BJJ Mental Models Mini Ep. 76: Knee Line
Oct 16, 2025
This mini-episode dives into the intriguing concept of the knee line, an imaginary line that connects your knees and groin to form a triangle. This triangle is essential for effectively trapping or controlling your opponent's movements. Listeners learn how to keep opponents' targets within this triangle while freeing their own body parts from it. Real-life training examples, like maintaining control in closed guard, bring the concept to life. The discussion wraps up with practical tips for applying these strategies in dynamic scenarios.
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Knee Line Forms A Control Triangle
- The knee line is the imaginary line connecting your two knees and forms a triangle with your groin.
- That triangle is the zone you must keep an opponent inside to clamp or wedge them with your legs.
Keep Targets Inside Your Leg Triangle
- Keep the targeted body part inside your knee+knee+groin triangle when you want to clamp or wedge it.
- If the body part exits that triangle, switch strategies because your clamp control is lost.
Closed Guard Example From Jesse Walker
- Jesse Walker's closed-guard example illustrates the triangle idea: the opponent's torso must be inside that triangle for closed guard to work.
- If the torso backs out, closed guard becomes open guard and you must change tactics.