Bridge

What it is

The bridge is a hip lift from your back where you plant your feet and drive your hips as high as you can, usually over one shoulder. It is the basic movement under every bottom escape, because it is the strongest force you can make from your back. A bridge does not escape anything on its own; it makes the space and the off balance that an escape then uses.

When to use it

• Under mount, to make the top player post a hand or foot so the upa or elbow escape can follow.
• Under side control, to knock their weight off your chest for a moment and get your frames in.
• Any time they settle their full weight on you: a sharp bridge is the first way to disturb a pin.

How to do it

1. Plant both feet flat and close to your hips, knees pointing up, heels near your bottom.
2. Tuck your chin a little and keep your elbows tight so nothing is exposed while you move.
3. Drive through your feet and lift your hips as high as they go, in one explosive push.
4. Turn the lift over one shoulder, so your weight travels across your body rather than straight up.
5. Use the space before you come down: shrimp, turn, or roll. Then land in a better place than you started.

Key details

• Feet close to the hips. The further out the feet, the weaker the bridge.
• Go over a shoulder, not over your head. Your neck should never take weight.
• Bridge with a purpose: decide the next move before you lift, because the space lasts only a second.
• Explode, do not strain. A slow bridge is easy to ride and burns you out.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: bridging straight up with no direction. They ride it down and you have spent energy for nothing.
• Mistake: bridging onto the head. Your neck takes the load and you expose it to chokes and pressure.
• Mistake: bridging with the feet far away. The hips barely leave the mat and they do not feel it.

What they will try

• They post wide on the side you bridge toward and let the bridge pass under them.
• They stay heavy with hips low and head low, so the bridge cannot build any height.