De la Riva Pass Barnyard Cat

In this video I show an aggressive flop pass. This is a very competitive pass that pairs well with a lot of other open guard passes. It takes some practice with the timing and the pathway for the legs but once you have drilled it, this pass is highly effective.

One of the things that I had to stress during the class is the pathway for the leg that is on the outside. This pass is NOT a Back Step or Long Step. If you do it this way (and it looks very similiar) then you will find that your opponent can turn their knees towards you and you may find yourself in guard a lot. Rather than it being a back step, make it about the pathway of the outside leg behind the knee behind the knee pit.

I included a short collection of my students practicing the movement and you will see that there are people of all belt rank practicing this and they all have various levels of hip movement. You should really strive to flair the hips but not in the backstep motion.

lastly, you will have to kill your own posture to be able to do this effectively. Notice that I lean my head forward and bring the trunk of my body parallel with the shin. This helps greatly and is not talked about in the video.