From falls & poppers to plaiting & cracking technique, this section is dedicated in memory of Sergei, IndyGear Staff Member and Whip Guru. Always remember to keep "Celebratin' Life!"
As you said Indy K, whipped cream for the cake every day -and lots of crackers.
Gene is there any thing special I should be careful about? I'm a newbie, so any advice will help.
An absolutely beautiful whip! Congratulations again on a smart and fine purchase. Thanx for the pics. It looks just like my 8 footer that I purchased 3 or 4 yr. ago. First thing: EYE PROTECTION. Get yourself a pair of safety glasses or goggles. Don't practice on dirt or gravel, a nice grass lawn or polished floor is best. Pick up a soft nylon brush (like a finger nail brush) to clean any dirt your whip picks up. Don't put dressing on your whip right now. It's just been plaited and should have plenty of dressing or plaiting soap in it at this stage. Dress it in a month or two, if you think it needs it.
The best thing would be to find someone to teach you whipcracking. 'Hands-on' with somebody who knows what they are doing is always the best bet. But I realize that not everyone can do that. IMHO, the next best thing would be to purchase some whipcracking videos. Alex Green's "Whipcracking Made Easy, Part I" is a good one to start with. You can purchase it from Western Stage Props or David Morgan. I'm sure there are other places to purchase it. Mike Murphy's "Fundamental Whipcracking Techniques" is one of the best instructional video's ever produced; it should be in every whip fans collection. You also might want to pick up Andrew Conway's "Bullwhip Book". It's excellent.
Don't try to force a crack out of your whip using too much muscle. You can do that, and the whip will crack, but it places an unfair burden on you and your whip. The best whipcracking comes from timing and as little muscle as possible. Keep in mind your whip is brand new. It will be stiff and need a breaking in period. It helps if you go extra slow at this point. For a beginner with a new whip, this can be the "something's wrong with my whip--it won't crack" stage. If you are having trouble, just keep telling yourself, "This whip wants to crack--it's me that keeps getting in the way!" Heh! Remember to try to keep your wrist fairly stiff, that helps.
The two cracks I would not do too much with these Morgan's bulls are the Aussie "Figure 8's" and "Volleys". I feel that the Aussie style of doing these two cracks puts too much strain on the thong/handle junction. These cracks come off best with stockwhips or long handled bulls.
Besides my 8 foot, I have a 10 foot (in black) and the 6 foot, 16 plait "Whip Artist" version of this whip. I love Morgan's whips. There are some very skillful people making great copies of these whips. I've spent time cracking some of those. I think Joe Strain's are the nicest ones. (FLAME RETARDENT: This is no swipe at the other great whipmakers who contribute here. You all make wonderful whips.) But, IMNSHO, there is just something intrinsically different about Morgan's whips. Heh, one thing is the price!!!
Good luck with everything. Keep the forum posted on your progress. I'm new here, but there sure seems to be a wealth of info in this forum. Some very skillful people are posting here and I'm sure they will chime in with sound advice.
K, Fine looking whip you have, a real beauty. Congratulations and enjoy.
Gene, Good Info. Echoes what has been said here many times. I have to admit, I volley with DM bullwhips on rare occasion. However; I would not try to break the Guinness record with one. Sharp flexing at the handle is a bad thing, though Proper volley technique can lessen the stress significantly. I just don’t like the amount flex it puts there on that particular style bullwhip either, even with the newer Morgan whips where that transition junction has been beefed up. ( See the related topic at: viewtopic.php?t=13878 ).
In contrast though I never really found figure eights to put any considerable stress on the thong/handle junction. The forward and reverse cattlemen’s crack used seem to flow pretty naturally for me with little wrist motion.
Dan
Last edited by BullWhipBorton on Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Pretty interesting about cracking a Morgan. I've got two right now, a 10 and an 8, and I think they require a different style of whipcracking than the Aussie style as show by Mike Murphy and others.
I found the 8 footer to be good for flicks, the cattleman's crack, and the horizontal cattleman's or overhead crack (and any combination or variation thereof).
The 10 footer really doesn't do the cattleman's crack, so I'm pretty much limited to flicks and the overhead crack.
One thing that can be cool to do with a Morgan is the butterfly, which is a series of three consecutive flicks sweeping one way, reversing the direction of the whip and doing three flicks sweeping the other way (see John Brady's video).
Also, with the Morgans I use flicks for targeting and wraps. I think wraps are really where Morgan whips excel over others.
With the Morgans I tend to stay away from volleys, fast figure 8's, and pretty much anything that requires a strong wrist action. As Morgan says in his book, American bullwhips are supposed to be thrown with little or no wrist action, as this puts extra stress on the handle/lash transition. This transition tends to be chronically loose in Morgan's whips, which gives them their uniqueness, but also limits the cracks that would be done with them, or at least done well.
In terms of whipcracking styles, it sort of breaks down that Australia is the land of multiple cracking (if in doubt watch Murphy's 'Dueling Whips' as I don't believe there to be an American who could compete with those guys (sorry, Canasta)) and America is the land of targeting and wraps (the performer Gery L. Deer being a good example). Morgan himself told me his whips are for targets and wraps. Thus he built a whip for the American style of whipcracking, not the Ausralian style, and a #### like me who bought two of his whips but is obsessed with the Australian style just has to deal.
That's a great thread on the volley's. About the F8's: Yeah, they are doable with my Morgans, but I don't like doing them in quick succession, mostly just to join cracks. For me, volleys and F/FF8's are so pleasing with long handled bulls and stockwhips, there's no reason why I have to do them with my Morgans. However, there's few absolutes. Others mileage may very.
Thanks everybody, both for the positive comments and for the advice.
genexs and winrichwhips: posting my pic's has yielded more information on whip
maintenance and cracking than all my searching here on COW and on the web, THANKS I am indeed a wiser man now.
Adam, Gene, thanks. You both said that much more eloquently then I could have. No doubt about it certain whips work better for certain styles of whip cracking.
Great Morgan, you made the right choice. You have gotten a lot of good advice already enjoy! You will be cracking that baby long after most of the cheep whips gone.
