Counter The Knee Slice And Transition To Deep Half With Tom DeBlass

 

The knee slice pass is one of the most common ways to get around the guard in BJJ. In fact, it may be the most common pass in the entire game. It's easy to see why. With the knee slice you can penetrate your training partners guard in a variety of ways, using your knee to lead the charge. This is historically effective, and when done properly, very hard to stop. With the popularity of the technique continuously rising, the responses to this particular type of passing have also continued to grow in number. 

One of these great answers to the knee slice pass is to transition into the deep half guard. As the passer begins slicing through the guard there are often openings to transition to the deep half if we can cause some disruption in the passing process. 

Deep half guard is as fun as it is effective. Its an incredibly versatile position and once you become proficient at entering and controlling in the position, it’s an absolute blast to work from. The off-balancing possibilities from deep half are endless. With the passers weight completely loaded up on top of your body, they have to be careful navigating the position and there are dangers at every turn. 

So, what’s the best route to the deep half from an attempted knee slice? Tom DeBlass is here to map out this exciting transition for us today in this next video. With the release of his newest instructional, Deep Half Domination, DeBlass is giving us a look at one of the great extensions of his incredible half guard game. DeBlass’s half guard is legendary and his deep half game is just as sharp. Take a look at this! 

 

As DeBlass explains, if you’re getting your guard passed with the knee slice, there’s probably an issue you’re not addressing. One of these issues is the advancement of the passer’s knee. As they begin to cut through and look to connect their knee to the floor, we must react. If that knee is allowed to make contact with the mat, it may be too late. 

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This is where DeBlass begins. As his partner begins to penetrate through with his knee, DeBlass reaches under his own leg and secure his partners achilles tendon, just above the knee. This control allows DeBlass to keep the passer at bay and makes it very difficult for the top player to continue moving forward. DeBlass is careful to defend the under-hook space here. He lets his arm ride across his upper body, keeping this space closed off. An under hook here would surely disrupt the entire process and make things much easier for the guard passer.

DeBlass now looks to get his partner’s head above his own, which you’ll find is a general rule for reversing and transitioning here. To do this, DeBlass uses his top leg, particularly his knee to bump his partner from the backside which causes the passer to move forward. As this forward movement occurs, DeBlass now has access to reach in with his top arm and secure his partners shin. His bottom leg now replaces his grip on the achilles. He couples this with a shift of the hips, that runs his body in the opposite direction and begins guiding the top player in to the deep half guard. 

There is the slight chance here that you could achieve a reversal here during the transition into the deep half guard. This is more likely in the earlier stages of a match before things get slippery. As DeBlass explains, you’ll find the slicker things are, the smoother the transition will be and the less likely a sweep will occur. But of course, if the reversal takes shape, we’ll take it!

This is an incredibly smooth transition from a very common scenario. There’s not a guard passer on earth that doesn’t have the knee slice in their arsenal. Quite honestly, the early stages of this technique alone are just as important as the transition itself. The method in which DeBlass secures the leg and keeps it from making contact with the floor is worth its weight in gold. This is a central problem of defending a knee slice pass and DeBlass has provided us with a phenomenal answer to this issue. 

Get to know the deep half guard and start putting it to work in your game. You may find that it becomes one of your favorite platforms to reverse, transition and attack. If you’re already a fan, don’t miss the highly anticipated Deep Half Guard Domination By Tom DeBlass.

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