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What are some recommmendations for bridging drills that can be done solo?

Advice from a novice.

As much as I do not like it.....

Lay on your back, bridge up. Spin, now that you are facing the mat, spin, now that you are faceing the ceiling, spin......I think you get the idea.

The spin is more of a stepping over i suppose.

Personally, I have a hard time with this one due to my size.

However, Sensei Sanner, who usually leads this drill, has a neck like a bull and can bridge with the bulk of my weight upon him (280+ lbs)

He also is extremely difficult to choke. i am not sure if this is a direct benefit of the bridgeing, but I suspect it helps.

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The good days are like the bad days.....only better.

When I bridge, I prefer to keep my shoulder on the ground. This is the way it is done in judo, as shoulders-on-the-mat don't mean anything in that environment. Wrestlers, on the other hand, bridge on their heads, with their necks supporting their weight (and presumably the weight of whoever else is on top of them). Personally, I think that is a very unsafe maneuver.

Rich

[This message has been edited by rich_simons (edited February 21, 2002).]

troll under the bridge

The drills sounds very useful. Do your feet end up in the same place everytime you bridge or do they end up on the opposite side?

thanks for the tip--i take it you are a judo player?

rich simons,

I saw wrestlers bridge off thier necks in college constantly. I don't remember any injuries. I figure with the frequency that they do it, if it had a lot of injury potential the wrestling communtiy would have stopped it long ago. Although, it is important to realize that the wrestler neck bridge isn't going to be very helpful if you are not on a soft surface. If one is on wood or concrete it is going to be very challenging to do that bridge because the surface does not "give" like a mat and will scrape the scalp as the person bridges.

Turbo,
not a judo player but about a quarter of the people I train with are.

My feet tend to end up in the same position.

Hey, want to throw out a couple of bridging that came from a jap jujitsu that I trained at in during the 90's. I will do each one as a seperate post for orginazation.

1) From ushiro gatame--- One person lays on his back and the other lays opposite but on top of the first guy so that his feet point in the opposite direction. The guy on top will have his face in the others guys belly and vice versa. The buy on bottom starts to move clockwise (or counterclockwise it does not matter), and the guy on top reacts by moving in the same direction. The guy on top will need to move at the same speed to keep the guy on bottom from go perpendicular and escaping. The guy on bottom than flips his hips over so his feet are going in the opposite direction and moves that other way. In the lag time between the switch of directions the top guy should for a brief instant be moving in the opposite direction of the bottom guy. If a bridge is done than it should make it easy to get the top guy to become the bottom guy.

This can be preformed as a two man drill alternating between top and bottom. The two tricks to this bridge are making the switch sudden and keeping your feet low to the ground when you do switch, as opposed to throwing them up in the air while you do the switch which is what I use to do when I first learned that drill.

2nd bridging drill is from kesa gatame or the side headlock.

Both partners start on the ground in kesa gatame. The guy on top is putting the guy on bottom in a headlock with his right arm. The guy on bottom starts to crawl clockwise towards the guy on top. The guy on top reacts by moving in the same direction.

From here there are two possible endings to the drill. One the guy on the bottom moves fast enough to hook the guy on top's left leg with his left leg and pulls that leg counterclockwise while bridging.

Two, the guy on top does a great job of preventing the hook and so the guy on bottom bridges anyway and the momentum from the guy on top moving away creates the neccessary force, coupled with the bridge to get the top man off.

When either variation of the drill is completed the top guy becomes the bottom guy in kesa gatame and vice versa. Than the roles reverse and the drill resumes.

This one is a little tougher and probably is more applicable before the top guy gets settled in by sinking his hips.

From yoko gatame or what bbj guys call side mount the top guy is sprawled perpendicular to the bottom guy laying his chest on the bottom guys chest. For visualization purposes lets say the top guy is on the right side of the bottom guy. The bottom guy bridges up to get some motion and while doing that he brings his left leg all the way over until he is facing down instead of up. If that motion creates enough space (if it does not gotta roll back over to back) shoot the left foot all the way through sliding along the knife edge of the left foot until you slide into kesa gatame.

Sounds like it is not possible but if you can create at least some space between his chest and your chest it is. Of course that is easier said than done which is why it is better to try that move before he settles down on top of you.

I just remebered the topic was solo bridging--whoops. Last time I get to start a topic. One more drill.

Top guy straddles bottom buy and sits close to the bottom guys neck. From this position it too hard to try a bridge off the hips. Instead, move clockwise and when he starts to shift throw your legs up and put them on his shoulders one on the inside of each shoulder. Push your legs down toppling him to the bottom position. Than sits close to his neck and reverse the drill.

I do have one solo bridging drill.

Lay on your back. Bridge up and throw your left leg over until you touch down on all fours. Than shoot the left leg through and postiton yourself into kesa gatame or side headlock position. Shoot the right leg back through and continue motion in the opposite direction until you are back on your back. Eventually, try to make it one smooth motion without stopping in the middle.

Good drills Turbo.
I especially like the solo one.

Glad you liked them Troll. I know if I knock the dust off my training manuals I can think of more. Kinda lonley here in jujitsu land isn't it? I am glad I met you on this forum though--Gotta get some sleep--working a lot of hours but I will post more this weekend. Have a good weekend till I hear from you again.

Thought I would post another bridging drill so there would be activity on the jujitsu site.

If the top guy pins your arms down by your sides or over your head:

First off it has to be both hands other wise you cannot pull this one off without eating his fist. Bottom guy pushes up with wrist to create resistance. When he feels oposition to his pushing bottom guy turns his head to the side and slide both arms to his hips. This will make the top guy lean forward. As he leans forward marry his movement and push your hips up and to the right (or left) to complete the bridge.