The Grip

[hollywood1340]

If you've paged through The Complete Making of Indiana Jones the grip Harrison used in the first three movies becomes apparent. And in working on my latest blog post I also discovered it makes the Cairo Flash easier as well! How do you hold a whip and what have you learned about different grips? I myself have found that each grip gives a different behavior to the whip depending on what I want to do with it at a given time. (Due to the fact this is directly related to my latest post I've included the link below. Please understand the only purpose of the link is to ask an honest question for here on the board. I try to keep cross linking to my personal stuff at a minimum.)
http://supersonicstudio.yolasite.com/su ... g/the-grip

[Satipo]

Could you describe the Harrison grip for those of us who haven't seen the book?

[VP]

There are photos in the link. My choice is the thumb.

[Long John Tinfoil]

Well, trying to teach myself with the various posts and links here, I went with the ball and socket V, but I never could manage the Cairo Flash. Now I"ll try the Harrison grip and see if I get any better results (and get bonus SA points while I'm at it).

LJ

PS

Should we put _ on this to clear up any historic misconceptions?

[Indiana County Jr.]

For me it is the ball and thumb on my normal whips, when using the Indy IV, I have to use the "harrison" grip.

Crack On!
Allen

[kwad]

I'm in the "ball & thumb" club.

However, just for the heck of it, I just went out to give the "Harrison Grip" a try.
What daya know? It did make the Cairo Flash alot easier to pull off. (I was even actually able to pull off the underhand crack, which I can never do otherwise ).

Although, on the last try, I ended up loosing the end of my fall/cracker and it is just dark enough to not find it. (Oh well, the one I just made works better that the one that came with my 8' Todd's whip)

[Eloquent 1]

I chose ball & socket V as the grip I use most often; then I got to thinking about my last session, and I think I cycle through all of these grips a various points in time.

I too have found that the grip makes a significant difference, especially with the Cairo flash.

[hollywood1340]

Through the wonders of the DVD with A-B repeat I must have watched the Cairo Flash a dozen times this last weekend. It's not artistry, it's desperation! In whips and whip making David makes the comment the whip is always a tool used when needed and the Cairo alley scene is a wonderful demonstration of this. I suppose Indy could have pulled out his pistol and started shooting people but he didn't. The whip use is just like the movie, gritty and with an edge he has one purpose and that is to move the bad guys away from the cart! Pretty cool scene.

[Marhala]

Hey James, interesting post. I myself discovered that by just going around the base of the handle with your index finger and your thumb, and rotating inside the palm (the palm barely surrounding the knob), although loose, allows the whip to do most of the job. This one is specially good for flicks. Ball and socket, for cattleman's, etc. The thumb for alignement when doing target work.

Thanks for this interesting topic.

Aldo.

[DarenHenryW]

Be versatile . . .

DHW