Glossary /// Alias
Reverse kimura
Also known as Hammerlock — the canonical term used on this site.
Training background: Sometimes used informally — refers to the behind-the-back direction compared to the kimura; not a universally accepted term
Colloquial — reverse-direction kimura (hammerlock)
Reverse kimura is the colloquial name for the hammerlock — using the “reverse kimura” label that frames the technique as a directional inversion of the kimura’s shoulder-rotation mechanic.
Etymology. The “reverse” descriptor is misleading about the mechanics, which is worth knowing if the name is what you learned it by: both locks load the shoulder in the same direction. What reverses is where the arm sits — the kimura rotates it in front of the body, the hammerlock behind it. The label is informal and predominates in gym vocabulary where students learning the hammerlock describe it relative to the more familiar kimura.
Mechanics. The configuration loads the shoulder against its natural range of internal rotation and extension at once — the same rotational direction the kimura uses, with the arm folded behind the back rather than turned in front of it.
Cross-reference. “Hammerlock” is the canonical name. Full mechanical coverage on Hammerlock.