Vulcan nerve pinch

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As used in the fictional Star Trek universe, the Vulcan nerve pinch is a technique used mainly by Vulcans to render another lifeform unconscious by pinching the base of the victim's neck with all four fingers opposing the thumb. Normally this is done to other humanoids, although in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Spock successfully uses the nerve pinch on a horse-like creature.

Contents 1 Origin and use 2 Physiology 3 Death grip 4 Other references 5 References

[edit] Origin and use

Leonard Nimoy conceived the maneuver in the early days of the original Star Trek series. The script for The Enemy Within called for Spock to pistol whip Captain Kirk's duplicate, but Nimoy felt that such an action would be undignified for a Vulcan – he therefore invented an alternative.^{[citation needed]} In Star Trek's scripts, the pinch is referred to as the FSNP, for Famous Spock Nerve Pinch.

Since Spock, various other characters in the Star Trek spin-offs use the technique, including non-Vulcans such as the android Data,^[1] the Changeling Odo,^[2] Voyager's holographic Doctor,^[3] and the humans Jean-Luc Picard,^[4] Seven of Nine,^[5] and Jonathan Archer^[6] (though Archer was carrying the katra of the ancient Vulcan Surak at the time).

Some humans, however, have been unable to use the nerve pinch. Spock once commented that he tried but failed to teach it to James T. Kirk.^[7] Likewise, when Dr. McCoy was in possession of Spock's katra, he was unable to use the nerve pinch.^[8]

The nerve pinch has been used on Vulcans and the Vulcanoid Romulans several times, showing that neither race is immune to the technique.^[1][3][5][6]

[edit] Physiology

There is no on-screen canon explanation of how the pinch works. Over the years, fans and Expanded Universe writers have made a number of suggestions as to how it works.

The book The Making of Star Trek by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry offers a simple explanation: the pinch blocks blood and nerve responses from reaching the brain, leading to unconsciousness. In this earliest of Star Trek reference books, the pinch is referred to as the "Spock Pinch".^[9]

One conjecture was that, because of Vulcans' telepathic nature and incredible control over their own bodies, they are able to send a burst of neural energy into another being and overload its nervous system, rendering it unconscious, although the pinch does not work on all species.^{[citation needed]} This was supported by the fact that Dr. McCoy could not use it in Star Trek III, but it has been rendered moot by the fact that many non-telepathic characters have used it in modern incarnations of Trek.

Another conjecture is that it can be done by applying strong and surgically precise pressure over baroreceptors of the carotid sinus at the base of the humanoid neck. The objective would be to elicit the baroreceptor reflex as the receptors detect an apparent high pressure state due to the externally applied force and causes reflex bradycardia and/or hypotension, leading to decreased blood supply to the brain and syncope. However, this would likely require bilateral pressure.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Death grip

The Star Trek episode "The Enterprise Incident" makes reference to a Vulcan "death grip", which is supposedly a more powerful and lethal version of the nerve pinch. Spock pretends to use it on Captain Kirk in order to complete a mission. Dr. Leonard McCoy later asserts that the death grip is a myth, later confirmed by Kirk still being alive. Spock does, however, do something to Kirk that simulates death to such a degree that Romulan doctors certified him dead. Kirk stated that Spock used a nerve pinch to simulate his death, but what Spock exactly does is not explained.

As a result, the term "Vulcan Death Grip" has become an ubiquitous synonym for the Vulcan nerve pinch, despite the fact that the nerve pinch is nonlethal and the death grip may not even exist in Star Trek.

[edit] Other references

• Scott Adams has been known to mention to the nerve pinch in his comic strip Dilbert, where he often refers to it incorrectly as the Vulcan Death Grip.

• Xena on the series Xena Warrior Princess has a lethal Death Pinch.

• The Beastie Boys' song "Intergalactic" says the listener's "knees'll start shaking and your fingers pop / Like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock". Note that the lyrics refer to it as a pinch "of" rather than "from" Spock.

• On an episode of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Kwai Chang Caine uses the "Vulcan Nerve Punch" to defeat several enemies.

• In the Mel Brooks comedy Spaceballs, Lone Starr attempts to knock-out a Spaceball guard using the technique, prompting the following dialogue:

Guard: What the hell are you doing?

Lone Starr: The, uh, Vulcan Neck Pinch...

Guard: No, no, stupid. You've got it much too high. It's down here where the shoulder meets the neck.

Lone Starr: Like this?

Guard: Yeah! (Faints)

• In the film Look Who's Talking Now, Kirstie Alley's character loses her job and takes a temp job playing an elf in Santa's Workshop in a mall. A bratty child asks scornfully if she is an elf. She replies "No, I'm a Vulcan. How would you like a little death grip?", in reference to Alley's role as Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

• Pulp hero Doc Savage uses a similar technique.^{[citation needed]}

• "Vulcan nerve pinch" is also hacker slang for a keyboard combination used to reboot or otherwise interrupt a computer. A common example of this is Control-Alt-Delete for IBM PC compatible computers (see also three-finger salute).

• The book "The Action Hero's Handbook" gives instructions for performing a nerve pinch.

• In The Simpsons episode Mayored to the Mob, Homer uses the Vulcan Nerve Pinch or as Marge thinks, a sleeper hold to knock out his children. He is then scolded by Marge and promptly repeats the technique on her also. Realizing there is 30 minutes left until supper he applies it to himself.

[edit] References