A
neck crank (sometimes also referred to as a
neck lock, and technically known as a
cervical lock) is a spinal lock applied to the
cervical spine causing hyperextension, hyperflexion, lateral hyperflexion, hyperrotation or extension-distraction. This happens through bending, twisting or elongating. A neck crank is typically applied by pulling or twisting the head beyond its normal ranges of rotation. Neck cranks are usually banned from sports competitions, with notable exceptions in combat sports such as
submission wrestling and
MMA, where they are used as
submission holds or as a guard passing technique.
Can opener The
can opener (in Judo referred to as
kubi-hishigi) is a hyperflexing neck crank that can be applied from the opponent's
guard or from a
mounted position, by grabbing the opponent's head using the hands, and forcing it towards the chest of the opponent. If applied effectively in a competition it may force the opponent to
submit. This may also refer to a type of neck compression employed from a rear mount position in which the back of the thumbs are used to drive into the neck starting from the high
trapezius muscle toward the
sternocleidomastoid muscles, causing severe discomfort and even submission. As of 2006, this is permitted in
shiai (competition) as long as the combatant's thumbs remain straight and not bent. Its most common uses are to open up an opponent's chin for
shime-waza or as a diversionary tactic.
Cattle catch The
cattle catch (also referred to as
reverse crucifix,
iron cross or
stocks) is a hyperflexing neck crank involving trapping the opponent's hands and forcing the head towards their chest. The technique is performed with the opponent lying on their back, and the combatant performing the neck crank perpendicularly face-down in a
side mount position above the head of the opponent, with the opponent's head resting towards their armpit. The combatant traps one arm using the legs, and the other using the arms. By using the pinned arms and legs as a point of leverage, the combatant can forcefully crank the head towards the opponent's chest.
Crucifix neck crank The
crucifix neck crank is similar to the cattle catch, but involves the combatant performing the neck crank being mounted on the opponent. Both of the opponent's arms are controlled, and the opponent's head is held in the armpit. By cranking the body upwards while keeping a tight hold on the opponent's arms, the opponent's head is forced towards their chest. Both the cattle catch and the crucifix neck crank are colloquially referred to simply as the
crucifix, which often leads to confusion with the traditional
crucifix position.
Twister The
twister (a similar move in
wrestling is known as a
guillotine) is a sideways body bend and neck crank, which involves forcing the head towards the shoulder while controlling the body, hence causing lateral hyperflexion of the
cervical spine. The technique involves tension in several body parts, and depending on the flexibility of the recipient, can also involve pain in the knees, abdomen and torso. The twister is often confused with the spine crank since it involves a degree of lateral non-cervical spinal flexion. The main pressure is, however, on the cervical spine, making it a neck crank. It is performed from a back mount single vine ride position, where the top combatant has one "hook" threaded through the bottom opponent's legs and secured behind the ankle. The combatant then pulls the opponent's opposite arm behind their own head and grabs hold of the opponent's head, pulling it down to the shoulder. The move was popularized by
Eddie Bravo and the
10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu system. On March 26, 2011
Chan Sung Jung finished
Leonard Garcia at
UFC Fight Night: Seattle in round 2 of their fight using a twister. This was the first and only twister finish in
UFC history until
Bryce Mitchell defeated Matt Sayles with the maneuver in December 2019. The third instance was during
UFC Vegas 78, when Da'Mon Blackshear finished Jose Johnson with a twister. Prior to this, Shuichiro Katsumura defeated Hiroyuki Yamashiro with a twister in
ZST 20 on May 24, 2009.
Shayna Baszler also submitted
Megumi Yabushita with a twister on January 30, 2010. On December 31, 2014,
Shinya Aoki scored a first-round twister win over Yuki Yamamoto at
Inoki Genome Federation's
Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2014. At the 2015 ADCC tournament in São Paulo,
Vinny Magalhaes submitted Rodrigo Artilheiro in the quarterfinals using a twister.
Angela Lee defeated Natalie Gonzalez Hills by twister at
One FC: Pride of Lions. This move is also used in professional wrestling by various performers such as
JD McDonagh,
Tama Tonga, and
Matt Riddle.
Standing frontal facelock This technique involves facing the opponent as though leveraging a guillotine, but cross facing the individual and rotating their head laterally, creating an incredibly dangerous hyperflexion of the neck sideways when hips are leveraged and the cross face is pulled up, attempting to apply extreme pressure and damage to the cervical vertebrae. ==Spine crank==