm and put it behind their neck. This is done whilst hovering mid-Knee slice.
At this point you can opt to attack a cross collar choke or brabo. These submissions may cause the opponent to tap, or get them to panic and open their legs to defend. Either way, you will make progress by giving them an ultimatum.
Similarly, as you pass you can also set up a baseball choke by gripping into their collar after you have passed their leg and have their body pinned flat on the mat to avoid any back takes. Lastly, as you slice with a deep underhook, you can even pull the opponent up as passing onto their side. Once there you can transition into a north south Kimura or far side armbar, depending on your preference. Because of this, it’s safe to say that the Knee slice has many attacking possibilities.
Troubleshooting the problems with the Knee Slice
One key issue with the Knee slice pass is the correct placement of the leg whilst finalizing the position. Specifically, this pass can damage the knee if done wrong. The leg must remain straight whilst passing, otherwise it can lead to a self-inflicted knee reap. If your body and leg are leaning one way but the knee downwards is bent in a different direction then this is what causes the injury.
This is even more dangerous if the opponent locks their feet as a final attempt to keep the guard. With this in mind, it’s best to do the Knee slice slowly when starting out to avoid this mistake. If you go too quickly without realizing then it may be too late and in some cases the injury can even need surgery. Because of this, a botched Knee slice is a cause for many injuries in BJJ.
Another issue with the Knee slice is that the bottom player can sometimes defend by locking a late quarter guard. This term is when the passer’s foot is trapped by the opponent’s legs instead of the knee. Because of this, the quarter guard is often seen as a stalling position from the guard player and is usually a position of desperation. However, if inexperienced the top player can fail to pass the quarter guard which is frustrating.
To counter the quarter guard there are several options. The first option is to flatten the opponent out and go to mount. This is because the quarter guard position has no defense to the upper body of the guard player, unlike Z guard. With this in mind, you can keep the underhook and then with the free arm start cross facing the opponent. This will flatten the opponent’s back on the mat which is bad for the bottom player as it exposes most of their body. From there you can use the free foot to kick at their defending feet and free your trapped foot. With this done successfully you have then passed to mount.
Another quarter guard counter is to threaten chokes to engage the pass. As mentioned, the position fails as it allows attacks to the upper body. Often you can threaten a choke to open up the guard player. This can be Cross Collar or Brabo chokes in the Gi, or Guillotines and Anaconda chokes in Nogi. By attacking the neck the bottom player will often free their legs in an attempt to stop the submission. This can be used as a bait to open the guard and secure the pass; if they do not free their legs then you may even be able to successfully apply and finish the submission.
Final thoughts on the Knee Slice
In summary, the Knee cut is a great pass that should be taught to all new students of the sport. It is often seen in MMA and can be forced from open guard too. The only issue is acknowledging the underhook and keeping your knee safe whilst finishing the pass.
However, when combined with a variety of other passes, the Knee slice is very effective and can successfully unlock the trickiest of half guards. On that note, it’s always ideal to chain moves together rather than force one pass. Because of this the Knee slice is great early on, but is best as an advanced practitioner alongside other passes such as the long-step and smash pass.
