Kit Dale Background & Techniques

Who is Kit Dale?

Kit Dale is the most accomplished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor to come out of Australia.  He received his black belt in a mere 4 years.  Kit attributes his rapid progression to black belt to the fact that he focused on concepts as opposed to specific techniques.  Not only was he focused on a conceptual approach but he also trained all the time every day.  The combination of these 2 things made him accelerate at a fast pace. 

Not only did Kit receive his black belt in just 4 years but he also managed to solidify himself as a world class competitor by winning several big tournaments and competing on big stages like Metamoris and Fight to Win Pro.  Kit has a very diverse game and he can do it all.  Kit prefers to play on top and pass the guard but he can also play guard, do takedowns, submits, and do anything.  Kit is not a huge guy, although he is strong and very well built, he does not exercise his athleticism when he performs.  He is very methodical and technical. 

He received his black belt by multiple time world champion Yuri Simoes in 2013 after training in jiu jitsu for only 4 years. This puts him among the fastest people to ever receive a black belt in BJJ, especially considering he had never trained in any form of jiu-jitsu or grappling in general before this.  

Kit Dale has competed and won BJJ and no gi competitions at the highest level in Australia, Japan, Abu Dhabi, U.S.A, Brazil, London and many more. He has won competitions at all belts including the Abu Dhabi World Pro, Brazilian nationals and the Australian Cup. In 2017 he made it to the Quarter Finals in the IBJJF World Championships 

Not only is Kit one of the best Brazilian jiu jitsu athletes in the world, he is also one of the best coaches. He has travelled to over 20 countries teaching seminars and jiu jitsu camps.

Kit Dale prefers to play top, working takedowns and then passing the guard. He utilizes the over under guard pass series by Bernardo Faria as one of this main guard passing systems.

LEARN MORE

Kit Dale BJJ Techniques

Today we are going to look at one of his passes that Kit loves to use and has had success with at the highest levels of competition.  This pass is for open guard and they will work on a number of different guards.  Kit's known for his methodical approach of passing the guard. This is one of this favorite jiu jitsu guard passes.

Kit Dale’s Shuffle Pass

The shuffle pass is one of the simplest passes for somebody to learn and when you get good at it you can apply it from several different guards.  The shuffle pass has long been executed successfully at the highest levels.  Ultimately what differentiates a high level shuffle pass from a mediocre one is the timing.  You have to use the proper timing with this technique.  Kit has a unique approach to the way that he does this movement and it is excellent.  Kit is no stranger to high level details so let’s take a look below at his shuffle pass.

So as you can see above the pass is not some crazy movement that requires a lot of strength and athleticism.  The pass can be done by anybody and that is why we love this move. Although the pass is simple Kit gave us a lot of vital details.

The first thing to note is his posture.  Kit demonstrated this pass from the De La Riva guard and when he is in the guard he keeps his knees bent, and he keeps the forward posture.  This posture puts weight on your opponent’s chest and hip so they can’t get up for sit up sweeps and stuff, this posture also alleviates pressure on the De La Riva hook.  Another thing to not is that Kit is able to do this pass while his opponent has the collar grip which is HUGE.

If you have ever gone against a really good open guard player they will get the collar and never let go and if you do succeed in breaking the grip, they will just re-grip.  The next thing that Kit does besides his posture is put one hand on the top of the knee and the other right by their ribs, this keeps their hip mobility limited.

After Kit has his grips and his posture established he steps over the free leg (not the de la riva hook).  This is super important because it puts him into a one in and one out position.  One in one out is one of the most popular passing positions when you are passing standing.  Basically it is a position where one of your legs is in between theirs and the other is on the outside.  This will allow you to connect several passes like the shuffle pass, the knee slide, the circle pass, the x pass, and many more. 

Now that Kit has established his posture, his grips, and manages to get into the one in one out position, he is ready to pass.  One thing to note is that the best way to stuff the free leg and step over it is to grab the ankle and push it in between your legs like Kit did above.  This leg can be heavy and very difficult to move so controlling the ankle is imperative.

The pass is actually the easy part, the difficulties lye in getting your grips, posture and one in one out.  With this position you can pass almost any open guard.  Reverse De La riva, Collar and Sleeve, butterfly guard, and more.  The last step kit takes and one of the most important is that he pushes his opponent’s knee down as he does a side step and uses his rib grip to pull them.  What this does is it takes one of their shoulders off of the mat and turns them on their hip (like hip escape position).  This severely limits your opponent’s movement, they will likely try to put a half guard or Z guard if they even have time.  They can no longer play dynamic open guards when they are on their hip like this.

Now that Kit has established posture, grips, one in one out, and forced them onto their side, he will not kick his leg out as he redirects their hip by pushing on their knee.  He is kicking the leg that they had a de la riva hook on out and around and at the same time he does this he pushes their knee away and puts forward pressure.  Pushing the knee and staying on the toes, Kit is able to force them on their side but this time to the other direction.  So originally their right shoulder was on the mat and when he finishes it their left shoulder is on the mat and their butt is facing you, so they may turtle exposing their back.

We know it is a lot of details for a pass that seems so simple but this is what segregates the high level guys.  Let’s review, Kit established posture, grips and one in out, he forced them onto their right shoulder and kicked his leg out and around, pushed on their knee and forced them onto their left shoulder to solidify the pass.  He is doing so many things and constantly moving their hips. 

Moving their hips from left to right is so important because you keep control of their hip mobility and limit it.  He turns him away from him to solidify because his opponent wants to turn into him to retain guard.

Bernardo Faria is the master of the over under passing system. I mean... come on, he's a 5x Black Belt World Champion and master of the pressure pass. In fact he actually shares with you his system for smashing with the over under grip and his pressure passing system that requires athleticism, strength, or energy. You easily and confidently destroy every guard with simple guard passing concepts and pressure, its all about the pressure baby!!

BUY NOW