DLR is my jam, and (not surprisingly) the open guard I'm most comfortable passing.

To kill the DLR hook:
* Straighten your leg aggressively to break the hook, as you would break a grapevine. * Bend the knee again, and turn it outwards into their kneepit so they can't re-hook the DLR.

Dealing with the non-DLR leg:
* This leg is used for tracking, and keeping distance. Keep that in mind when dealing with it. * Make them extend the leg beyond a 90 degree angle, and it's much weaker. * Stuff it to their butt, like a butterfly hook, and you'll also neutralize it. Use a C-grip (thumb out) on the top of their foot to keep it at their butt. * Your outside hand should stay on that foot/shin, and monitor/guide it. * A slight step back, and then squaring back up, is enough to either force them to follow (extending their leg) or to free the post so you can stuff it to their butt.

Establish a base:
* Now that you've passed their legs, you can deal with their hips. * Square up with them, keeping your base low. The stance should feel like a half-squat. * Pull the collar grip in until your elbow is in the pocket by your own same-side hip, forearm running along the thigh (inside or outside - feel it out, both have pros and cons). * Your arm, leg, and torso should form a solid wall, so they can't bring that leg over, or shove a knee in the way. * Their back is probably just off the mats, which means their main (or only) point of contact with the mats is their butt cheek. This will neutralize a lot of movement, like shrimping, etc. * (No-gi warning: The wall works, but don't try to pull them in by the head with a clinch to replace the collar grip. It's too extended, you'll get armbarred/omoplata'd) * Your non-DLR hand should continue monitoring their outside leg. I prefer keeping it stuffed to their butt. * You should be able to establish this position in a very stable manner, just inside their guard. It's very worth drilling this a lot, and asking your partner to rock your base or try to re-establish an open guard/free their non-DLR leg.

Passing (My system, YMMV):
* * Check out Jason Scully's breakdown of Rafa Mendes' passing. The Mendes Bros are where I built most of this system from. * Primary pass: Knee Cut to the non-DLR side. * Some styles will knee cut by going up the center line (imagine a vertical line down the center of your partner, between their eyes, down their sternum, etc), then cutting to the side. * I prefer the "Williams Whip", but I don't know of a video. I've bugged Shawn Williams a few times, he's always said "Coming soon". :P * If they kick their non-DLR leg out to free it, leg drag. * You can use the momentum to Torreando/X-Pass as well, depending on the angle. * If they bring the DLR knee in front (Z-Guard, attempting to knee shield): * First off, recognize that your wall from "Establish a base" failed. Correct this in the future - it shouldn't happen. * Leg Weave pass (I actually love this pass, so sometimes I bait it) * If they loop the DLR leg over for Lasso/foot on shoulder * Shrug it off to the inside, not back out. The Shrug should resemble rolling/dropping your shoulder in a crossface. * Pass to the outside (ie: Reverse direction from conventional leg weave pass). Your hand monitoring their non-DLR foot becomes the point of control on their legs * I often convert this to a wrestler's cradle, or at least cupping the top of their bottom thigh, and straight arming to keep their top leg smashed/away. * If they free the non-DLR leg, and try to use it as a "wrong-side knee shield" * Pull the knee towards you, then smash it towards their other knee. Don't do it diagonally - they're much stronger this way. * Parachute pass aka Smash Pass aka a brazilian other names. See the link. There's a number of ways to do it, but the direction & pressure is important, not how you smash the legs in the first place.

/steps off soapbox, take a deep breath and shakes his hands out before apologizing to the missus again for using her as an uke at 1 AM.