How Can You Do the Perfect BJJ Pin Escape: Ultimate Guide

Have you ever wondered while watching a match why some people remain stuck in bad positions for a long time in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and eventually lose the game? The reason is that they have not mastered BJJ pin escape.

If you are just starting in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or don't know how to escape a pin against your opponent, read this article. This article explains the best ways to make you a master in escaping any type of BJJ pin. 

The first skill you should try to build in yourself is escaping pins. The great majority of finishes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are the result of getting held down and controlled in a pin against your BJJ opponent. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a pin is usually understood as any situation where an opponent has passed your legs and has at least one of your shoulders held down on the mat in a chest-to-chest position (there are a few exceptions to this - knee-on-stomach positions and rear mount pins are obvious exceptions).

There is nothing more stultifying to your offensive ambitions than getting held down for long periods where you simply cannot perform any effective offense. Often, you should ask yourself, “Can I get out of a pin?” Whenever you answer, “I think so,” You should almost always interpret this as no. Your first job as a BJJ white belt is to get yourself to a point where you don’t think you can get out - you know you can get out.

Only then will you have the confidence and ability to attack an opponent from the bottom position. It should not be the case that you take a class where students are not asked to exhibit defensive skills. Regular skill development and training of BJJ pin escape - the core defensive skill - is so crucial that you should work on it almost daily.

In a roomful of people who are all strong at offense, it will come down to who has the best defense that determines winner and loser in most cases. Work hard on your BJJ pin escapes as your first mastery goal in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. No matter how high your goal, it will be protective insurance against catastrophic loss.

Pin or pinned in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu means that you are stuck in some lousy position against your opponent while playing a game in BJJ. In a professional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu match, you transition into different positions to help you win the game.

You continue doing this for a whole match. In some positions, you are made submissive by your opponent. You can't do a lot of things at that point. These positions are known as bad positions. You should be strategic at that time. 

You should display calmness and think a way out of it. Escaping from those bad positions and transitioning from being in submission to being dominant over your BJJ opponent is crucial for winning the match. This is known as BJJ pin escape.

BJJ pin escapes are essential to learn. Your BJJ opponent will continuously try to make you dominant, and once he succeeds in getting you stuck in some bad position, you will lose the match if you have not mastered the BJJ pin escape.

By learning pin escapes BJJ, you will not only be able to move yourself from any lousy position but also make it difficult for your BJJ opponent to put you in a bad position. In the start, all BJJ white belts try to learn BJJ moves and techniques to make them win the match. 

But BJJ is not all about learning some moves and techniques. BJJ white belts should also focus on learning pin escapes BJJ to move from a bad position to a good dominant position. They should also learn how to put their BJJ opponents in a bad position.

Following are some of the best ways to help you escape when your BJJ opponent pins you.

When your BJJ opponent attacks you and pins you, their focus is on that side of yours that they are pinning. One side of your BJJ opponent will be pinning you, while the other side will be free. That free side of your BJJ opponent must be your focus for attack.

Try to attack that undefended side of your BJJ opponent. If you attack that side, it will help you in escaping from that pinned position in two ways. First, attacking will be easy as that side will be undefended. Secondly, your opponent will focus on that defended side to ensure you stay pinned. This will remove his focus on their side, pushing and pinning you.

You can easily escape the pin by following this tip. Many BJJ practitioners make the mistake of escaping by focusing on the defended side of their BJJ opponents. That side is your BJJ opponent’s strong side. 

It will be challenging for you to escape in that way. So focus on the undefended side and make it easy for yourself to escape the BJJ pin position.

Reversals in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu refer to moving or transitioning from a somewhat submissive or inferior position to a dominant position. Reversals can be improved by learning scrambling, which refers to changing positions to make a move before your BJJ opponent.

Reversals help you escape from a pinning position by moving from an inferior position to a superior or dominant position. For example, if your BJJ opponent has pinned you in a BJJ side control position, you can reverse to escape from that position.

This technique helps, especially when you are in back control against your BJJ opponent. The back mount is a BJJ dominant position in which you control your BJJ opponent from the back. You are on the top of your BJJ opponent.

To apply this technique, follow these steps;

• Keep your chin closer to your chest and your jawline closer to your shoulder.

• Grip the opponent’s choking arm or hand firmly.

• Your opponent will try to remove this grip.

• Now, grip your BJJ opponent’s shoulder.

• Use your other hand to remove your BJJ opponent’s choking hand.

This technique is also beneficial for escaping from a BJJ pinned position.

The fourth way to help you escape from the pinned position is doing BJJ framing. BJJ framing is a technique in which you create space between you and your BJJ opponent. Spaces are very opponent. 

When you are pinned, try to create space. It will get you out of the BJJ pinned position. When you are controlling your BJJ opponent in any dominant position, make sure that your BJJ opponent does not create any space. Otherwise, he will escape.

Wrestling up is a BJJ move or technique in which you transition from a ground position, often a submissive one, to a standing position. This is also one of the best ways to move yourself out when pinned.

The best tip for doing BJJ wrestle-up is to position yourself so that you are perpendicular to your BJJ opponent. This perpendicular position helps you to take sweeps and takedowns. You can also do it by gripping your BJJ opponent’s lead leg or arm.

After learning all about pin escapes and the best ways to do them, you should know the secret to pin escapes that no one is telling you about. 

Imagine you are mounting on somebody. You are a big triangle. Both knees are heavy, and it's difficult for your BJJ opponent to escape this way. But if your opponent can tilt you, you open up a space on one side where your right knee or left knee becomes lighter, which is your BJJ opponent’s way out. This not only applies to the BJJ Mount, but it is most evident from the BJJ Mount. It applies to other positions as well.

Suppose your BJJ opponent is mounting on you, and you will do the Kipping Escape. In this escape, you try to defend yourself by displacing your BJJ opponent from above you. It will start with both hands on the hips, and your BJJ opponent’s weight is on top of you. 

Both of your opponent’s knees are down. You should just try to lift his knee slightly off the ground. So, in this case, you are doing that with a pendulum. Pendulum your legs one way and pendulum the other way. By doing this, one leg of your BJJ opponent will be up. Then, you will bring your knees to their hips. Bring your knee in through their legs and your foot on their hips; eventually, you will be out. 

Let's apply this to the elbow-knee escape. Imagine you are in a position where one leg is straight and the other is bent. One arm is across the belly frame, and the other hand is inside the knee. If both of their knees are down, this can be tough, but you should bridge just a little and see what they give you.

Their right knee is still down, but their left knee has come up slightly. So now, when you shrimp away, their leg lifts, allowing you to bring both legs inside. More typically, if you are in this position and you bridge, your leg will get slightly lighter. Now, you can connect your elbow and knee back and escape this way.

Let's say you are going for a tripod-style BJJ mount escape. You should bridge up sideways, and then you should step over. In this way, you will elevate both of their knees. Now, depending on how he puts his weight from the inverted position, you may stuff him down into half-guard. You might escape by knocking out the other leg.

Let's say your BJJ opponent has you in side control. In this position, they have the cross face and the BJJ under hook. Your arms are completely out of place. This is a terrible position to escape from. But you should try tilting your BJJ opponent. 

Tilt him both ways. Tilt him in one direction by swinging your arms and hitting your BJJ opponent in the armpit while clamping down on his forearm. Then, you should try to swing your opponent in the other direction.

Try to push his head with your bicep and block the opponent’s leg. Go go back and forth. Now you have tilted the triangle, meaning there's room on one side, and you get your elbow in. This is maybe all you wanted. 

All you should do is establish the frame. Now, tilt the other way. Then, you have your hand underneath your BJJ opponent’s chin. From there, escaping is pretty academic. Again, you have to try to elevate the triangle a bit and then see which of the legs of the triangle comes down closer to the ground and escape the other way.

The entire sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is founded upon positional skills - as the old saying goes - position before submission. Only when these skills are strong can a submission game be built upon that secure foundation. 

Probably the single biggest problem that most people encounter when they first begin the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is getting pinned helplessly in side pins, north/south pins, mounted pins, and rear mount pins. Therefore, learning to get quickly and efficiently out of these troublesome situations is the first skill developing students need to master to create forward progress in Jiu Jitsu.

Following are some of the best ways to help you escape when your BJJ opponent pins you.

• Attack your bjj opponent’s undefended side.

• Reversals.

• Control the choking arm of your BJJ opponent.

• BJJ framing.

• BJJ wrestling up.

The fourth way to help you escape from the pinned position is doing BJJ framing. It is a technique in which you create space between you and your BJJ opponent. Spaces are very opponent. When you are pinned, try to create space. 

It will get you out of the pinned position. When you are controlling your BJJ opponent in any dominant position, make sure that your BJJ opponent does not create any space. Otherwise, he will escape.

Wrestling up is a BJJ move or technique in which you transition from a ground position, often a submissive one, to a standing one. This is also one of the best ways to move yourself out when pinned.

The best tip for doing BJJ wrestle-up is to position yourself so that you are perpendicular to your BJJ opponent. This perpendicular helps you to take sweeps and takedowns. You can also do it by gripping your BJJ opponent’s lead leg or arm.