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What is bridging in BJJ?

October 17, 2024
Birding and Bumping BJJ

The “bridge” movement, known as ushiro-ukemi in Judo, is used to escape pins or holds during groundwork (newaza). Judo’s influence on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), is well-documented, and the bridge movement likely transitioned into BJJ as part of its shared lineage. Bridging involves lifting your hips off the ground, driving through your feet, and using your core and legs to generate momentum.

Most grappling arts, including BJJ, rely on some type of bridging, also known as the “upa” or “bridge escape,” to escape from bad positions, such as when you’re pinned on your back. You have to be able to create space and disrupt an opponent’s positional control, and bridging forms the basis for escaping positions like mount and side control. That’s why it’s one of the first moves beginners are taught.  

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BJJ bridge vs. wrestling bridge

The concept of using hip-driven movements to escape or reverse a dominant position is prominent in a lot of grappling arts, but especially in wrestling. A wrestler’s bridge is a more advanced variation of the bridge that requires a lot of explosive power and neck strength. The bridge is performed with the head on the ground, and it strengthens the neck muscles, which is crucial for resisting pins in wrestling.

To begin, keep your feet flat on the ground and your hands at your sides for stability, palms down. Lift your hips and roll your neck back so that your forehead is facing the wall behind you. This move does put a lot of pressure on your head, so you need to pracitce it slowly and carefully to not injure yourself.

In a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu bridge, keep your feet as close to your bottom as possible. That way you can push of your toes and get your hips as high as possible. What really makes this different from the wrestling bridge is that you push and roll toward one shoulder, rather than onto your neck. The neck remains neutral, and the head does not bear any weight. 

How do you execute bridging?

Start by lying flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the mat, roughly shoulder-width apart. Again, you want your feet as close to your butt as you can – this is really important for driving your hips up.

Keep your elbows tight to your body, protecting your neck and keeping your arms in close to avoid giving your opponent control. Dig your feet into the ground to create a solid base. The power of your bridge comes from pushing off the mat with your feet.

Explosively lift your hips off the mat by pushing with your legs, driving through the balls of your feet, and pushing onto your toes. Your goal is to bring your hips as high as possible. Use your core and leg strength to generate the force. The higher your hips, the more momentum you create.

If you’re using the bridge to escape a mount or side control, combine the bridge with a roll to one side. As you lift your hips, look over one shoulder and roll in that direction. Trap your opponent’s arm or leg on the side you’re rolling towards to make the escape more effective.

After the bridge, often you’ll transition to a shrimp escape (hip escape) to create more space and regain a better position, such as guard.

When do you use bridging vs shrimping?

Both bridging and shrimping are crucial defensive techniques in BJJ. When done correctly, the former allows you to push the opponent off you, while the latter is used to move away from them. 

Escaping a mount? Bridge. 

Trap one of your opponent’s arms or legs to prevent them from posting, bridge explosively, and roll them over into their guard. Shrimping from mount can be challenging because the opponent’s weight is centered on your torso, limiting your mobility and making it difficult to create the space needed to shrimp out.

Escaping a side control or guard? Bridge.

Bridge to create space, followed by a hip escape (shrimp) to recover guard or move into a more favorable position. Shrimping without first creating space through bridging can be difficult. Bridging helps relieve that pressure by lifting their weight and giving you an opportunity to move.

Recovering Guard? Shrimp.

After your guard has been passed and your opponent is establishing side control or another dominant position, you need to create space to slide your knee between you and your opponent and recover guard.

Working from Closed Guard? Shrimp. 

If your opponent is posturing up or putting pressure on you in guard, shrimping helps you change the angle, allowing for submissions like triangles, armbars, or sweeps. In closed guard, bridging is less effective because it doesn’t help you create angles or space for attacks. 

Why is it important to learn how to bridge in grappling?

Bridging is important not just to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but to all grappling arts. Although there is some variation in the techniques, bridging is foundational for escapes, transitions, and positional control. With enough practice, you’ll be able to generate explosive power from your hips so you can defend against submissions. Learning how to bridge will improve your overall ability to stay mobile and resilient on the ground, which is essential for building solid defensive tactics against bigger and more skilled opponents.