Greetings, good denizens of the webiverse. Perhaps you’ve felt like the collection of moves we’ve covered is great for the middle of a BJJ bout, but starting the match still a little tricky. Well, good news: today we’re looking at a pair of ways to pass your opponent’s (open) guard. This isn’t exactly a first; you may recall our two-part look at the Over/Under Pass (Pt. 1 / Pt. 2). On the docket now are the Double Under Pass and the Double Over Pass.

There are definitely similarities between the two passes. In both cases, your goal is to get your opponent’s weight off his feet and push him backwards. And, in both cases, you’ll maintain control of your opponent’s legs throughout the move in order to ultimately get past them. What differentiates these passes is how you control the legs. Let’s have a look.

The Double Under Pass (A Stack Pass)

The Double Under’s name comes from the fact that you’ll have your arms under your opponent’s legs. That’s as opposed to the Double Over, where – you guessed it – your arms will be over his legs. Here’s how it works:

1. Tip your opponent backwards. You’ll use one hand to push your opponent’s forehead backwards and your other hand to grab and lift his forward ankle. The combination of these moves should force your opponent to rock backwards.
2. Scoop both arms under your opponent’s thighs. Tilting your opponent back ought to give you the opening to get under both thighs, and it’s so important that you do. Remember, if you only get one arm under, you’re essentially hurling yourself into a triangle choke.
3. Drive forward, lock your hands, keep your posture. Push into your opponent’s legs, immediately; if you get his hips off the ground and keep him balled up, you rob the power from his legs. Locking your hands helps you maintain control of his legs, and keeping your posture up is essential to keeping your neck safe (see video).
4. Stack your opponent. You’ll essentially fold your opponent in on himself. By posting up on your toes and pushing forward, you can put all your weight into your opponent’s legs, thereby keeping his thighs crunched close to his chest.
5. Stay Heavy and Pass the legs. Turn your head to look in the direction that you want your opponent’s legs to drop. Pull his legs with one hand, and sneak your head out from between them. At no point should you try to raise your chest to pass the legs; that’ll only give your opponent a chance to get his legs back.
6. Settle into side control.

The Double Over Pass

The Double Over Pass involves a lot of the same principles but applied differently. It’s something like this:

1. Close the distance. As before, you’ll want to push your opponent backwards.This time, you’ll do it by bumping your shoulder into his gut. Alignment-wise, this’ll also put your ear at your opponent’s hip.
2. Wrap your arms over your opponent’s legs. Slice your pinky fingers along your opponent’s knees to get inside. Your shoulders will wind up over your opponent’s thighs. Clasp your hands as shown at right.
3. Squeeze and lift his legs. The shoulder bump combined with the leg lift ought to dump your opponent right on his back. Keeping his legs pinched together will make it much harder for your opponent to use them offensively or defensively.
4. Keep control of the legs and pass them. Don’t let go of the legs, as that’ll give your opponent a window to regain control. Instead, keep them pinched and elevated until your hips are comfortably past them. Needless to say, your head and hips should end up on opposite sides of your opponent’s body.
5. Settle into side control.

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