The twister is a spinal lock: your leg hooks your partner's lower body and their head is pulled the other way, twisting the spine along its length. It is finished from the truck, a leg ride position borrowed from wrestling.
- Origin: BJJ Heroes describes the twister as a neck crank submission Eddie Bravo developed from an old wrestling position.
- In wrestling: BJJ Heroes notes that the leg ride with the wrestling guillotine, a pin, is known in jiu jitsu as the twister.
- In competition: a spinal lock, so most rule sets exclude it; allowed in some no-gi and submission-only formats. Check before you enter.
What is the twister?
BJJ Heroes records that Bravo learnt the leg ride and guillotine set-up in high school wrestling, started using it under jiu jitsu rules as a blue belt and built the truck around it. In wrestling the position is a pin that twists the opponent onto their shoulders; in BJJ the same twist is taken past the pin until the partner taps. The lock loads the neck and the lower back at the same time, which is why it is treated as a spinal lock rather than a neck crank alone.
How do you do the twister?
- Get the truck. From the back or from a turtled partner, hook one of their legs with both of your legs, your inside leg threaded between theirs, so you control one side of their hips.
- Control the far arm. Reach over and trap their far arm, pulling it across their body so they cannot post or turn.
- Clear the near arm. Push their near arm down and away, or trap it under your leg, so it cannot block your grip on the head.
- Wrap the head. Reach your arm around the front of their head and clasp your hands, pulling the head toward your shoulder on the side away from the hooked leg.
- Twist slowly. Keep the leg hook tight, pull the head across a little at a time and stop at the tap.
The common mistake is pulling on the head before the hips are locked, which gives a plain neck crank and risks the partner's neck for nothing. Hooks first, arm second, head last, and move slowly. On the bottom, tap as soon as the head starts to turn; a spine gives almost no warning.
Is the twister legal?
No, not in IBJJF competition at any age or belt: the IBJJF Rules Book's table bans spinal locks without a choke for everyone, and chokes combined with a spinal lock for children under 16.
How do you train twister safely?
Drill the truck for control and back takes long before you finish twisters, and agree with your partner before you add the finish. Spats and rash guards are in our BJJ training gear.
Sources
- BJJ Heroes describes the twister, BJJ Heroes
- BJJ Heroes notes that the leg ride, BJJ Heroes
- IBJJF Rules Book, IBJJF
Related terms
Neck crank, Back control / rear mount, Turtle, Rubber guard, Lockdown, No-gi.