Escapes · getting out from underneath
Kesa-gatame bridge-and-roll escape
The other side of the same hold: instead of trapping a leg you attack their head-side balance, bridging hard and rolling them over your own shoulder line. Higher grades in every scheme here examine both escapes.
Demonstrations
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Key points
- Get onto your side before you bridge, not flat on your back
- Bridge towards their head, over your own shoulder, not straight up
- Follow them over; do not stop when they start to move
Step by step
Left-handed: these steps are written right-handed, as the syllabuses write them. Read every left as a right and every right as a left, and the throw is yours.
- You are held in Kesa-gatame with your right arm trapped and their weight across your chest.
- Reach your free left arm over their back and grip their belt or their far side to stop them posting away.
- Turn onto your right side and pull yourself in tight to them, taking away the space they need.
- Bridge sharply up and over your right shoulder, driving your hips towards their head rather than straight upwards.
- As their weight goes past your shoulder, keep turning in the same direction and roll them over.
- Finish on top or on your knees, and pull the trapped arm free once you are settled.
From the other side
You will feel them tuck in tight and take a grip on your back before anything happens. The answer is to post your head-side arm out wide and lower your hips: a hold with a wide base and a low centre does not roll.
VI judo notes
The cue to bridge is contact, not sight: their body tight against yours with no gap. Feel for their belt with your free hand first, then commit. Roll in the direction your own shoulder is already pointing.