Move of the Day
Knee Cut Pass
Part of the blue belt hub.
Split the guard, pin the far hip, and walk your knee through to side control.
The knee cut (knee slice) is the workhorse pass of modern gi and no-gi. You do not smash through both legs. You isolate one, staple the far hip, and slide your cutting knee to the mat on the far side while your trailing knee stays connected.
Blue belts collect guards. The people who start winning rounds collect a pass. Closed guard, De La Riva, a lazy half — the knee cut is the first pass that works against most of them if the grips and the far-hip pin are honest. You are not trying to smash through both legs. You are splitting the guard so one shin becomes a wall and the other leg becomes a problem they cannot refill.
The pass dies in two places: the underhook they take on your cutting-side hip, and the far hip you forgot to staple. If they underhook that hip, you are about to get swept or taken to the back. If the far hip is empty, they shrimp and the guard comes back. Everything else — the slide, the chest, the long-step — is in service of those two pins.
Pair this with the collar drag. Same week, opposite job: one pass you trust, one path to the back from sitting. That is already a blue-belt game. The daily letter will rotate the rest.
The steps
- 01From standing or combat base, get a strong cross-face or far-side collar and a grip on the near hip or pants.
- 02Step your cutting knee over their bottom thigh so your shin splits their legs.
- 03Drop your hip and long-step the trailing leg back to kill their underhook.
- 04Drive the cutting knee to the far hip, chest toward their far shoulder.
- 05Clear the bottom leg, settle your hip, and lock side control before they shrimp.
Details that matter
- If they underhook your cutting-side hip, you are about to get swept. Kill that underhook first.
- Look at their far ear, not at the legs you are passing. Your chest follows your eyes.
- Do not rush the slide. Pin the hip, then cut. Loose hips refill the guard.
- The trailing knee stays connected. If it floats, they insert a hook and you start over.
Common mistakes
Sliding before the far hip is pinned
You jump the knee through and they shrimp the guard back on. Staple the far hip with your hand or your chest first. The cut is the second move, not the first.
Giving up the cutting-side underhook
If their hand is behind your cutting hip, stop the pass and kill that underhook — long-step, whizzer, or back out to combat base. A knee cut into an underhook is a sweep you volunteered for.
Looking at the legs you are passing
Your chest follows your eyes. If you stare at their knees, you stay square and light. Look at the far ear. Drive your chest toward that shoulder.
Floating the trailing knee
The back knee is what stops the hook. Keep it connected to their bottom thigh until the cutting knee is on the mat and your hip has settled. Then clear.
Celebrating the slide instead of locking side control
The pass is not done when the knee hits the mat. Clear the bottom leg, settle the hip, cross-face. If you pause on a high knee, they shrimp and you donated the position back.
60 seconds drill
Pin, cut, settle
Partner on their back with a light open guard — one shin across, not a lock. You start in combat base with a cross-face and a near-hip grip.
- 01On go: pin the far hip, step the cutting knee over the bottom thigh, long-step the trailing leg, slide to the far hip.
- 02Freeze when your hip is settled in side control — not when the knee first touches. That is one rep.
- 03Partner recovers to the starting open guard. Repeat.
- 04Count settled side controls in 60 seconds. Last ten seconds they may take the underhook once; practice killing it instead of ripping the pass.
Phone walkthroughs will land on the BJJ Everyday YouTube when they are filmed. The written steps above are the complete drill.
FAQ
- Knee cut or smash pass?
- Knee cut when you can isolate one leg and pin the far hip. Smash (over-under, folding, body lock) when they have both hooks or a tight closed guard you cannot split. At blue, own the knee cut first; smash is a different week.
- What if they have De La Riva on the cutting leg?
- Kill the DLR hook before you cut — circle the knee, hide the heel, or strip the sleeve so the hook dies. Cutting into a live DLR hook is how you get swept. The De La Riva page on this site is the other side of that exchange.
- Does this change in no-gi?
- The hip pin is the same. Cross-face becomes a chest-to-face or an underhook on the far arm; the pants grip becomes a wrist or an ankle. You have to settle faster because they shrimp without gi friction. Still: pin, then cut.
- Why do I keep getting put on my back?
- Usually the cutting-side underhook, or you leaned after a loose hip. Long-step the trailing leg, keep your head on the far side of their spine, and do not chase the slide if the underhook is already in.
- Where does this sit on the blue-belt list?
- It is the pass in the game cluster — with the collar drag, the De La Riva sweep, and the triangle. One email a morning on the Blue list rotates those, then the rest of the rank.
Related moves
- Collar Drag to the Back
Yank the collar past you, take the angle, and climb onto the back in one beat.
- De La Riva to Technical Stand-Up Sweep
Hook the lead leg, off-balance the passer, and stand up on top of their base.
- Triangle from Closed Guard
Isolate one arm, climb the legs, and finish with angle — not calf strength.
Daily letter
Get tomorrow's version of this
Blue-belt letters stay on a small game — the knee cut, the collar drag, and a guard that scores.
Prefers the Blue list. Same form, belt already selected.