Bridge, Bridge

In both kids and adult class today we worked on our bridges.  Why bridge?  Because bridging is the grappling equivalent of putting your hips into a punch.  Sure, you can punch without your hips – sometimes it even makes sense to punch without your hips but you’ll hit a lot harder if you add them in.  Likewise, you can move your partner around in grappling without your hips – sometimes it even makes sense to do so, but you’ll usually move them a lot easier if you add your hips in.

In kids class, we looked at the bridge and the role it plays in getting out of mount position.  In adult class, we looked at both the mount position and the head and arm position.  In the case of escaping both of these bad positions, it is vital to bridge.  If you skip the bridge and simply try and roll your partner off of you… it sometimes works.  If you fit in the bridge and then roll, it works much more often.

Check out this video for a more in depth look at escaping the head and arm position.