Club Obi Wan

Hello there!! Here in British Columbia Canada it's a May long weekend... Went to to nearby Camp Ground in Paul Lake for a bit of camping and of course, I went up there in my full Indy Gear!! (Sans the holster) Took several other Indy shirts and pants with me in case they got sweaty..., and I wore my gear the entire time I was there from Friday-Sunday. I hiked 14 Km in my great Magnoli shirts and pants... Turned a lot of heads during the trip and of course occasional people yelling "Indiana Jones!!" when they were driving by.

Paul Lake is very well known for bear sightings and people are recommended to bring some sort of protection against them (Bear Spray and etc. ) A lot of people who weren't familiar with Indiana Jones of course thought it was some kind of protective tool against bears though they thought it was quite peculiar. With all the khaki and safari gear I had on, some also thought I was one of the forest rangers, asking me questions about the camp site and some even tried to pay me the camping spot fee!! (Should've taken the money..dang)

However the most extra ordinary event happened after I came back from the hiking trip. I decided to go find a nice and quiet spot with some grass to practice whipcrack for an hour, but only was able to find one right by the camp site entrance. It was a bit too high profile for me, but I decided to practice anyway. So I was cracking away with my Del Carpio LC for about an half hour in... and all of a sudden, this van just came in squeeling halt and the a lady poked her head out who looked as giddy as a school girl and said "Can I take a picture of you? Are you Indiana Jones? You look so much like him" <--Mind you, I am an Asian with glasses... I maybe dressed like IJ, but I am no Harrison Ford.) More than happy to oblige, I kept cracking away... she took some photos and videos of me and thanked me and drove away... next thing I know, I was holding off the traffic there!! There were like 4 cars parked by the grass patch I was in . Everyone came out of their car just to watch me cracking my whip. (I've been perfecting my cairo flash moves and finally able to perfect it that day) Everyone was just awed by my simple cracking skills. There really weren't anything special to it... just underarm, forward and overhead in succession and a couple more basic cracks... Anywho, one by one they approached me and asked me to see if they can try it themselves. I was a bit scared about them getting hurt, so I gave them my jacket, hat, some gloves for them to wear for protection and asked to put their sun glasses on... Of course, now the Indy Gears on, it's a perfect photo opportunity... The flashes going off like crazy... they were just having the time of their life. Of course, none of them ever handled a bullwhip before, so they were all quite surprised how heavy the whip was. I had to teach them the basics... and all the jazz, so they wouldn't hurt themselves. The whole "Respect the whip, not fear it." speech and everything. One by one they tried and after a couple of mishaps, all of them were able to crack it. The whole time, everyone's giggling and laughing, but as soon as they got their first crack, everyone's jaw just dropped and they were all amazed by how loud the whipcrack actually sounded. It was like having a mini Bullwhip cracking class of my own. A genuine Sideshow event at the Park. I explained them how the whip works, and told them the crack they hear is actually a mini sonic boom created by the popper going faster than the speed of sound. The general knowledge we all know of course is something general public has no idea of. With that additional information, they were even more fascinated by it.

I guess I ended up spending up to 1 hour teaching the people from the first 4 cars... now right after those cars were gone, there were another 4 waiting in line to get into the spot so they can get some bullwhip lessons!! It was just a blast!! I couldn't believe my bullwhip would fascinate that many people to even make them think "screw camping, I am going to learn how to use a bullwhip!!" haha. Overall my 1 hour practice session became a 3 hour long bullwhip cracking class... I felt like a broken record after a while, but it sure was fun. I never had anyone come up to me and go "Go home Nerd!!" (I guess they wouldn't really say that to you if you have a whip and know how to use it!!) Like I said many times, we are quite small in numbers compared to other fan-base community and Indiana Jones is hardly associated with this 'nerd' crowd most times. .. Indiana Jones is considered COOL... and beside... the outfit was perfect for camping. Next time I go camping, I'll be in my Indy Gear again.

The bottom line is that people were genuinely awed by the power of the whip and what it can do. The sound of whoosh and crack they heard in the movies weren't just some post production addition... Now they know that's what the bull whip really sounds like. As one of the older gentlemen there pointed out, it sounded like a .22 going off. I used to be a bit self-conscious about cracking my whip in public especially after I read about Schmidty's nightmarish experience, but now I am more confident as ever about practicing my whip in public. I still can't forget the first thing everyone said when they got out of their car.
"Now THAT is COOOL!!"


P.S. Thanks Mr. Del Carpio!! You made this happen!!
P.S.S. Now come to think of it, wish I had some of the photos from those people for you guys to see...

WOW!

You were lucky to get that kind of reception!
Cool stuff!

and guess what? Your whip holder survived my 14 km hike too!! Impressive stuff!! Now in your site, instead of saying "With this holder you can run 7 miles and your whip will not slip at all. I don't know why you would want to do that but...." to "Field tested and proven through 14 km Hike!!"

P.S. I have a question for you. What's the best way to put the whip in the holder Right on the handle facing forward? or handle facing down to the ground and tie the holder around the mid coil? I want to find out the tightest way to hold the whip.

gi_canuk,

What a Great Story!!

There is a lot of interest among the public.
Your entertaining, instructional, and friendly approach undoubtedly resulted in some great PR for whip craft.

Imagine when any of your "students" see an Indy movie, they will now be able to understand and to relate much better than before.

I seldom practice without having someone stopping and asking questions.
As a teacher, it is hard for me to resist the opportunity to share, to teach, to inform.

gi_canuk,

What a Great Story!!

There is a lot of interest among the public.
Your entertaining, instructional, and friendly approach undoubtedly resulted in some great PR for whip craft.

Imagine when any of your "students" see an Indy movie, they will now be able to understand and to relate much better than before.

I seldom practice without having someone stopping and asking questions.
As a teacher, it is hard for me to resist the opportunity to share, to teach, to inform.

Thank you Boggstandard. I sure hope whatever I did will raise some public interest in whipcraft. I think it's a great way to release stress and a good training for rhythm, timing, eye and hand coordinations. I just wish I had a "professional" training from someone, so I can explain things a bit better the next time. I may have to dig through some Youtube whip cracking instruction videos and figure out the easiest way to explain it.

Neat story and good job gi_canuk !

That is an awsome story. I'll have to take my whip next time I go camping, which is fairly often. Maybe I can get some South Floridians into bullwhips.

Dave

Awesome story, GI! That is so amazing how you got them all into it and had them all cracking bullwhips. I think there must be something in the air what with Indy IV being out. :junior: -M

Good job! Spreading the gospel of the good whip.

Well done!

Weston

Great story! )

Good job! Spreading the gospel of the good whip.

Amen to that!!

Clark, That's an AWESOME story Buddy! I was reading thinking, grumbling to myself about my bad experience, although today, I had a verypositive experience. Not as cool as yours but an old man sat in his car for an hour watching me, then went I went to get in my car, I got "You're pretty handy with that whip, boy, are you a contestant for something?" I said (very VERY proudly) "No, Sir. I am an Indiana Jones fan!" (Think Rachel Weisz in The Mummy when she's drunk telling O'Connell that she's a librarian) I also had 2 cops go by, and do NOTHING, and a woman say she hoped I was popping the heads off of Dandelions. But still, NOTHING compared to the reception you got. NICE JOB.

Bryan

What a great story! Thank you for posting that here gi_canuck, I really enjoyed reading that.

You did a great job promoting whipcracking in a very positive and enjoyable manner. Good work!

All the best.

Dan