The shrimp, or hip escape, is the basic BJJ movement for making space from the bottom: you turn on your side, push off one foot and drive your hips away. Brazilian schools call it ebi, the Japanese word for shrimp, after the shape your body makes.
- Other names: hip escape, ebi.
- In BJJ: the first movement drilled in most warm-ups, and the base of escapes from mount, side control and north-south.
- Direction: the hips move away from your partner and your shoulders stay roughly in place. The space appears between your hips and theirs.
What does the shrimp do?
Every pin works by keeping your hips flat and close. The shrimp turns you onto your side and drives your hips out, which creates the gap you need to put a knee or a frame between you and your partner. It is a movement, so it works in combination with frames: the frames stop your partner following you, the shrimp makes the space.
It is also a guard recovery tool. From under a half-finished pass, one or two shrimps give you the angle to get a knee back in and rebuild your guard.
How do you do the shrimp?
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Turn onto one hip so your shoulder on that side is off the mat.
- Plant the foot on the top side firmly, close to your backside. That foot is your push.
- Make a frame: forearms up, elbows close to your ribs, as if pushing something away from your chest.
- Push off the planted foot and drive your hips back and away, so your body folds into a V shape. Your head and shoulders stay roughly where they were.
- Pull your knee through the space you just made, so it ends up between you and your partner.
- Return to flat and repeat on the other side. Drill it down the length of the mat, alternating sides.
The most common mistake is pushing with the foot but keeping the hips flat, so the whole body slides along the mat in a straight line. The hips have to turn and lift; the shrimp is a rotation, driven by the leg.
The movement wears knees on the mat, which is why most grapplers drill it in spats or gi pants. Our BJJ training gear is rash guards and spats for rounds with and without the gi.
Can you shrimp out of the ring?
Not to escape. The IBJJF Rules Book makes it a serious foul for an athlete on the ground to slide out of the match area to avoid combat.
Sources
- IBJJF Rules Book, IBJJF
Related terms
Bridge (upa), Frames, Technical stand-up, Guard retention, Side control.