Star Trek: Every Vulcan Ability You Need To Know
1. The Vulcan Nerve Pinch
The famous "Vulcan nerve pinch" was invented by the legendary actor who played Spock on The Original Series, Leonard Nimoy. The script for the episode, The Enemy Within, called for Spock to incapacitate a hostile duplicate of Captain Kirk. Nimoy believed that Spock was too dignified to use brunt force on an opponent, so he suggested the nerve pinch as a way to harmlessly render someone unconscious.
The nerve pinch is performed by applying pressure to the base of an opponent's neck, apparently triggering a specific nerve that causes the nearly instant loss of consciousness for most life forms (though there are some exceptions).
The nerve pinch is a staple of Vulcan culture, a martial arts technique that matches the Vulcan philosophy of efficiency and skill-training. The technique takes years to master, but most Vulcans eventually learn to employ it.
On rare occasions, humans and other lifeforms have been able to use the nerve pinch, but it was much harder for non-Vulcans. Data, Odo, Michael Burnham, and Picard (after his mind meld with the Vulcan, Sarek) are a few notable examples.