Arm Cranks

The most important principle is not letting your neck get wrapped in the first place. As soon as you feel or sense your opponent reaching toward your neck, swim both hands inside to prevent them from establishing control. Keep your hands on the inside to maintain sensitivity and defend against the attack before it fully develops.

Control your own spine and stay flat—never allow your opponent to control your positioning. If they get hold of your head, swim inside and cut the angle to escape. The key is maintaining control of your spine so they cannot apply leverage for the crank.

Neck cranks can be very devastating, especially when your opponent is bigger and stronger than you. If you're not training defense against them, they become a serious problem. Modern sport jiu-jitsu doesn't allow neck cranks, but you still need to know how to defend them for real-world self-defense situations.

Keeping your hands inside is safer for developing good jiu-jitsu, especially against larger opponents, because it helps you develop neck sensitivity and prevents your head from being wrapped. While underhooks can help force escapes in competition, staying inside prioritizes safety and survival over technique.

Arm cranks apply rotational or torsional force along the axis of the arm — twisting the humerus, forearm, or both in ways that stress the shoulder capsule, elbow ligaments, and surrounding musculature. Unlike linear joint locks (which hyperextend or hyperrotate a single joint), arm cranks apply multi-directional torque that can simultaneously stress the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints.

Arm-twisting techniques (hineri-waza) are documented in classical Japanese jujutsu schools. The Americana (ude-garami, 腕絡み) — a keylock that outwardly rotates the shoulder — is one of the most fundamental arm cranks, named after the technique's association with American catch wrestling when it was introduced to Brazilian grappling circles.

IBJJF: banned — Neck cranks and spinal locks prohibited at all belt levels; IJF: banned — Spinal locks and neck cranks prohibited; ADCC: legal — Legal — neck cranks and spinal locks permitted; Unified MMA: legal — Legal; FIAS Sport Sambo: banned — Twisting of cervical spine prohibited; FIAS Combat Sambo: legal — Legal

Danger rating 7/10. Arm cranks use rotational force on the elbow or shoulder outside normal range of motion

The standard setup chain: Control the Arm → Position the Hips → Pinch Knees → Extend for the Finish.

Standard counters include: Clasp Hands — grip own wrist to prevent arm extension / Stack — drive forward to compress the attacker and relieve elbow pressure / Hitchhiker Escape — rotate the thumb toward the mat and roll to extract the arm.

Common variants: Standard Americana (figure-four grip painting the wrist toward the mat in ext…); Deep Americana (driving the arm further down the mat for increased rotation); Mounted Americana (applied from mount for gravity-assisted pressure); Transition to armbar (using the Americana attempt to bait the opponent into ext…).

Arm cranks are used in submission grappling and MMA where they are permitted.

Top errors to watch for: Applying the rotation without fixing the elbow — the elbow must be pinned or controlled; a free elbow allows the oppo… / Using arm strength to crank — the rotation should come from body movement (hip rotation, posture change), not arm squ… / Not controlling the opponent's body while cranking — if the opponent can roll with the crank, the pressure dissipates / Cranking without controlling the wrist — the wrist must be secured; a free wrist allows the opponent to rotate out.

The Arm Cranks is also known as Ude Hineri, Arm Twist Lock, Ude-hineri, Rotational Arm Lock.