Alias · Standing
Knee buckle
Also known as Knee Tap — the canonical term used on this site.
Training background: Descriptive alternative — refers to the buckling action on the knee
Descriptive — buckling the knee (knee tap)
Knee buckle is a descriptive name for the knee tap — naming the buckling of the opponent’s knee that the tap produces.
Etymology. “Knee buckle” describes the effect, the knee folding forward; “knee tap” names the cause, the hand tapping behind it. The two names describe the same takedown from opposite ends, the buckle being what the tap creates.
Mechanics. Tapping the back of the knee while driving the upper body forward destabilises the opponent over a leg that suddenly cannot hold them; the buckle precedes any control, taking the support away so they fall to the side the drive directs.
Cross-reference. Full mechanical coverage on Knee Tap.