Executing the knee slice from butterfly half guard top requires a disciplined sequential approach that distinguishes it from a standard knee slice. The primary challenge is the butterfly hook, which acts as an active defensive mechanism capable of elevating and sweeping you if you attempt to slice without first neutralizing it. The pass demands that you solve three problems in order: kill the butterfly hook through hip pressure or direct control, establish dominant upper body position through crossface or underhook, and then execute the slicing motion with committed forward drive while maintaining chest connection. Rushing any step exposes you to sweeps from the butterfly hook or reguarding through the half guard trap. The successful passer treats this as a methodical progression rather than a single explosive movement, reading the bottom player’s defensive adjustments at each stage and adapting the passing angle accordingly.
From Position: Butterfly Half Guard (Top)
Key Attacking Principles
- Kill the butterfly hook before initiating the knee slice—attempting to slice over an active hook is the most common cause of failure and sweep
- Establish dominant upper body control through crossface or underhook before committing lower body to the slicing motion
- Maintain chest-to-chest connection throughout the slice to prevent the bottom player from inserting frames or recovering guard
- Drive the slicing knee diagonally across the thigh line using hip pressure, not just leg movement—the hip drives the knee
- Post the free leg wide with toes gripping the mat for base stability against sweep attempts during the transition
- Use sequential weight shifting rather than jumping into the pass—transfer pressure from butterfly hook control to the slicing motion progressively
- Arrive with your upper body first and let the lower body follow—head and shoulders establish side control before the legs finish clearing
Prerequisites
- Butterfly hook must be neutralized or controlled through hip pressure, shin pin, or direct hand control before beginning the slice
- Crossface or underhook established on the far side to prevent the bottom player from following your passing motion
- Half guard entanglement identified and weakened through preliminary pressure or angle adjustment
- Free leg posted wide with stable base on the mat to resist sweep attempts during the passing transition
- Bottom player’s upright posture broken or at minimum compromised so they cannot load the butterfly hook with full elevation power
Execution Steps
- Establish Upper Body Control: From butterfly half guard top, fight to establish a crossface by driving your shoulder into the bottom player’s jaw and turning their head away from the passing direction. Alternatively, secure an underhook on the butterfly hook side by threading your arm under their armpit. This upper body control must be in place before any lower body passing mechanics begin, as it prevents the bottom player from sitting up into a strong sweeping posture and limits their ability to follow your movement during the slice.
- Neutralize the Butterfly Hook: With upper body control established, address the butterfly hook by dropping your hip weight onto the hook side, collapsing the space the bottom player needs for elevation. Drive your hips low and forward, using your body weight to flatten their butterfly hook foot to the mat. You can reinforce this by placing your shin across their hook foot or using your free hand to push their knee down toward the mat. The hook is neutralized when the bottom player can no longer generate meaningful upward lift through their hooked leg.
- Position the Slicing Knee: With the butterfly hook controlled, angle your trapped leg so that the knee points diagonally across the bottom player’s body toward their far hip. Your knee should be positioned at the apex of their thigh line, ready to begin the slicing trajectory. Keep your shin tight against their inner thigh to prevent them from recovering the butterfly hook or switching to a knee shield frame during this transition. Your weight should be distributed forward through your chest and shoulders, not sitting back on your heels.
- Drive the Knee Across: Initiate the slice by driving your hip forward and down while your knee travels diagonally across the bottom player’s thigh. The power comes from hip extension, not from pushing with the knee alone. Simultaneously intensify your crossface pressure to pin their shoulders to the mat and prevent them from turning into you or recovering guard. Your free leg posts wide and drives forward to provide the engine for the slicing motion. Maintain constant chest-to-chest pressure throughout this phase to prevent any space from opening.
- Clear the Half Guard Entanglement: As your knee crosses the thigh line, the bottom player’s half guard grip will weaken. Use the momentum of the slice to free your trapped leg by windshield-wipering your foot out of their leg entanglement. Do not pull your foot straight back, as this creates space they can exploit for reguarding. Instead, circle your foot toward the mat on the far side while maintaining forward hip pressure. Your shin should scrape across their thigh as it clears, keeping constant contact rather than lifting away.
- Establish Side Control Frames: As your leg clears the entanglement, immediately establish side control grips by sliding your crossface arm deeper under their head and placing your far arm either in an underhook position or controlling their near hip. Your chest should already be connected to their chest from the slicing motion. Spread your legs wide with toes on the mat to create a stable base. Drop your hip weight onto their torso to prevent any bridge or hip escape attempts during the consolidation.
- Consolidate Side Control: Complete the pass by settling your full weight into side control position. Adjust your hip placement so your near hip is blocking their ability to turn into you, and your far hip is low to prevent them from inserting a knee. Tighten your crossface to control their head position and limit their defensive movement. Walk your feet toward their head slightly to angle your body perpendicular to theirs, maximizing pressure distribution. The pass is complete when you have stable chest-to-chest connection with controlled head position and no remaining leg entanglement.
Possible Outcomes
| Result | Position | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Success | Side Control | 50% |
| Failure | Half Guard | 20% |
| Failure | Butterfly Half Guard | 15% |
| Counter | Half Guard | 15% |
Opponent Counters
- Bottom player elevates with butterfly hook during slice initiation (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Immediately drop hips low and sprawl weight back onto the hook to kill the elevation. If the sweep is already in motion, post your far hand wide and circle to the non-butterfly side to redirect their momentum. Re-establish upper body control before reattempting the slice. → Leads to Butterfly Half Guard
- Bottom player hip escapes and inserts knee shield frame (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Transition to a smash pass by dropping your weight onto the knee shield and driving it flat. Alternatively, backstep around the knee shield by reversing direction and stepping your free leg behind their knee shield to enter from a new angle. Do not try to force the knee slice through a fully established knee shield. → Leads to Half Guard
- Bottom player secures underhook and drives to dogfight position (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Immediately whizzer the underhook arm by threading your arm over their bicep and clamping down with your elbow. Drive your weight onto their shoulder through the whizzer to flatten them back to the mat. If they achieve full dogfight, disengage the knee slice and re-establish top position through crossface pressure before reattempting. → Leads to Half Guard
- Bottom player dives underneath to deep half guard (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Immediately sprawl your hips back to prevent them from getting fully underneath you. Control their far shoulder with a whizzer or crossface and work to flatten them by driving your hip into their face side. If they achieve deep half, transition to the deep half guard passing sequence rather than forcing the knee slice from a compromised angle. → Leads to Butterfly Half Guard
- Bottom player grabs your slicing leg ankle and redirects your knee path (Effectiveness: Low) - Your Response: Strip the ankle grip by circling your foot away from their hand while maintaining forward hip drive. The forward pressure of the slice combined with your upper body control makes ankle grips alone insufficient to stop the pass. If they persist, use your free hand to break the grip and immediately resume the slicing motion before they can establish a stronger frame. → Leads to Half Guard
Test Your Knowledge
Q1: What must happen to the butterfly hook before you can safely initiate the knee slice motion? A: The butterfly hook must be completely neutralized through hip pressure, shin pin, or direct hand control before beginning the slice. You verify neutralization by testing whether the bottom player can generate meaningful upward lift through the hooked leg. If any elevation potential remains, the hook will catch your forward momentum during the slice and convert it into a sweep. Treat hook neutralization as a mandatory prerequisite that must be confirmed before advancing to the slicing phase.
Q2: Your opponent elevates with the butterfly hook as you begin the knee slice—how do you adjust? A: Immediately abort the slice and address the hook. Drop your hips low and sprawl your weight back onto the butterfly hook side to kill the elevation. Post your far hand wide on the mat to create a base point against the sweep direction. If the elevation has significant momentum, circle toward the non-butterfly side while maintaining shoulder pressure to redirect their sweeping force. Only reattempt the slice after re-establishing both upper body control and hook neutralization.
Q3: What is the correct trajectory of the slicing knee during execution? A: The knee travels diagonally across the bottom player’s thigh line, moving from inside to outside while angling toward their far hip. The power comes from hip extension driving forward and down, not from pushing the knee independently. The shin maintains constant contact with the bottom player’s inner thigh throughout the slice, scraping across rather than lifting away. This diagonal path with continuous contact prevents the bottom player from inserting frames or recovering guard during the slicing motion.
Q4: The bottom player inserts a knee shield as you begin the slice—what options do you have? A: You have three primary options when a knee shield appears. First, transition to a smash pass by dropping your hip weight directly onto the knee shield to flatten it and drive through with heavy pressure. Second, backstep by reversing your slicing leg behind their knee shield to attack from a new angle on the opposite side. Third, maintain crossface pressure and work to strip the knee shield by pushing their knee toward the mat with your hand before re-initiating the slice. Forcing the knee slice through an established knee shield is the least effective option.
Q5: What grip or control must be established on the far side before committing to the slice? A: A crossface driving your shoulder into the bottom player’s jaw to turn their head away from the passing direction is the primary control. The crossface prevents them from following your movement, sitting up into sweep posture, or turning to insert defensive frames. Alternatively, an underhook on the butterfly hook side that controls their far shoulder provides similar upper body dominance. Without either of these controls, the bottom player retains enough mobility to counter the slice through head following, underhook establishment, or posture recovery.
Q6: Where should your weight be distributed during the slicing motion? A: Weight should be distributed forward through your chest and shoulders into the bottom player’s torso, creating constant chest-to-chest pressure. Your hips drive the slice forward and down while remaining as low as possible to prevent space creation. The free leg carries minimal weight but posts wide for base stability. Avoid sitting back on your heels or rising up above the bottom player—both errors create space that enables defensive reactions. Think of your body weight flowing through your chest onto their chest, with the hip as the engine driving everything forward.
Q7: Your opponent secures a deep underhook and begins coming up to a dogfight position during your slice—how do you respond? A: Immediately apply a whizzer by threading your arm over their underhook bicep and clamping your elbow tight to your ribs. Drive your bodyweight down onto their shoulder through the whizzer to flatten them back to the mat. If they achieve full dogfight before you can whizzer, disengage the knee slice entirely and work to re-flatten them using crossface and hip pressure before reattempting. Do not continue the knee slice against a fully established dogfight—the underhook gives them enough mechanical advantage to sweep or take the back.
Q8: What is the role of the free leg during the knee slice execution? A: The free leg serves as both the engine and the stabilizer for the pass. It posts wide on the mat with toes gripping for traction, providing the base stability necessary to resist sweep attempts from the remaining half guard entanglement or any residual butterfly hook pressure. During the slicing phase, the free leg drives forward to power the hip extension that propels the slicing knee across the thigh line. The wider the free leg posts, the more lateral stability you maintain against counter-sweep attempts during the vulnerable transition moment.
Q9: The bottom player transitions to deep half guard as you attempt the knee slice—what is your counter? A: Immediately sprawl your hips back to prevent them from getting fully underneath your center of gravity. Control their far shoulder with a crossface or whizzer to limit their ability to complete the deep half entry. If they achieve deep half, abandon the knee slice and transition to deep half guard passing by establishing a whizzer and working to flatten them with shoulder pressure while walking your hips away. The key is early recognition—if you catch the deep half attempt during initiation, the sprawl alone often kills it.
Q10: How do you properly extract your trapped foot after the knee has crossed the thigh line? A: Windshield-wiper your foot by circling it toward the mat on the far side rather than pulling it straight backward. The foot traces an arc that maintains constant contact with their legs, preventing any space from opening during extraction. Simultaneously maintain forward hip pressure so that the extraction does not create the backward momentum the bottom player needs to reguard. If the half guard grip is exceptionally tight, use your free hand to push their top knee down while you circle the foot free, but never sacrifice chest-to-chest pressure to reach for the leg.
Safety Considerations
When drilling the knee slice from butterfly half guard, exercise caution with the lateral pressure your slicing knee applies to the bottom player’s inner thigh and knee joint. Excessive force or incorrect angle during the slice can stress the MCL and meniscus of the bottom player’s trapped leg. Control your speed during the slicing phase, especially when the bottom player’s leg is entangled and cannot move freely. The crossface should apply firm but controlled pressure—avoid driving forcefully into the jaw or neck in a way that could cause cervical spine discomfort. Both partners should communicate about pressure levels throughout the drill. During live sparring, be particularly aware of knee position when the bottom player is actively defending, as unexpected directional changes can create dangerous twisting forces on trapped joints. If the bottom player taps or verbally indicates discomfort at any point during the pass, release pressure immediately.