27/02/2013 - Private: More Knee Cut Pass

Class #489 - Private #004
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 27/02/2013

This time round, Liam joined in on the private. Dónal was finishing off another private when we arrived, which meant we had some time to drill the technique in advance. It was useful to get a chance to work it with a bit more resistance, especially with somebody more experienced like Liam. For the actual private, I wanted to continue with the knee cut pass, working on dealing with people who have longer legs (prompted by Miles the day before ;D).

We ran through the details from before: immediately squat down, like you're a weightlifter preparing to get that bar up (a little like what Lovato Jr calls the 'headquarters' position). Grip on the trousers by the shin, step in with the other leg and grab the collar, bringing their shoulders off the mat. Dónal emphasised again the importance of having that collar elbow inside your knee, to avoid them attacking with omoplatas and the like. The difference this time was when you come to shove that leg between yours after lifting your leg. They manage to keep their foot 'sticky', either because they're just good at keeping that grip or they have long legs.

To deal with that (you can use the same technique if they've already managed to stretch you out), switch from the trouser grip to their ankle, using the 'v' of your fingers and thumb. Shove the leg down, then straight away return to your crouch and sit on their foot. Dónal called this the 'gorilla' pose. Ideally your want to sit on their toes, to reduce their lifting power. To reduce it even further, push their ankle to the side, so it is under your leg rather than your tail bone. If you can push their knee across in the same direction using your chest, so much the better.

At this point you can get back to the pass. You're going to have to raise up slightly, but be careful you don't raise too much. You don't want them getting a leg back in: keep bracing their non-trapped leg with your elbow, blocking any efforts to bring the leg in. Move your foot to their tail bone, then drag them over to the side to continue the pass like before.

Dónal had some more details to emphasise here. If you like to go for the underhook and grip the back, as I do, use your elbow to initially open up the space. You already have a grip on their collar, so while maintaining that, you can put your elbow on their ribs. That should enable you to then pivot on your elbow as you circle your arm around for the underhook. If you try to just go for the underhook, you're at risk of their arm reaching under first, which is a battle you don't want to get into.

Don't forget to pressure your head into their shoulder, as if you can flatten their shoulders to the mat you'll again have a much easier time passing. If you want to underhook their other arm too, reach under it palm up. If you try going palm down, your anatomy won't let you bring your elbow in as close, which results in a gap for them to exploit. Palm up, you can bring your elbow tight to their side leaving no space. Finish off with the same push back with your hips and adjustment into side control.