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I can't emphasize enough how critical hip movement is in this sport - it really is the key to making your techniques effective. This includes your pin escapes, applying submissions, throwing your opponent, preventing Guard passes, etc. For example, when a beginner is unable to escape from a pinning position, incorrect hip movement is a major part of the problem at least 80 to 90% of the time.

The most common mistake made by BJJ beginners is not moving the hips.


To ever get good at this art you'll absolutely need to develop good hip movement. You don't need to go as far as mastering the Lambada, but you do need to stop looking like Frankenstein from the waist down.

There are TWO main types of hip movement in BJJ:

The first is movement in the forwards and backwards direction (or 'bridging'). Try lying flat on your back and bringing your heels close to your buttocks. Now arch up, lifting your hips as high as you can towards the ceiling until your body forms a 'bridge'. Your weight is borne by your feet at one end and your shoulders at the other.

If you watch grappling with a critical eye you'll see this motion all the time; just think of how someone lifts their hips to apply an armbar, or bumps their hips up to make space when pinned under an opponent. Bridging hip movement is the source of power for all these techniques.

The second type of hip movement is side-to-side (or 'lateral') movement. While writing this lesson I've tried for at least an hour to describe this movement with words, and have failed miserably. Part of the problem is that lateral hip motion is so unlike any other movements we do in day-to-day life (but that doesn't make it any less important).

In the end I decided to use video, not words, to describe lateral hip motion. Click on the next link and it will take you to a page on one of my sites where you can find a short tutorial about "backwards shrimping". This drill illustrates the concept of lateral hip movement, and is also one of the best ways to teach your hips how to move from side to side.

==> http://www.grapplearts.com/grappling-drill-download-1.htm

Have you ever done this drill before? If not, then I suggest that you start doing it a couple of times a week - there will be an immediate benefit for your BJJ skills.

If you already know this drill then I suggest that you keep practicing it until the movement is absolutely instinctive. I also suggest that you start working on some of the more advanced variations, like sideways and forwards shrimping. All these drills can be practiced on your own either before class or after class (or even in the privacy of your own home).

Are you set for life once you learn the basic bridge and the basic shrimp? Not quite! Learning how and when to best apply these movements takes time: just because you know how to swing a baseball bat properly doesn't mean that you'll be able to hit a home run (yet). Still, focusing on fundamental body mechanics creates a great foundation on which to build your entire BJJ game.

The bottom line is that hip movement is the key to most BJJ techniques, and if your hips are static then you're not doing BJJ.

Stephan Kesting
www.beginningbjj.com
www.grapplearts.com