The Boston Crab is one of the most widely used submission maneuvers in professional wrestling but I’ve seen it applied efficiently in competitive mat wrestling matches too.
The hold starts out with the defender on her back. The attacker takes hold of both the victim’s legs, hooks them under her armpit and turns the victim over onto her stomach. Then, she leans back into a semi-squatting position, pulling the victim’s legs towards her head. Really flexible victims can sometimes ride this one out because they don’t feel the pressure in their lower back the same way regular wrestlerettes do, but they too can be broken.

In joshi puroresu (Japanese women wrestling) matches you’ll often see a girl hang on in this hold for several minutes without submitting – a sign of extreme resilience.

Possible escape: if you can power out of the hold by catching your attacker off –balance and flipping her over, you’re lucky. Most of the time though, your only escape is to tap out.  Crawling forward using your arms to get to the ropes and have the hold broken is also a solution.

Rating: once sunk in deep enough, this hold is sure to have your opponent in tears within seconds. Extremely efficient.