Club Obi Wan

I had a blast learning how to handle a bullwhip yesterday with the folks at midwest whips!

Thank you Laruen. Thank you Paul. Bernardo, it was great to meet you, too.

These folks are so nice. I really, really appreciated and enjoyed the experience.

My arm was already jello after working with Gery Deer http://www.gerydeer.com/thewhip.htm for a couple of hours, but Lauren worked with me for a bit and then Paul came over to the park and showed me more cool stuff.

This team works really long hours braiding their whips, so if you have a whip on order from them, don't feel bad that they took a little time out of their day to help out a fellow gearhead-- they are incredibly hardworking and they needed the break (they braided right up until the time I arrived and jumped right back in the second I left).

Bernardo was so nice, too. He took a few pics of me on the very first day I'd ever touched a real bullwhip in my life.

It was a special day for me, indeed.

They were very encouraging, supportive, and helpful.

I could go on and on, but I just basically wanted to say THANKS for this personalized little mini-summit. It was an amazing day.

Thanks for bending over backwards to help me (in the hot sun).

I don't know anything about Lauren, but I do know how accommodating Paul and Bernardo are- very responsible and willing to help.

Boggstandard wrote:I don't know anything about Lauren, but I do know how accommodating Paul and Bernardo are- very responsible and willing to help.

She was brilliant. When I arrived, I was trying to figure out how to get around to the driveway and she came outside and flagged me down to help me get there. She really articulated very specific things to help me learn what I needed to learn, and she gave me suggestions to help me not forget what I (and my muscles) had learned -- while I am waiting for my whip.

It was really cool to see these folks in person, after only having watched them on YouTube.

Since I have never been to a summit before, it was kind of surreal to see someone in their MBA shirt and Aldens in person.

Paul showed me some amazing whips in their studio. It was a remarkable day, indeed.

lauren IS amazing!
she has basically taught me how to crack ONLINE!!
never even met her before...

Mannie Bothans,

Here are a few pics of you cracking the bullwhip and next to your instructors )

Enjoy!

Bernardo

Looks like you've had a great adventure Mannie

Bernardodc wrote:Mannie Bothans,

Here are a few pics of you cracking the bullwhip and next to your instructors )

Thanks Bernardo!

I hope I can make it back for Annie Oakley days.

I really took away from this excursion a much deeper appreciation for whip making and whip artistry.

It was also amazing to see so many Morgans all there together, from different eras-- to see the progression of changes over time.

I'm glad you had a good time! We'd hoped you'd learn a lot, and whew - you really REALLY did!

Let's see... you can do a nice forward cattleman's crack, overhead cattleman's, and backward cattleman's (that one's a little tougher). You figured out the sidearm flick quite well by the end, and you were starting to do slow figure eights too. Am I leaving anything out so far? Oh - AND (this is easily the most impressive part) you were even doing a little volleying with a stockwhip!!! All in about two hours... you were GREAT!

So thanks for driving up, and giving us an excuse to escape the shop for a few hours. It was a pleasure to spend some time out in the sunshine and get to start someone so nice and enthusiastic on the excellently addictive sport of whipcracking. I just hope we didn't make having to wait another month for the Strain whip you have on order too much more difficult! ;-)

Lauren Wickline
www.midwestwhips.com

Aww, garhshk...

Seriously, though-- I DO look forward to cleaning up my slop, getting better at technique, and learning new things.

I will try to mail a hat box to ya so my lid won't be cluttering up your pad.

THANKS AGAIN.

It was too cool.

They can just put it on the hat block that Chris Camp left when he was in for the Indiana Jones premiere! ;-)

I was in town THAT afternoon Mannie, sorry I missed you. I knew Gery had a class that morning. Had I known it was YOU, or that you'd end up cracking with Paul, Bernardo and Lauren...

Hope to get to see you at AOD! Should be pretty cool for whip crackers this year.

(and Paul...Is that MY whip that you've got over your shoulder there? )

NEVERMIND that YOU made it, and were doing some maintenance on it..

It's MINE do you understand. All MINE...DOWN DOWN DOWN...GO GO GO...MIIIINNNNEEEE!



All the best, and happy cracking!

-Dan

(I'm rich, I'm a happy miser..)

That was yours. He, um, needed to look at it in the light, to, um, make sure the repair was, um, perfect. Yeh, that's it.

Seriously, that is a beautiful whip, and I can't believe he parted with it (since he made it for himself). You are a lucky, happy, rich miser!

Sorry, it would have been nice to meet you. I do hope I can make it to AOD! Maybe I won't get a speeding ticket the next time I drive through Xenia.

Maybe Camp can pick up his block at AOD, I think he is planning on being there then.

thefish wrote:They can just put it on the hat block that Chris Camp left when he was in for the Indiana Jones premiere! ;-)

I was in town THAT afternoon Mannie, sorry I missed you. I knew Gery had a class that morning. Had I known it was YOU, or that you'd end up cracking with Paul, Bernardo and Lauren...

Hope to get to see you at AOD! Should be pretty cool for whip crackers this year.

(and Paul...Is that MY whip that you've got over your shoulder there? )

NEVERMIND that YOU made it, and were doing some maintenance on it..

It's MINE do you understand. All MINE...DOWN DOWN DOWN...GO GO GO...MIIIINNNNEEEE!



All the best, and happy cracking!

-Dan

(I'm rich, I'm a happy miser..)

so um... this is a bit off topic... but Thefish, why did Paul have to repair it?
what the heck did you do with it?
trying to target cut a samurai sword? )

The point on that whip is...or WAS VERY tiny. So tiny that changing the fall out with a nice, heavy whitehide one kind of stretched it out.

Stretched it out just a LITTLE too much in fact, and I snapped a strand.

All my fault.

All fixed now. All better.

In all honesty, it IS better. Paul seemed to think it handles better now that it did before the problem, and I tend to agree, and I can see no discernible difference in length. Still just a little over 8 foot from knot to knot.

And I have NEVER used it to target cut a samurai sword.

THAT'S stupid.

This is an INDY whip. It's FAR better suited to target cutting Mauser Rifles, Luger Pistols and Indian Katars. You know, Nazi and Thuggee stuff.

I use the Jacka for cutting samurai swords in half!