How is the Double Under Pass entered and executed?

The entry begins from a kneeling position inside the guard, where the passer drops their chest onto the opponent's thighs and threads both arms underneath. The passer then grips the lapels or belt, drives the chest forward, and walks the knees up toward the opponent's shoulders to stack them before dropping to side control or knee-on-belly.

Why is the Double Under Pass effective against larger opponents?

The technique works better against larger opponents because they have less hip mobility to escape the stack. The mechanical lever rewards committed forward pressure, allowing the passer to neutralize the opponent's size advantage, a strategy famously used by Bernardo Faria against opponents twenty to thirty pounds heavier.

What are common defensive counters to the Double Under Pass?

Defenders can counter the pass by establishing strong frames against the passer's biceps before the underhook completes, spinning to a knee-shield half guard, snake-rolling out the back to reverse position, or attacking a triangle from the stacked configuration.

What are common mistakes to avoid when performing the Double Under Pass?

Common mistakes include threading only one arm, walking forward without first folding the legs upward, releasing lapel grips as the legs drop, attempting the pass from a high posture, and failing to consolidate side control immediately upon landing.

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DOUBLE UNDER PASS

Passagem com Duas por Baixo

In Short

The Double Under Pass is a pressure-passing technique where the passer threads both arms under the opponent's thighs, grips the lapels, and walks the legs up to stack the opponent's body. It is particularly effective against larger opponents due to reduced hip mobility and requires significant grip strength and forward pressure to execute successfully.

Also known as: Double Unders, Stack Variation

The double under pass is the pressure-passing technique in which the passer threads both arms under the opponent's thighs from inside the guard, grips the opponent's lapels or belt with both hands, and walks the legs up while stacking the bottom player's body onto itself. Bernardo Faria built much of his five-time IBJJF World Championship career around this single technique, and his instructional series on it became one of the most-watched passing tutorials of the 2010s.

The entry is established from a kneeling position inside an open or partially-opened closed guard. The passer drops the chest forward onto the opponent's thighs, threads both arms underneath, and grips the lapels above the opponent's chest. The walking-up motion begins immediately: the passer drives forward with the chest while stepping the knees up toward the opponent's shoulders, folding the opponent's hips above their own torso. As the legs stack, the passer commits weight forward and to one side, dropping the opponent's legs to that side and arriving in side control or knee-on-belly.

What makes the double under particularly effective is that it works against larger opponents better than against smaller ones — the larger the bottom player, the less hip mobility they have to escape the stack, and the more the technique's mechanical lever rewards committed forward pressure. Faria's competitive run was characterized by repeated double-under finishes against opponents twenty to thirty pounds heavier, and the technique remains one of the few BJJ passes that scales upward against size.

Defensively the double under is countered by establishing strong frames against the passer's biceps before the underhook completes, by spinning to a knee-shield half guard as the legs are being threaded, by snake-rolling out the back to reverse position, or by attacking a triangle from the stacked configuration. The technique requires significant grip strength and conditioning to execute repeatedly, which is one of the reasons it is more common at black belt than at lower belts.

KEY POINTS

01Thread both arms under the opponent's thighs from inside the guard.
02Grip the lapels or belt above the opponent's chest with both hands.
03Drive chest forward while walking knees up toward the opponent's shoulders.
04Stack the legs above the opponent's torso to neutralize the hip lever.
05Drop the legs to one side with committed forward shoulder pressure.
06Land in side control or knee-on-belly with the lapel grip still live.

COMMON MISTAKES

✕Threading only one arm underneath, converting the technique into a single-under pass.
✕Walking forward without first folding the opponent's legs upward.
✕Releasing the lapel grips as the legs drop, losing the angle of the landing.
✕Attempting the pass from a high posture rather than chest-down forward pressure.
✕Not consolidating the side control immediately upon landing.

TRAINING DRILLS

→Underhook threading drill: 30 reps establishing both underhooks from inside the guard.
→Lapel-grip lockup: drill the lapel grip above the chest with one continuous motion.
→Walk-and-stack drill: from established double unders, walk the legs up and stack on a compliant partner.
→Drop-to-side drill: complete the pass with explicit forward shoulder commitment, 20 reps per side.
→Live closed-guard rolling with double under as the only allowed pass.

NOTABLE PRACTITIONERS

Bernardo Faria · Roger Gracie · Buchecha

Frequently Asked

How is the Double Under Pass entered and executed?: The entry begins from a kneeling position inside the guard, where the passer drops their chest onto the opponent's thighs and threads both arms underneath. The passer then grips the lapels or belt, drives the chest forward, and walks the knees up toward the opponent's shoulders to stack them before dropping to side control or knee-on-belly.
Why is the Double Under Pass effective against larger opponents?: The technique works better against larger opponents because they have less hip mobility to escape the stack. The mechanical lever rewards committed forward pressure, allowing the passer to neutralize the opponent's size advantage, a strategy famously used by Bernardo Faria against opponents twenty to thirty pounds heavier.
What are common defensive counters to the Double Under Pass?: Defenders can counter the pass by establishing strong frames against the passer's biceps before the underhook completes, spinning to a knee-shield half guard, snake-rolling out the back to reverse position, or attacking a triangle from the stacked configuration.
What are common mistakes to avoid when performing the Double Under Pass?: Common mistakes include threading only one arm, walking forward without first folding the legs upward, releasing lapel grips as the legs drop, attempting the pass from a high posture, and failing to consolidate side control immediately upon landing.