It ain't a pin if he's out of balance: pins are one of the foundational skills of Jiu Jitsu. There's nothing better than a solid pin that sticks an opponents head and shoulders to the mat and shuts out his legs – it's a great pathway to upper body submissions. understand however, that a pin is only as good as the degree of control it confers upon an opponent. It's worthless to be in a “dominant” pin such as the mounted position of you are not able to control an opponents movement. As such, when one finds oneself at the bottom of a pin in Jiu Jitsu, a good place to start your escape is with your opponents balance. ANY MOVEMENT THAT UNDERMINES YOUR OPPONENTS BALANCE AS HE PINS YOU IS MONEY IN THE BANK. Bridging, shrimping, kipping are the foundational body movements that unbalance the top player and create the space and movement that can totally destroy the value of the pin and lead to an escape. Look at this fine example of Garry Tonon off balancing an opponent from bottom mount. Like many of my students, Mr Tonon will often let an opponent into “dominant” position of the rule set suits such a strategy, knowing full well that he can easily create the kind of off balancing that makes the pin worthless and even a LIABILITY, as often there are excellent submission opportunities as a pin is broken. Here he effortlessly kips out of a mounted pin and I am sure you can guess – will soon go into a match winning heel hook from the easy entry into ashi garami from this situation. Constantly practice this critical skill of disturbing your opponents balance from the bottom of a pin – all your escapes will benefit.
