Club Obi Wan

I just got back from a weeks vacation in the rolling hills of New Hampshire, and as always, I brought my whips to work out with.

It's a great place to crack because the property is high on a meadow above a lake (in the shadow of Mt Monadnoc) and depending on where on the property I crack, the sound really echoes nicely!

Anyways, here's a edited down QT version of 3 videos I took with my little Canon Powershot 450.

Enjoy

10MB HiRes version
4 MB LowRes version

That looks like a beatiful spot to crack whips. Really nice. I saw you doing a crack that GraveRobberGreg and I came up with and I have no clue what it is really called, if it has a name. We call it the forcefield crack. Okay, maybe it's dumb, but with the whip cracking in front and back, we thought it was appropriate and it made us laugh. So that made it good enough for us.

I happened to notice that the link to that video had whitvani as a part of it. You aren't one of those folks that sell the piece of junk speakers out of a white van in parking lots, are you.

They always come up with some kind of story like, they were doing a job and had some brand new speakers left over and can sell them to you for 200 bucks if you buy them now, before they have to go back to their shop. They make you feel like the speakers "fell off the truck" or something.

An editor of one of the big stereo magazines was coming out of a store and was approached by some of those guys once. He never told them he was a stereo editor, and bought the speakers. His purpose was to do a test report on them.

Well, the result of the test was that since they made noise, technically they were speakers, but they didn't have a cross over and had very cheap driver or drivers, and were without a doubt the worst speakers that had ever been tested. Just goes to show you that you get what you pay for. When it is a deal that is too good to be true, it is probably too good to be true.

Bufflehead Jones wrote:That looks like a beatiful spot to crack whips. Really nice. I saw you doing a crack that GraveRobberGreg and I came up with and I have no clue what it is really called, if it has a name. We call it the forcefield crack. Okay, maybe it's dumb, but with the whip cracking in front and back, we thought it was appropriate and it made us laugh. So that made it good enough for us.

For the record, neither you or GraveRobber came up with it.
You both saw me perform it at mmarosys house last year.
I learned it from Sergei 2 years ago at the QM.
In fact, there is a video around here somewhere of Walt performing it
at the QM almost 4 years ago.

And dude, takes your meds before posting!
What the heck are you talking about below...???

I happened to notice that the link to that video had whitvani as a part of it. You aren't one of those folks that sell the piece of junk speakers out of a white van in parking lots, are you.

They always come up with some kind of story like, they were doing a job and had some brand new speakers left over and can sell them to you for 200 bucks if you buy them now, before they have to go back to their shop. They make you feel like the speakers "fell off the truck" or something.

An editor of one of the big stereo magazines was coming out of a store and was approached by some of those guys once. He never told them he was a stereo editor, and bought the speakers. His purpose was to do a test report on them.

Well, the result of the test was that since they made noise, technically they were speakers, but they didn't have a cross over and had very cheap driver or drivers, and were without a doubt the worst speakers that had ever been tested. Just goes to show you that you get what you pay for. When it is a deal that is too good to be true, it is probably too good to be true.

Great video. What whip were you using in it?

Indiana Ripper wrote:Great video. What whip were you using in it?

And I'm guessing the length is about 10 feet? It looks really long.

That would be my 10 foot Paul Stenhouse. One of my favorites!
(Besides Kyles PocketBull...)

....And I think Sergie learned that crack from Mark Allen.

Great video movie clip Dalexs, I enjoyed watching it. Nice looking bullwhip too. Very smooth and fluid action seems like its probably got a nice weight and balance to it. Plus it looks like your having fun and that’s what really counts!

Dan

Relax Dude. Talk about needing some meds.

First off, as far as I know, you were not at Mike's house last year. I know I wasn't. You may be referring to nearly two and a half years ago in June of 2004.

If that is what you are referring to, then that was before I had ever even cracked a whip. I didn't know for sure which end was supposed to crack. I did not even attempt to crack one of the whips that night. I spent the entire time talking to MJ and his wife, maybe you thought I was watching you more than I was.

Anyway, I have never met Sergie, and I have never seen any video of him crcking whips. Last year's QM was the first trip that I have made to the QM.

I was not trying to steal the copyright of anyone's personal whip crack or mess with the Good House Keeping Seal of Approval. I even said that I didn't know what that crack was called and if in fact it even had a name. This would imply that if GraveRobber and I could come up with it, with our simple little minds, then it must not be that hard and someone else has probably done it before, and they may have even given it a name. We did. And, we thought it was funny.

GraveRobber and I are completely self taught and we had no one around us to show us how to crack whips. It was strictly a trial and error type of learning experience. The only whip cracking video we have seen, just to get us started, was Paul Stenhouse's dvd. As far as I remember, this crack is not on that dvd.

We first did this particular crack by accident and thought it was cool. We then actually tried to repeat it and get better at it. I am sure that we haven't "invented" a single crack that hasn't been done before and we don't claim to have invented any.

It seems that every crack that we have figured out how to do, has a name. Some are even called by several different names for the same crack. There are so many people that can do so much more than I can with a whip, I know I am never going to invent a whipcrack that no one else had ever done. I didn't claim that we invented this particular crack. I just recognized something that GraveRobber and I do, and we don't even know if it has a name.

Actually, it is pretty cool to hear about where that crack may have started. I am not even sure who Mark Allen is, I have read the name before, but I think he is a whip maker. Anyway, next time I see his name, I will pay attention and find out who he is, and what he does.

As far as the part that you didn't understand, it looks like the link to your video is an abbreviation of "white van". The only thing like that, that I am aware of, is the guys that sell junk speakers out of white vans in parking lots. If you never heard of them, then I guess that is not the reason that is in your link to your video. I guess it is safe to say that you are not a white van guy, and that answered my question.

Dalexs wrote:For the record, neither you or GraveRobber came up with it.
You both saw me perform it at mmarosys house last year.
I learned it from Sergei 2 years ago at the QM.

One other little thing. As far as I know, GraveRobber has never been to Mike's house. If he hasn't been there, kinda hard for him to see something there.




...and I thought my memory was bad.



Ummm.....Let me see. You learned this particular crack from Sergie at the QM two years ago. That would have been in November, 2004. The one and only time that you and I have been to Mike's house was in June, 2004. So, you mean to tell me that you demonstrated a whipcrack nearly six months before you learned it. Wow, that was a good trick. You must be a fast learner.

Nice clip, Dalexs! I got back from Maine myself a week ago. Spent 5 days at some friends' house, with the Penobscot river in their backyard. Spent everyday out in back overlooking the lake working on some 2-handed routines. Kayakers and fishing boats going by would take a few seconds and watch, even wave. Gr8 country up there!

Steve.

Bufflehead Jones wrote:[One other little thing. As far as I know, GraveRobber has never been to Mike's house. If he hasn't been there, kinda hard for him to see something there.

Sorry, I thought he was there in June. My bad.
Please excuse aging memories, I'm sure you know how to do that...

Ummm.....Let me see. You learned this particular crack from Sergie at the QM two years ago. That would have been in November, 2004. The one and only time that you and I have been to Mike's house was in June, 2004. So, you mean to tell me that you demonstrated a whipcrack nearly six months before you learned it. Wow, that was a good trick. You must be a fast learner.

Back to the future... actually, after looking at pics, I realized I learned it at the QM in 2003, (which took place in May ) So some quick math puts that at about 3 years ago.
Again, sorry about the aging memories

BullWhipBorton wrote:....And I think Sergie learned that crack from Mark Allen.

Great video movie clip Dalexs, I enjoyed watching it. Nice looking bullwhip too. Very smooth and fluid action seems like its probably got a nice weight and balance to it. Plus it looks like your having fun and that’s what really counts!

Dan

It definately has some weight to it. A workout you will get.
But, like I said, it really is one of my favorites and it cracks like you wouldn't believe. Paul really makes great whips.

And jabahutt70, we should get together sometime.
There are a few of us in the area and I belong to the NE & Maine chapter of Whip Enthusiasts. We're always trying to organize get togethers.

Dalexs

Well, that would make a lot more sense if you learned it in 2002. I can understand the memory lapses, it happens to me more and more all the time. At least I can still remember how to get signed on to Club Obi-Wan.

The day before we were at Mike's house, a bunch of us had gone to Gettysburg, but you didn't go. I had never cracked a whip at this time and really didn't know a thing about them.

A few months later, a bunch of us went to Gettysburg again, and at Gettysburg on this particular trip was the first time that I ever attempted to crack a whip. Of course, my instructors were Mike and IndianaGuyBrush, so it is no wonder that I didn't learn much.

That's a very good and extremely useful video you made (especially for us untrained wannabe-crackers ) It really shows how to do some of the popular cracks. Thanks Dalex.

I ordered my first whip from Paul Stenhouse, but unfortunately this was at the time when he canceled all orders and took a well deserved vacation from whip-making.
How is the Paul Stenhouse whip compared to the David Morgan? I like the heavier (thicker??) thong on the DM and the rugged feel as well.
Is it possible to order a whip from Paul these days, his website is closed?

Best regards
Kim

K, I haven't heard anything about him making whips since he moved from the states to New Zealand.

At one time after the move he had his site up and running with whips for sale in the "homeless whips" section but then he disappeared again

-K

Kim, As far as I know, Paul is still on Whip making hiatus down in New Zealand. He’ll probably chime in when he gets a chance. I do know that he likes to make his whips a bit on the heavy side much like the Morgan whips.

Dan

Dalexs wrote: And jabahutt70, we should get together sometime.
There are a few of us in the area and I belong to the NE & Maine chapter of Whip Enthusiasts. We're always trying to organize get togethers.

Dalexs

Sounds good, Dalexs, would love to get together. I'm down in Plymouth, MA. Let me know anytime you guys plan on getting together.

Steve.

Anyone know what the aforementioned crack is called and any tips on how exactly is it performed?

VP,

If you are talking about the crack that I mentioned, which led into a deep discussion of it's origins, I don't know if it has a real name. We just made up a silly one for it.

While I am no whip cracking expert, we just came upon this one by accident when attempting to do multiple cracks. While our intent was to have multiple cracks in front, the whip began cracking in front and in the rear. So, the natural progression was to attempt to get it to crack in front and rear repeatedly.

Now, we just start the whip into a real tight oval over our heads and it begins to crack in front and in the rear. You tighten up the oval until it is almost imperceptible that you are moving your hands in an oval. It feels as if your hands are just moving forwards and backwards and not moving in an oval anymore.

I figured that everybody would stumble across this crack when they started to attempt to do several cracks in a row. It is so simple really. After we did it the first time by accident, it took both of us about five minutes to become pretty expert at this one. If GraveRobber and I can do it, it can't be all that hard.

VP,

I went ahead and re-edited a slowmo of the crack.
SlowMo BackForth Crack 5MB
Basically, you'll see that I start it from a circus crack.
Then you grab it with both hands and continue with it as a combination forward/reverse crack.

I suppose you could probably do it from a forward as well, but I think I found that
the momentum needed to really get it going was best from the Circus.

Hope this is a little more helpful.

Dalexs

Thanks, got it. I can now do three combos: underhand-circus-reverse circus, underhand-circus-forcefield and sidearm-overhead-reverse overhead. Still trying to learn sidearm with my left arm. Any other nice multiple cracks/combos I might try?

I've heard that crack called the "snake-killer" in the past. Don't know who first called it that.

Steve.

I thought that with the snake killer crack, the whip was cracking on the ground, hence the name. That is not the case with this crack. In this one, the whip is cracking in mid air, four or five feet off the ground. If I see a snake that is standing four or five feet tall, I'm gettin' the heck out of there.

As far as I know that particular double handed over the head crack doesn’t have an “official” name.

It’s kind of, sort of similar to a snakekiller/drumroll but its different. That’s usually done with the whip cracking into the ground in front of or just off to the side in a repeated motion and not thrown directly overhead like that. Also with the snakekiller/drumroll the whip does not crack behind you. The double handed crack that Dalexs is doing is more like a variation on a volley, where he is cracking it in front then pulling it back making the whip crack behind him repeatedly, only he’s doing it double handed and directly over head.

Just as a warning, be careful when learning this crack. Be sure to have some protective glasses on especally, if and when you make a mistake there’s a good chance your going to bring the end of the thong, fall and popper right back across your head, your neck and shoulder.

Dan

BullWhipBorton wrote:Just as a warning, be careful when learning this crack. Be sure to have some protective glasses on especally, if and when you make a mistake there’s a good chance your going to bring the end of the thong, fall and popper right back across your head, your neck and shoulder.

Dan

Do that a couple of times, and that will speed up the learning curve.

Thats why I learn all my new cracks in full motorcycle gear... leathers, full face helmet... besides, it looks cool!

On a side note, if you have seen Pyroxenes video from the 2003 QM, Sergei does a great job incorporating this crack into Alex Greens routine at the end of Whipcracking Made Easy Vol 1.

Check the archvie section here, I think the link for the video is in there somewhere.

It also features Rundquist attempting to crack a 16ft whip and thereby maintaining his nickname of BoomBoom...