Chapter 38 – The Neck Crank
The Neck Crank is my favorite all time Jiu-Jitsu move. The Irony is however, most black belts will tell you, it isn’t even a legitimate move.
The reality is that when people tap to a neck crank, they are tapping to a combination of uncomfortability, fear, and panic. However with that said, when one is rolling, playing the Jiu-Jitsu game, the gentleman’s game, the goal is to make the opponent tap. Before we get into the meat of this week’s column, let me confirm that we are all on the same page, and actually define the neck crank. The actual move that we are referring, is identical to a rear naked choke. The only difference between a rear naked choke and a neck crank is one is not behind the opponent, one is in front of them. Chest to chest. This precise posture occurs in Jiu-Jitsu, two times and two times only. The guard and the mount. Let us take the guard first( closed guard) . First we prevent the opponent from gaining his posture. As we are applying what would look like a rear naked choke to the front of our opponent, out of the guard, loosen your leg grip by 50 %, and raise your legs as high as you can on your opponents arm pits (Rickson used to call this the high guard stretch). Now simultaneously straighten your spine and apply the rear naked choke until tap is achieved (in order to make these kinds of moves functional one must put in 50 hours in our specific Action Strength training).
Second the mount. Once we have achieved the mount on our opponent, we drop our head completely down, straighten both legs and put our hooks in. Now with our head down, hooks in, we begin our neck crank again… exactly the same way one would do a rear naked choke. You will hear that lovely tapping sound more often from the mounted position rather than the guard position due to leverage and physics.
At this point I have told you that the neck crank is my all time favorite Jiu-Jitsu position,(that is the what). I have told you which posture to achieve said position(that is the how). And now I will teach you the most important aspect of the rear naked choke the why !
This is going to be the simplest explanation that you have ever heard in your life. You will find it logical, serendipitous, and ironic all at the same time. The greatest martial art in the world for self preservation is Kinomutai. The two greatest kinomutai positions ever invented, perhaps exponentially greater… happen to be the face bite, yes the infamous face bite that you have heard me joking about for 30 years, the one that makes Hannibal Lector look like Pee Wee Herman. The postures on kinomutai’s face bite are identical not similar, not 99.999 % similar, they are identical to aforementioned neck cranks. ALL ONE LITERALLY HAS TO DO FROM THE TWO BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU NECK CRANK POSTURES IS BITE ! OR AS A KINOMUTAI MAN WOULD SAY TEAR !
In conclusion as a 5’10, 170 lbs American practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, one of my single most empowering revelations while wrestling with folks that are usually much better than myself was how easily we could evoke our greatest principle of Instantaneous Asymmetric Violence, which gets me filled with so much creative energy, that it brings the poet out in me. The quickest way to win a fight, is to go from the neck crank to the face bite.
See Ya Next Week !
Please check the Table of Contents for links to other chapters of this Online Book.
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