Whip Cracking Question...

mooniteman · Post by **mooniteman** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:23 pm

Hey guys - so here's my deal: I just can't seem to figure out how the #### to crack my whip right before I wrap it around something. I know theres the side arm crack but it eludes me - any good videos or tips on how to go about this?

I have an eight footer btw .... whip

Moony

Sergei · Post by **Sergei** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:31 pm

You simply do a sidearm crack. A sidearm is basically a forward crack, but from the side of the body - different plane. Practice the sidearm and notice where it cracks. The wrapping part is simple. After the crack, the whip is exhausted and inertia will carry the loop. So make sure your target that you want to crack, is placed after the crack. The end of the whip, will safely wrap around your subject or target, creating the perception that they were hit or close to the hit.

For a demonstration of this on video, our buddy Chris Camp has something excellent on YouTube. He is doing target cracking, but about 1/2 way through this video, he does a wrap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz7d-y1J ... re=related

mooniteman · Post by **mooniteman** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:46 pm

So it's only a circus crack from the side - sounds simpler then it is... I'll give it a go - any other tips?

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:52 pm

It depends on which throw you do, if your doing a side arm crack, which is a lot like throwing a ball at the side, its basically a timing thing. Sometimes a light bend at the wrist as the whip is making that hair pin curve down the length of itself will help get the crack.

Chris does some great examples in his video, with a pretty assistant even. If you check out my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_p_Uo40c0U i dont have any pretty assistants in it, but it’s the very first crack that I do. I am using a 10 ft David Morgan there, but it works with and 8ft too. In this case I am cracking the whip more directly front of me to align with the camera, but for wrapping a target, you will want the whip to crack off to the side and far enough behind the target, so that when the whip cracks, the energy is expended and the momentum of the whip will safely carry it around the target wrapping it.

Keep practicing at it. The side arm crack can be a tough crack to master for a lot of people, so don’t get discouraged. I think just about all the commercial videos available will help you with this one too if you picked one up.

Dan

hollywood1340 · Post by **hollywood1340** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:30 pm

A sticky on this very quesion would be nice to get board terminology the same...across the board. For me a circus is up/back, then forward, so a circus crack to the side would be a a reverse sidearm, followed by a sidearm. Just a thought.