[Christ]

yep, it's called neutral shifting... if you're really good, you can actually shift w/o the clutch completely doing that... no gear grinding, etc. Just pull/push the shifter toward the next gear, (upshifting) and wait for the engine to spin down from revs, it will just pop into gear with a lil pressure...

Down shifting w/o the clutch can be done too, relatively easy, but if you're going to do it, practice on a tranny you don't care about.. you may damage it severely...
1. lift off the gas as you're pulling the selector out of gear
2. get back on the gas as you're going to the next gear.
3. apply moderate to light pressure to the shifter, it will pop in as the engine reaches the correct speed for the gear.

Prolly shouldn't do this to decelerate... puts alot of stress on the gears, unless you know the RPM you should be at to down shift, and you can get it just past it enough that it will "float" into gear as you're letting off the gas.

I usually downshift with the clutch, clutch it, keep my foot on the gas, (for acceleration) and put it in the next gear down, then jump off the clutch when the engine is close to the right RPM... saves wear on the clutch and it's better for acceleration.

To decelerate however, I follow ALMOST the same procedure, except instead of keeping my foot on the gas, I just tap it to get it up to the right RPM, then lift off the clutch lightly, as with normal driving, also saves wear on the clutch lining.. Honestly, I"d rather pay more for gas than have to tear my tranny out to replace a clutch.