# ...and the fighter cracks his neck before his attack - when did this get common? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014 "2004-08-09T12:51:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/21 "2004-08-09T20:46:00Z")
Oh, and by the way, I just took my 6 year old son and his buddy to see **Thunderbirds** (oh man, was that bad) and the bad guy played by Ben Kingsley - you guessed, cracked his neck right before doing his mind-control fu on the good guys (the origin of which powers were never explained…) ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/22 "2004-08-09T20:52:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Especially when you consider how nmany of Lee’s signature moves made their way into the _Matrix_. For example, there’s a moment in the subway scene where Neo wipes blood form the corner of his mouth with the back of hs hand, looks at slowly, and then does that come-hither motion to Smith - I clearly remember Bruce lee doing that several times in his movies (including once when fighting Chuck Norris). Bruce Lee also did the swiping your nose with your thumb bit that Neo used in the matrix. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/23 "2004-08-09T20:54:01Z")
It also happens in _Laputa_, just before the fight in the streets of Pazu’s village. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/24 "2004-08-09T23:02:53Z")
Seems like Chong Li did it in [Bloodsport (1988)](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0092675/combined). ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/25 "2004-08-10T04:20:48Z")
I do it. In real life. See, I had a car accident a long time ago. Whiplash. I get this pressure buildup, sometimes. Now, if you fight a lot, you’re going to have the same thing happen to you, from a punch. So… might be just simulating a real life tic. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/26 "2004-08-10T04:31:08Z")
If Bruce Lee did it, it’s possibly this particular movement has antecedents in Hong Kong cinema, possibly dubbed over sounds as part of ritualized fighting. Anybody here familiar enough with the genre to confirm this suspicion? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/27 "2004-08-10T04:57:02Z")
> [@RogueRacer](#): > > In the Lethal Weapon series Murtaugh cracking his neck was the signal that he was about to do a “super accurate” shot with his revolver. I agree, the neck-crack was done to a different drummer, but it was still preparatory to some butt-kicking. And even in that movie it seemed familiar, 10+ years before Agent Smith. I think I agree with the Hong Kong contingent, there’s probably a Lee or other Fu movie where we all first saw this cliche. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/28 "2004-08-10T14:57:02Z")
I seem to remember Oddjob cracking his neck before laying a serious ass-kicking on Sean Connery in _Goldfinger_. That came out in 1964, but some of Bruce Lee’s films pre-date even that one. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014/29 "2004-08-10T16:00:08Z")
Oddjob! You know, it kept buzzing around the back of my head it was James Bond film I first saw this in, and for some reason I was thinking it was Jaws in either **The Spy Who Loved Me** or **Moonraker**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-fighter-cracks-his-neck-before-his-attack-when-did-this-get-common/259014.md?page=1)