Vulcan neck Pinch

[Plum]

^^^
Well, I think Nimoy tells that story. So yea, that's pretty much the gist of the creation of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch.

I think it's safe to say, in a retcon sort of wayy, that there's some psychic thrust here. Though perhaps beyond the abilities of an emotional Romulan, and Human.

Kirk: Too bad you can't teach me that.
Spock: I have tried captain.

Name that quotes ep and you get a cookie.

 

[JoeZhang]

Plum said:
^^^
Well, I think Nimoy tells that story. So yea, that's pretty much the gist of the creation of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch.

In his book, "I am spock"

It came about during the shooting of "The Enemy Within," an episode wherein Captain Kirk was confronted by the "evil" half of his personality—his own "Mr. Hyde," if you will. In one particular scene, this "evil" character had confronted the "good" Kirk and was about to destroy him with a phaser blast.


The original script called for Spock to steal up behind the "bad" Kirk and strike him over the head with the butt of a phaser. The scene jarred me when I first read it; it seemed more appropriate for the Old West than the twenty-third century. I could practically hear the Vulcan whispering in my ear:


SPOCK: Barbaric. A Vulcan would avoid unnecessary violence at all costs. We have, after all, made a thorough study of the human anatomy, and utilize more scientific methods, which render the use of force obsolete.


In keeping with the Vulcan emphasis on touch, I spoke to the director, Leo Penn, about my concern. Leo agreed it was valid, and asked what alternatives I might suggest. After explaining the business about Vulcans and how they no doubt were thoroughly familiar with the anatomy of recalcitrant humans, I suggested that they were capable of transmitting a special energy from their fingertips. If applied to the proper nerve centers on a human's neck and shoulder, that energy would render the human unconscious.

 

[Odon]

DarkHelmet said:
Well, Odon "read" it, but you're disputing it.

No, he's right. I remember now, the writer's originally had Spock knocking out a guard with a karate chop or something, and Nimoy came up with the nerve pinch instead. I think it was Nimoy's theory that Vulcan's could give some kind of 'nerve shock' through the fingers but obviously that's been contradicted by later canon.

 

[estrea]

From David Gerrold's The World of Star Trek, in which he tape recorded his interview with Mr. Nimoy: "I remember very vividly the day we came up with the Vulcan nerve-pinch. We had a script (The Enemy Within) in which Captain Kirk had been fragmented into two characters. It was a Jekyll-and-Hyde type of story where there was a good Kirk and the evil Kirk. And in the scene where they confronted each other and the good Kirk is about to shoot the evil Kirk, it was written that Spock slips up behind the evil Kirk and knocks him out with the butt of his phaser. And I rebelled against that --- I said that's a hangover from the westerns. In the 22nd century, you don't have to slip up behind people --- Vulcans don't have to slip up behind people and hit them over the head with butts of guns. We should find some other way of doing this. And the director, Leo Penn, said, 'What would you suggest?' And I said, 'Well, I happen to know that Vulcans have this power to render people unconscious through their knowledge of the human anatomy plus a particular Vulcan vibration. And this is the way it's done.' I told Bill (Shatner) what I planned to do, and Bill understood immediately, and I reached up behind him and did that --- and Bill just kind of froze up and went unconscious. And that's the way that was born. Roddenberry saw it the next day in the dailies, and loved it. He started including it in future scripts." (All empheses in original, except name of script.)

 

[DarkHelmet]

Right on!

Thanks, everyone, for the background.

 

[tachibana]

DIM MAK!!!

 

[Sito_Jaxa]

Did Picard ever do a Vulcan nerve pinch or am I making it up?

 

[Sito_Jaxa]

Timo said:
But that explanation doesn't wash at all if Kirk was supposed to have the potential (no pun intended) for learning the trick, too. Sorry, Mr Nimoy.

If we are going with the whole "you need telepathic abilities to do a pinch" theme then who is to say that Kirk didn't have a bit in his genes? Dr. Miranda Jones from the episode Is There in Truth No Beauty?" had some telepathic abilities. Also, don't they talk about humans ESP level in the episode Where No Man Has Gone Before?

 

[estrea]

IMHO, Mr. Nimoy has never said no human could learn the Vulcan Nerve Pinch. And in the above-mentioned interview which took place long before Mr. Nimoy's own book came out, he refers to it as a 'vibration.' Ergo, just as some humans have higher 'intuitive' powers than others, it is my belief that in the Trek Universe, some humans *would* be able to master the Vulcan Nerve Pinch while others would *not*. It seems to be a combination of anatomical knowledge and this ability to send some 'vibration/magnetic resonance' or whatever into the person touched.

 

[I am not Spock]

Sito_Jaxa said:
Did Picard ever do a Vulcan nerve pinch or am I making it up?

I don't seem to recall Picard ever doing it, but Data has, on at least two occasions. He did it to Sela in Unification, and to a Reman in ST: Nemesis. There are probably other instances, too.

 

[blakbyrd]

^ Correct.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

Nimoy's version is correct, but his memory is just slightly off. The shooting script says nothing about a "phaser butt." It simply says Spock "kayoes" (K. O. -- Knock Out) the double. Now, certainly the director may have wanted to play it as a swipe from a phaser butt, but the script does not say that.

FWIW.

Sir Rhosis

 

[xoEJox]

Well, if you think about it, we've never had a clear indication that ALL Vulcans can even do it. Most of the characters we've seen are extraordinary, hence their parts in the stories.

I get the impression that the pinch is not something that only biological Vulcans can do, so it'd make sense that Romulans could. But, being able to do something and knowing how to do something are two different things. It's been shown to be a trained ability, as others have mentioned.

Fred the Vulcan stockboy is probably in the same boat as Kirk when it comes to the pinch.

 

[Elder Knight]

I think that in the novelization of Star Trek IV, Kirk executes a Vulcan pinch-knockout based upon what he has learned from Spock. Now, I could understand McCoy doing this, having held Spock's "katra" for some time, but not Kirk.

Am I remembering correctly?

 

[A beaker full of death]

Elder Knight said:
I think that in the novelization of Star Trek IV, Kirk executes a Vulcan pinch-knockout based upon what he has learned from Spock. Now, I could understand McCoy doing this, having held Spock's "katra" for some time, but not Kirk.

Actually, Trek IV specifically showed that McCoy COULDN'T do it, katra or no.

 

[Zycho32]

Jumping in to nitpick, but McCoy failed his neck pinch in TSFS, Trek III.

Never read the novelisations for III or IV though, so I don't know if or when Kirk succeeded at this.