Kneebar From Over/Under Pass

Posted by Ismail Safi on February 07, 2019

The over under pass is an old school Jiu Jitsu guard pass that allows the top player to apply tremendous amounts of pressure against the bottom player. This pass works extremely well when grapplers get good at it and it can easily become the primary pass a grappler utilizes. One of the best grapplers to master this pass is Bernardo Faria in which he used it successfully to pass the guard of some of the most decorated guard players ever.

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Many grapplers associate the over under pass with larger and heavier grapplers. This pass, however, works well for grapplers of any side. What it does require, though, especially for smaller grapplers is understanding the technique for applying pressure. Ideally, we would want to shift all of our weight into one shoulder and use that to keep our opponent’s flat.

One of the best attributes of the over under pass, especially when compared to other pressure passes, is that it is easy to enter. To get into a position like double under, you would need to find your way under both legs of the guard player. The over under pass, however, can easily be transitioned to from butterfly guard or half guard with little resistance.

Just because the over under pass is great doesn’t mean it can’t be defended. One of the most common defenses to the over under pass is for the guard player to begin pushing off the top player’s shoulder or pushing their head to the side. Unbeknownst to the guard player, this is an excellent opportunity to attack a very under utilized knee bar. In the following video, Gordon Ryan illustrates how to attack this technique and finish a guard pass off of its defense.

When attacking the knee bar, its important to try to place your hips directly over the defender’s knee cap. If this is done correctly, the attacker can apply enough pressure to even break the knee through hyperextension. If not placed correctly, however, it will be difficult to leverage that necessary breaking power to get a tap. When trying to finish too, open your knees away from each other and thrust your hips down or else it won’t work well.

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