Hello fellow Whip crackers,
This is my first post here but I’ve been enjoying reading over the site since joining a few weeks ago. I had a question that maybe someone here can help answer. It’s about a routine called The 4 corners. While speaking with a former member of the W.W.A.C about bullwhip tricks, we started discussing the Australian Hassetts 4 corners figure and how its considered one of the more challenging skills to master but he also mentioned that there was another version of the 4 corners. A more traditional version that has sort of been lost and forgotten. Have any of you heard of this routine or seen it preformed? I’d really like to try to find more information about it and how it’s done.
Thank you in advance.
Wild
The 4 corners?
Moderator: BullWhipBorton
Re: The 4 corners?
If I recall Mike Murphy does it two ways on his DVD.
Louie
Louie
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DarenHenryW
- Museum Curator
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Re: The 4 corners?
I think Anthony does four separate overhead cracks that some (if not Anthony himself, I can't remember), call the Four corners, on his Mastering the Bullwhip DVD. Following the face of a clock for where to point each crack, it's an overhead crack (10 o'clock) then a reverse overhead (4 o'clock) then another overhead crack (2 o'clock) then a final reverse overhead (8' o'clock). They are four separate cracks, which require a bit of a rotation of the body to get to each one. Nowhere near as difficult as the Hassett's four corners, but still pretty neat. Naturally, you could change to 12, 6, 3, 9, etc . . .louiefoxx wrote:If I recall Mike Murphy does it two ways on his DVD.
Louie
DHW
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BullWhipBorton
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Re: The 4 corners?
WildWhips, if you are familiar with the changing planes volley routine called the arrowhead? The old style four corners is a version of the Arrowhead preformed in the overhead plane with a 4th crack added in, the reverse crack in the fast figure eight to finish it and get the whip cacking at all four points around you in succession.
As Louie mentioned Mike Murphy talks about it & demos it briefly in his video "Fundamental Whipcracking Techniques". I’m pretty sure I remember seeing John Brady perform it in the video "John Brady: Australia's Greatest Whip Artist" too. It’s a neat routine and one that not a lot of people give much recognition too these days. As the story goes the old style four corners routine fell out of popularity because it’s difficult to incorporate into double handed whip cracking. Mike told me that former AWPA Australian Whip Cracking Champion Andrew Thomas was really good at performing it double handled though. Both the old style four corners and the Hassetts four corners are considerably different then Anthony’s version that Daren described. That’s a combination of 4 cracks comprising of the overhead and reverse overhead done in succession so that the whip is cracking out at each of the four corners around the body.
Dan
As Louie mentioned Mike Murphy talks about it & demos it briefly in his video "Fundamental Whipcracking Techniques". I’m pretty sure I remember seeing John Brady perform it in the video "John Brady: Australia's Greatest Whip Artist" too. It’s a neat routine and one that not a lot of people give much recognition too these days. As the story goes the old style four corners routine fell out of popularity because it’s difficult to incorporate into double handed whip cracking. Mike told me that former AWPA Australian Whip Cracking Champion Andrew Thomas was really good at performing it double handled though. Both the old style four corners and the Hassetts four corners are considerably different then Anthony’s version that Daren described. That’s a combination of 4 cracks comprising of the overhead and reverse overhead done in succession so that the whip is cracking out at each of the four corners around the body.
Dan
Re: The 4 corners?
Thank you very much gentlemen,
I appreciate your helpful replies and the information you have supplied. Bullwhip Borton your latest video on youtube demonstrating dual Hassetts 4 corners was partly responsible for this inquiry, well-done sir. I am familiar with the Arrowhead and met Mike Murphy when he was in the United States some years back. I will have to look into those videos but perhaps you might considerd include the traditional version in your own next video.
Thank you once again
Wild
I appreciate your helpful replies and the information you have supplied. Bullwhip Borton your latest video on youtube demonstrating dual Hassetts 4 corners was partly responsible for this inquiry, well-done sir. I am familiar with the Arrowhead and met Mike Murphy when he was in the United States some years back. I will have to look into those videos but perhaps you might considerd include the traditional version in your own next video.
Thank you once again
Wild
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winrichwhips
- Professor of Archaeology
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Re: The 4 corners?
As far as I know there was only one Hassett's 4 Corners. I've talked with Charlie Hassett and he said there's been a few timing variations throughout the years, changing which crack gets the accent, but it's still 4 cracks in the overhead plane.
With John Brady's '4-corners', he was basically doing 4 cracks of the arrowhead. I have a feeling that he was trying to copy Hassett's 4 corners, but perhaps without good video to study (or without Charlie to explain it to him) he did what he thought was the Hassett's 4 corners. When I saw Charlie a couple months ago he was trying to describe to me what I'm sure was John doing the fast Queensland Crossover. Charlie thought it was a very fast, staggered, two-handed arrowhead. I have video of Ben Hughes doing just that trick, and it didn't strike me as something that could be done as fast and clean and loud as the Queensland Crossover. So, the point of that is two great whip crackers having trouble understanding what the other was doing. Thanks to good video and good sportsmanship, I think information about tricks is easier to get nowadays.
Nowadays at the competitions in Australia the top competitors are doing all sorts of combinations with the 4 corners. While doing 4 corners in both hands, it can be done together, staggered, each ways, and offset/balanced. I'm not sure what to tall that last timing, but it's where both whips would be cracking on the same side as they go from side to side. Some call it each ways, though Ben Hughes didn't call it that.
The 4 corners in one hand can be combined while doing cracks in the other hand, such as fast figure 8s, volleys on the side, volleys in front, whoosh bangs, break aways, the snake killer or drum rolls, and the arrowhead. Ben Hughes, Daniel Wicks, and Luke Fritsch are some of the Australian whip crackers that are very good at these combinations. I've been working on all of these. If you go to a whip cracking competition in Australia and want to get the most points for a routine, being good with all the variations of the 4 corners comes in handy.
Anyhow, what I just wrote reflects my interest in the Australian style of whip cracking. As far as learning something else called the 4 corners, I can imagine many whip crackers back in the day working out a 4 crack pattern on their own and choosing to call it the 4 corners. Naming can be a tricky thing. Some names get repeated and can add to confusion about what's what.
-Adam
With John Brady's '4-corners', he was basically doing 4 cracks of the arrowhead. I have a feeling that he was trying to copy Hassett's 4 corners, but perhaps without good video to study (or without Charlie to explain it to him) he did what he thought was the Hassett's 4 corners. When I saw Charlie a couple months ago he was trying to describe to me what I'm sure was John doing the fast Queensland Crossover. Charlie thought it was a very fast, staggered, two-handed arrowhead. I have video of Ben Hughes doing just that trick, and it didn't strike me as something that could be done as fast and clean and loud as the Queensland Crossover. So, the point of that is two great whip crackers having trouble understanding what the other was doing. Thanks to good video and good sportsmanship, I think information about tricks is easier to get nowadays.
Nowadays at the competitions in Australia the top competitors are doing all sorts of combinations with the 4 corners. While doing 4 corners in both hands, it can be done together, staggered, each ways, and offset/balanced. I'm not sure what to tall that last timing, but it's where both whips would be cracking on the same side as they go from side to side. Some call it each ways, though Ben Hughes didn't call it that.
The 4 corners in one hand can be combined while doing cracks in the other hand, such as fast figure 8s, volleys on the side, volleys in front, whoosh bangs, break aways, the snake killer or drum rolls, and the arrowhead. Ben Hughes, Daniel Wicks, and Luke Fritsch are some of the Australian whip crackers that are very good at these combinations. I've been working on all of these. If you go to a whip cracking competition in Australia and want to get the most points for a routine, being good with all the variations of the 4 corners comes in handy.
Anyhow, what I just wrote reflects my interest in the Australian style of whip cracking. As far as learning something else called the 4 corners, I can imagine many whip crackers back in the day working out a 4 crack pattern on their own and choosing to call it the 4 corners. Naming can be a tricky thing. Some names get repeated and can add to confusion about what's what.
-Adam
Re: The 4 corners?
winrichwhips wrote:As far as I know there was only one Hassett's 4 Corners. I've talked with Charlie Hassett and he said there's been a few timing variations throughout the years, changing which crack gets the accent, but it's still 4 cracks in the overhead plane.
With John Brady's '4-corners', he was basically doing 4 cracks of the arrowhead. I have a feeling that he was trying to copy Hassett's 4 corners, but perhaps without good video to study (or without Charlie to explain it to him) he did what he thought was the Hassett's 4 corners. When I saw Charlie a couple months ago he was trying to describe to me what I'm sure was John doing the fast Queensland Crossover. Charlie thought it was a very fast, staggered, two-handed arrowhead. I have video of Ben Hughes doing just that trick, and it didn't strike me as something that could be done as fast and clean and loud as the Queensland Crossover. So, the point of that is two great whip crackers having trouble understanding what the other was doing. Thanks to good video and good sportsmanship, I think information about tricks is easier to get nowadays.
Nowadays at the competitions in Australia the top competitors are doing all sorts of combinations with the 4 corners. While doing 4 corners in both hands, it can be done together, staggered, each ways, and offset/balanced. I'm not sure what to tall that last timing, but it's where both whips would be cracking on the same side as they go from side to side. Some call it each ways, though Ben Hughes didn't call it that.
The 4 corners in one hand can be combined while doing cracks in the other hand, such as fast figure 8s, volleys on the side, volleys in front, whoosh bangs, break aways, the snake killer or drum rolls, and the arrowhead. Ben Hughes, Daniel Wicks, and Luke Fritsch are some of the Australian whip crackers that are very good at these combinations. I've been working on all of these. If you go to a whip cracking competition in Australia and want to get the most points for a routine, being good with all the variations of the 4 corners comes in handy.
Anyhow, what I just wrote reflects my interest in the Australian style of whip cracking. As far as learning something else called the 4 corners, I can imagine many whip crackers back in the day working out a 4 crack pattern on their own and choosing to call it the 4 corners. Naming can be a tricky thing. Some names get repeated and can add to confusion about what's what.
-Adam
And I thought I was cool cause I learned the singleton special.