The Knee Slice Passing System

Passing SystemFoundationsCONCEPT-PAS-KNEE-SLICE-SYSTEMSlice the knee through the centreline — the cleanest pressure pass in no-gi

The knee slice (also called the knee cut) drives the passing-side knee diagonally across the bottom player’s centreline, slicing the inside of the bottom player’s near thigh until the passing knee lands on the floor on the far side of their hip. The mechanic is a diagonal weight-transfer: the passer’s body weight rolls from one side of the bottom player’s hip to the other, ending in a top-side position with the bottom player’s hip pinned beneath the passer’s hip.

The knee slice is the no-gi pressure pass — it works without a single grip on the gi because the structural compression travels through bone-on-bone leg contact rather than through fabric. The passer’s underhook on the slicing side and the same-side cross face are the upper-body grips; the slicing knee is the lower-body engine. The underhook plus cross face plus knee slice is the canonical configuration; missing any one leaves the bottom player a frame to escape with.

clear the feetGuard passing requires neutralising the bottom player’s hooks, frames, and grips before crossing the hip line.

The knee slice neutralises the bottom player’s near-side leg by pinning it beneath the passing knee. The cross face neutralises the near-side frame. The underhook neutralises the inside-grip recovery. With all three neutralised, the hip line is crossable — without them, the bottom player retains a frame that denies the slice.

hold the knee linePressure passes use weight transfer through the bottom player’s hip to compromise their base.

The knee slice is the textbook expression of this invariant. The passing knee transfers the passer’s weight diagonally across the bottom player’s near hip, compressing it into the floor and denying the bridge that would normally recover guard. The slice is not a leg movement; it is a hip-weight-transfer using the leg as the lever.

connection eliminates spaceBody-to-body connection eliminates structural space and transfers weight.

The knee slice’s success depends on chest-to-chest connection at the moment the knee crosses the hip. Without the connection, the slice creates space — the bottom player elbow-escapes back to half guard. The cross face and underhook create the connection; the slice transfers the weight that connection makes possible.

break the connectionsPass completion requires landing in a stable top position, not just clearing the legs.

A knee slice that clears the legs but lands in a scramble has not completed the pass. The slice resolves into mount, side control, or knee-on-belly — each is a stable terminal pin. The slicing motion includes the landing position; passing without committing to the landing concedes the recovery to the bottom player.

PAS-KNEE-CUTKnee Cut PassThe canonical pass — knee through the centreline, underhook plus cross face.

PAS-LEG-DRAGLeg DragLateral-knee variant — drag the leg across, hip down on the far side.