The Frame and Shrimp is the most fundamental escape mechanism in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, serving as the cornerstone technique for creating space and recovering guard from bottom positions. This technique combines structural framing with hip mobility to systematically address the control points that keep you pinned. The frame creates a barrier that prevents your opponent from maintaining chest-to-chest pressure, while the shrimping motion uses hip movement to create angles and distance.
This technique is essential for all practitioners as it forms the foundation of defensive movement in BJJ. Unlike explosive bridging movements, the frame and shrimp relies on technical precision and efficient body mechanics rather than strength. When executed correctly, it allows smaller practitioners to escape from larger opponents by systematically disrupting their base and control points. The movement pattern transfers across multiple bottom positions including side control, mount, knee on belly, and various pin positions.
Mastery of the frame and shrimp fundamentally changes a practitioner’s ability to survive and escape from bad positions. It teaches critical lessons about creating and managing space, understanding control points, and using angles rather than strength. This technique serves as the gateway to more advanced escapes and represents a key distinction between beginners who panic under pressure and experienced practitioners who remain calm and systematically work their way back to guard.
Starting Position: Side Control Ending Position: Open Guard Success Rates: Beginner 45%, Intermediate 65%, Advanced 80%
Key Principles
- Create structural frames using skeletal alignment rather than muscle strength
- Hip movement creates angles and distance - never pull with arms alone
- Shrimp away from pressure rather than directly into your opponent
- Maintain frames throughout the entire escape sequence
- Create space in stages - frame, shrimp, insert guard, recover
- Keep elbows tight to body to prevent arm isolation
- Time shrimps with opponent’s weight shifts for maximum effectiveness
Prerequisites
- Bottom position under opponent’s chest-to-chest pressure
- Awareness of opponent’s control points (crossface, underhook, etc.)
- One or both hands available to establish frames
- Ability to turn slightly on side to create initial space
- Understanding of which direction to shrimp based on opponent’s weight distribution
- Mental composure to work systematically rather than explosively
Execution Steps
- Establish primary frame: Place your forearm across opponent’s neck or chin, creating a stiff arm with elbow tight to your body. Your hand should be palm-down on their shoulder or collar, with your forearm acting as a barrier. Keep your elbow connected to your ribs to prevent arm isolation. The frame should use skeletal structure, not muscle tension. (Timing: Immediate upon recognizing pin position)
- Create secondary frame: Place your second hand on opponent’s hip, near their belt line. This hand will push against their hip to create the initial separation. Your arm should be slightly bent with elbow protected. Both frames together create a cross-body barrier that prevents chest-to-chest pressure. (Timing: As soon as primary frame is secure)
- Bridge to create initial space: Drive through your feet to lift your hips slightly off the mat, creating just enough space to turn onto your side. This is a small, controlled bridge - not an explosive upa. Turn your body toward the opponent to create the angle needed for shrimping. Your shoulder should now be off the mat. (Timing: Coordinate with opponent’s breathing or weight shift)
- Execute first shrimp: While maintaining both frames, explosively drive your inside hip backward and away from your opponent. Your knee should come up toward your chest as you slide your hips away. Think of creating a ‘C’ shape with your body. Your shoulders stay relatively stationary while your hips move 6-12 inches away from opponent. (Timing: Immediately following the bridge)
- Insert knee shield or guard: As space is created, immediately insert your inside knee between you and your opponent. Drive the knee upward toward their chest while maintaining your frames. Your shin should create a barrier across their torso. Alternatively, if sufficient space exists, hook their leg with your inside leg to begin guard recovery. (Timing: The moment adequate space is created)
- Complete guard recovery: Use your frames and knee shield to create additional space for your bottom leg to extract. Scoot your hips back while maintaining distance with your frames and knee. Once your bottom leg is free, establish full guard by either closing your legs around opponent or maintaining an open guard position with grips and foot placement. (Timing: Continuous movement until guard is established)
Opponent Counters
- Opponent drives weight forward and crossfaces (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Strengthen your primary frame by connecting elbow to ribs, turn your head away from crossface, and shrimp at an angle away from the pressure rather than straight back
- Opponent secures underhook and prevents hip movement (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Fight the underhook by framing on the bicep, or accept it and shrimp in the opposite direction using their committed weight against them
- Opponent sprawls hips back to prevent knee insertion (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Use multiple smaller shrimps instead of one large movement, creating cumulative space. Alternatively, switch to standing in base escape if distance becomes too great
- Opponent isolates and controls your framing arm (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Immediately establish new frame with opposite arm, use bridging to create scramble situation, or transition to different escape like elbow escape
- Opponent transitions to mount or knee on belly (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Adjust frames for new position - higher frames for mount, hip frame for knee on belly. The shrimping mechanics remain the same but angles change
Test Your Knowledge
Q1: Why must you establish frames before shrimping rather than shrimping first? A: Frames create and hold the space that shrimping generates. Without frames, your opponent’s weight simply follows your hip movement and immediately fills any space you create. The frame acts as a barrier that prevents them from maintaining chest-to-chest pressure while you move your hips. Think of the frame as a door stop - it holds the door open while you move through it.
Q2: What is the correct direction to shrimp when escaping side control? A: You should shrimp away from the pressure and in the direction your head is facing. If you’re on your right side facing left, you shrimp toward your left (away from opponent). Shrimping toward the opponent or in the wrong direction actually helps them advance to mount or establish more dominant control. The goal is to create distance and angles that make their position weaker, not stronger.
Q3: How should your frames be structured - using muscle strength or skeletal alignment? A: Frames must use skeletal alignment rather than muscle strength. Your forearm should act like a post or strut, with the elbow connected to your ribs to create a rigid structure using bone and body positioning. Pushing with muscle strength fatigues quickly and collapses under sustained pressure. Proper skeletal frames can be maintained much longer and are effective even against much stronger opponents because they leverage structure, not strength.
Q4: When is the optimal timing to execute your shrimp during the escape sequence? A: The optimal timing is immediately after bridging to create initial space, or when you feel your opponent’s weight shift or their base adjust. Many experienced practitioners time their shrimp with the opponent’s breathing - as they exhale, their pressure momentarily decreases. You can also shrimp as they attempt to improve their position, using their movement and committed weight against them. The key is that shrimping requires a moment when their pressure is not at maximum - either because you’ve created space with frames and bridge, or because they’re transitioning.
Q5: What are the key differences between escaping from side control versus mount using frame and shrimp principles? A: From mount, your frames must be higher (on chest, shoulders, or under chin) to prevent them from posturing up and attacking, and you typically bridge first to create the angle before shrimping. From side control, frames are on neck/shoulder and hip, and you can often shrimp more directly. Mount escapes usually require bridging to one side to dump them forward before shrimping, while side control allows immediate shrimping once frames are established. Mount also requires more careful attention to preventing arm isolation since both your arms are between you and opponent. The fundamental mechanics are the same - create frames, make space, insert guard - but the angles, frame positions, and sequence timing differ based on the position geometry.
Q6: How do you adapt the frame and shrimp escape when your opponent secures a strong crossface? A: When opponent has a crossface, your primary frame on the neck becomes less effective. You should strengthen your connection by pressing your elbow even tighter to your ribs, and turn your head away from the crossface to protect your neck and create better frame angles. Often you need to accept the crossface temporarily while you establish a strong hip frame with your other hand. Shrimp at an angle slightly away from the crossface rather than straight back. Some practitioners also transition to an elbow escape variation when the crossface is very strong, or work to create enough space to battle for an underhook which negates the crossface. The key is not panicking when the crossface lands - maintain your defensive structure and continue working systematically.
Safety Considerations
The frame and shrimp is one of the safest techniques in BJJ when practiced correctly. Primary safety concerns involve proper frame placement - avoid pushing directly on throat or face, instead frame on chin, shoulder, or collar. When drilling with partners, the bottom person should communicate if pressure on neck becomes uncomfortable. Partners providing resistance should apply pressure gradually, allowing the person escaping to adjust frames and develop proper structure. Avoid explosive, uncontrolled movements that could injure your training partner or yourself. The person on top should not drive their weight directly onto their partner’s face or neck. During progression training, increase resistance slowly over weeks to build both technical skill and physical conditioning safely. Be particularly mindful of your partner’s neck safety when establishing frames under their chin. If training with significant size mismatches, the larger person should moderate their pressure appropriately. Solo shrimping drills should be performed on proper mats to avoid knee, hip, or elbow injuries from repetitive movement on hard surfaces.
Position Integration
The frame and shrimp is the foundational escape mechanism that connects all bottom positions to guard recovery in the BJJ positional hierarchy. It serves as the primary pathway from inferior positions (side control, mount, knee on belly, north-south, various pin positions) back to the relative safety of guard positions. This technique represents the first line of defense in the defensive hierarchy - before attempting more complex escapes or submissions from bottom, you must understand how to create and manage space using frames and hip movement. The frame and shrimp integrates with the guard retention system by teaching the fundamental space creation mechanics that underlie all guard recovery. It connects to the broader escape hierarchy as the most fundamental tool, with more advanced escapes like elbow escape, technical standup, and various sweeps building on these basic movement patterns. Understanding this technique is essential for developing a complete bottom game, as it teaches the critical skill of remaining calm under pressure and systematically working back to better positions. The mechanics transfer across gi and no-gi applications, making it universally applicable. In competition strategy, solid frame and shrimp skills allow practitioners to survive bad positions while minimizing point concessions, buying time to create escape opportunities. It also serves as the foundation for numerous submission escapes, as the same space-creation principles apply when defending attacks.
Expert Insights
- Danaher System: The frame and shrimp escape represents the most fundamental expression of space creation mechanics in ground fighting. What makes this technique so powerful is its reliance on biomechanical efficiency rather than attributes like strength or explosiveness. When you create a proper frame, you’re not pushing with your muscles - you’re creating a rigid structure using skeletal alignment that can withstand tremendous pressure with minimal energy expenditure. The elbow must be connected to the ribs, creating a triangulated structure that’s inherently strong. The shrimping motion itself is a sophisticated application of angular movement - you’re not moving directly away from your opponent, which they can easily follow, but rather creating angles that disrupt their base and control points simultaneously. This is why the technique remains effective even when your opponent knows it’s coming. The critical insight is understanding that escape is a systematic process of attacking control points in sequence. First, you address the chest-to-chest pressure with your primary frame. Then you attack their hip positioning with your secondary frame. Only after disrupting these control points can the hip movement effectively create sustainable space. Most practitioners fail because they attempt to skip steps in this sequence, usually trying to shrimp without proper frames, which is mechanically futile. The frame and shrimp, properly executed, is effectively unstoppable against opponents who lack the technical knowledge to counter it systematically.
- Gordon Ryan: In competition, the frame and shrimp is your insurance policy against losing matches from bottom positions. I’ve used these mechanics thousands of times against the highest level opponents in the world, and they remain effective because they’re based on fundamental geometry and leverage, not tricks. The key competitive insight is that you can’t just know the technique - you have to be able to execute it while defending submission attacks, under extreme time pressure, and while exhausted. This is why I drill these mechanics constantly, even as a black belt world champion. In matches, I focus on making my frames incredibly annoying and persistent. I’m not trying to explode out - I’m making my opponent work hard for every inch of control, forcing them to expend energy maintaining the position. This creates opportunities because they eventually make mistakes or create the space I need. The hip frame on their hips is particularly crucial in no-gi competition where there’s less friction. I’m constantly fighting to keep that hand on their hip because once they clear it, they can consolidate control much more easily. Against elite opponents, I often have to chain multiple escape attempts together - frame and shrimp might create initial space, but they counter, so I immediately transition to a different angle or escape variation. The fundamental mechanics remain the same, but the application becomes a chess match of sequences and counter-sequences. What separates the best defensive players from mediocre ones isn’t knowing fancier escapes - it’s being absolutely relentless and technical with basic frame and shrimp mechanics.
- Eddie Bravo: The frame and shrimp is essential, but in the 10th Planet system, we look at it as just the beginning of your defensive movement vocabulary, especially in no-gi where positions are more fluid. The traditional BJJ approach teaches frame and shrimp mainly to recover guard, but we see it as a gateway to multiple defensive options. Sometimes you shrimp not to recover guard, but to create the angle for a technical standup. Other times, that initial space from shrimping gives you the opportunity to enter into deep half guard or other positions that are harder for your opponent to control. What I emphasize to my students is the concept of chaining movements together rather than thinking of any single escape as the answer. You might frame and shrimp, they counter by driving their weight forward, so you immediately use that momentum to go into a different escape or even to attack with something like an omoplata from bottom. The creativity comes from understanding that the fundamental mechanics - creating frames, moving your hips, managing space - these apply in infinite situations. In no-gi specifically, the lack of gi grips means you have to be even more precise with your frames. I like to emphasize getting onto your side immediately and staying mobile rather than lying flat. That lateral position makes your frames more effective and sets up better angles for shrimping. Also, don’t sleep on using your legs as secondary frames - you can often create additional barriers with knee shields or feet on hips while executing your shrimp. The biggest mistake I see is people giving up on the escape too early. You might need to shrimp three, four, five times before you create enough cumulative space. Each small movement is progress - stay calm, breathe, and keep working the technique systematically.