twister (submission hold)

A sideways body bend and neck crank-type submission hold in mixed martial arts, 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, abdominals and torso. The twister is often confused as being a spine crank since it involves a degree of lateral non-cervical spinal flexion. The main pressure is however on the cervical spine, hence making it a neck crank. It is performed from a back mount single vine ride position, where the top man has one "hook" threaded through the bottom man's legs and secured behind the ankle. The top man then pulls the bottom man's opposite arm behind his own head and grabs hold of his opponent's head, pulling it down to his shoulder.

It resembles a hold in professional wrestling called the Cobra Twist (actually, the latter is basically its standing counterpart) though the Twister itself is used in pro wrestling as well, being popularized by former UFC fighter and current WWE wrestler Matt Riddle, calling his version of the hold as the Bromission.