X-Pass
Guard pass · Open Guard
The X-pass takes you from standing in front of butterfly hooks to knee on belly or side control. The moment is when he sets butterfly hooks and tries to get under your weight. Stand in a wide base, knees bent, one hand on his knee or hip and the other on his pants or collar. From one foot inside his legs and one outside, shift your weight to the outside foot and kick the inside leg up and back high at his groin, not at the back of his knee, while your hand drives his leg down and across; land your foot beside his hip in knee on belly. Never step onto the hook: weight on his hooks is exactly what he sweeps with. It is a footwork-and-timing pass, close to the toreando, not a pressure pass. If he hooks your leg again, switch to the Toreando Pass; if he sits up into you, take the Front Headlock.
How to do it
- Stand in a wide base in front of their open guard, feet wide and knees bent, so their butterfly hooks cannot reach under your weight.
- Put one hand on their hip or knee and grip the pants with the other, or the collar, so you can steer their body.
- With one foot between their legs and one outside, shift your weight onto the outside foot (a small hop helps) and donkey-kick the inside leg up and back high at their groin, not at the back of the knee.
- At the same moment punch their leg down and across with the pants or knee grip, and land your foot next to their hip.
- Land in knee on belly rather than diving to side control, keeping their leg pulled up so they cannot plant the foot and shrimp; settle side control from there.
Key details
- A wide base: they cannot sweep what they cannot reach.
- Step over and away from the hook, never onto it, so your weight never sits on their hooks.
- Grip a knee and the collar to steer: you move their whole body, not just a foot.
- It is a standing pass close to the toreando: timing and footwork, not pressure.
- Bait it: start a knee cut or a folding pass, and when they drive their legs back to the centre, hit the X-pass.
Common mistakes
- Stepping into their hooks. — Stepping into the hooks puts your weight on them, and they sweep you. — Step over and away from the hook.
- A narrow base with straight legs. — A narrow base tips over with a small push. — Keep the feet wide and the knees bent while you pass.
- Hands only on their feet. — Holding only the feet, you cannot stop their legs from pushing you away. — Grip a knee and the collar so you steer their whole body.
- Kicking only at the back of their knee. — A low kick does not clear the leg, and a good guard follows and re-pummels your leg. — Kick up high at the groin and quad with your weight on the other foot.
How to drill it
X-pass against butterfly, 10 each side; then 1-minute rounds against butterfly hooks.
What comes next
Where it comes from