A wrestling hold in which one opponent's arm is locked behind their back and bent upward, putting pressure on the shoulder joint.
From 'hammer' (describing the arm's curved position like a hammer) plus 'lock' (a wrestling term), named for the shape the trapped arm assumes.
Professional wrestlers consider the hammerlock one of the oldest and most effective holds—it appears in ancient Roman wrestling manuals and remains devastating because it isolates and pressures a single joint.
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