Everyone who has ever trained BJJ has done the Hip Escape. For many of us this movement was learned in the first class we ever attended perhaps it was even the first movement in BJJ that you ever learned? What about the Front Hip Escape? Some of you reading may not even know what a Front Hip Escape is.

In 2013, I moved from Brazil to NYC to teach and train at Marcelo’s academy. At the time of my move, I had already been a Black Belt for many years. I had never done the Front Hip Escape before coming to Marcelo’s academy. Many times when I am teaching, I notice that the visitors to the academy look confused when the Front Hip Escape is a part of the warmup. Often, these visitors are higher belts.

So what is Front Hip Escape?

The Front Hip Escape, is very similar to the “regular” Hip Escape but in the opposite direction. Normally, when we do the Hip Escape, the movement drives the hip up and back. This brings our body back, propelling our body down the mat. The Front Hip Escapes uses the same mechanics- in reverse. Moving the hip up and forward launching ourselves forward down the mat.

The Hip Escape is a vitally important movement used to recover guard, set up sweeps, create angles to attack submissions, scramble and much more. The Front Hip Escape is a tool that can be used to close the distance on an opponent. For example, If you are seated playing guard and your opponent is standing, it can be a challenge to close the distance to them without standing up as well(particularly if they are moving back or circling away from you). By using The Front Hip Escape you can safely and actively engage the standing opponent while remaining in your guard. This is just one example of how the Front Hip Escape can be effectively used in a training “roll” or competition.

The Hip Escape is used more often then the Front Hip Escape. Honestly, the time I use the Front Hip Escape the most, is as part of the warmup in Marcelo’s classes and nowadays in my classes also because I have learned to really like this movement for warming up the body for training.

I made this video below to breakdown how to properly do the Front Hip Escape. I hope you learn how to do this move sooner in your BJJ journey than I did because I only learned it when I was already a black belt hehehehe.

OSSSS

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