Club Obi Wan

It gets pretty warm here in LA. Made the mistake of working the bullwhip tonight sans shirt, but I did wear my Fed for protection (what a redneck I can be sometimes...)

I'm getting better at cracking, and the different whip maneuvers, although I'm still SO beginner at this. But I learned something really important tonight.

Wear a shirt. Wear leather if you can, but AT LEAST A SHIRT!

Snap! Once just below the back of the neck, right in the trapezious, just left of spine...ouch...I was getting tired, should have seen that coming...stung pretty good for a moment, but only a small hit. Kept on going.

Snap! Cut myself across the back of the shoulder blades coming around trying to mix two maneuvers...yeah, I'm getting tired, shouldn't continue, but in spite of the knot on the end of my popper coming undone, the now fast-fraying popper is giving off some good cracks, so I keep going...

...ever gotten stung w/ a really frayed popper?

SNAP! OH, owie, mommy, mommy...that hurt...good long lash down the left shoulder blade...okay, natural selection wouldn't work for me, I'm too dumb to take a hint...if nothing else, please let my stupidity give YOU pause before you do this without proper protection - at LEAST a shirt.

Now, mind you, I COULD have gone on...I AM that stubborn...but something FINALLY kicked in and I stopped. I was done for the night, but if I hadn't been, I at least would have gone back in and grabbed a heavy shirt.

For some folks words aren't enough, but a pic is worth a thousand words...so here's a link. Fair warning, this is a guy's back SANS SHIRT, hence the reason I don't embed it here on COW...it's still rated G, but just to make sure I don't offend anyone accidentally. You have to actually CLICK on the link to see how stubborn I can be.
(EDIT: picture rehosted to imageshack...curse you, tinypic! )
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4472 ... ght9dd.jpg

Don't worry, I didn't actually break skin, no blood - I know there's many out here that have been hurt worse - but trust me, these feel worse than they look - especially since the cam didn't pick them all up - the horizontal is a foot long, and the vertical on the left is almost that as well.

I am WIDE awake now. This is better than caffeine...Bink, Jess, Michaelson, my fellow java-junkies - mind comparing whip whelts to expresso highs?

And does anyone else think this looks like I've found something supernatural that casts a blinding light in my bathroom?

Sleeping on my stomach tonight -
J

P.S. There were pics that hid my love handles better, but this one showed the welts the best. There was one that came out much better...but then I realized I was flexing and posing, and you really couldn't see the welts at all, so I'm keeping that one for my wife.

Indiana Jerry wrote: ... I am WIDE awake now. This is better than caffeine...Bink, Jess, Michaelson, my fellow java-junkies - mind comparing whip whelts to expresso highs? ...

I'll stick with caffeine

Yeah, Jess, I'll pour... Would you like sugar or creame, or a welt instead?

bink (who is going to attempt for a second time to learn how to crack his new whip this afternoon while fully clothed)

Wow, something to look forward to I guess when my PS whip arrives!
Uh... I think I will have another cup right now!!

Hey Jerry,

That practice of going without a shirt will definately teach you to be constantly aware of where the whip tip is. It teahes you that when the whip is out of position at the start of a crack it is going to produce a different result than what you were expecting.

If any of you have watched Anthony DeLongis' tapes he mentions the "railroad tracks". If you keep the whip outside of the tracks, you won't hit yourself. It's when you allow the whip to cross the tracks that interesting thing start happening.

So just keep at it, work on the technique of throwing the whip rather than trying to crack it and it will miraculously crack!

Regards,

Jerry - heading for the coffee refill right now

(who has had some very nasty welts from learning new tricks, and tried very hard not to cry in front of his wife when the bad old whip kisses him hard!)

I've done some whip practicing with my shirt off just to work on my tan. As long as I don't do anything stupid I usually don't hit myself. Sometimes, though, I think the whip hits me in the back of the head just to show me who's boss.

I tried learning the coachman's crack shown in Mike Murphy's video recently. I started trying to learn how to do it in shorts and a t-shirt, but it wasn't long before a few welts convinced me to put on a long-sleeved shirt and a wide-brimmed hat. I've recently started wearing ear plugs to save my hearing.

I've also given myself some good welts while doing the Tasmanian cut-back or back crack.

I'm glad to say that I've never drawn blood on myself or anybody else.

Have any of you guys seen the Surreal Life on VH1? Flavor Flav is always saying 'snap' as a sort of four-letter word. Dave Chappelle, the black comedian, also uses the expression. Now I find myself saying it all the time (like when I hit myself) and I think it's extra ironic when I have a whip in my hand

-Adam Winrich

I took to really giving the whip, no, my ARM, a good workout with my new "shoe string" Indy whip from Adam. It was the first time I could really have a go at it and the first time I really tried to figure out this whole whip thing. I stuck with the circus crack and was able to get some fairly decent cracks! I also hit myself square on the a## once or twice which stung like a bad mother but also made me laugh for the sheer absurdity of it!

SNAP!

"OW! My A##!!!!!"

I also figured out real quick that after my arm gets too tired, the cracking is over, unless I want to have more of the abuse mentioned above.

bink

ike,

Three things to remember on that coachman's - 1. You have to let the whip point continue underneath and past your hand before you try the crack. 2. Keep your elbow high and the forearm and wrist nearly level pointing back. 3. Then the wrist is pushed nearly straight up, causing the whip to loop to the back and the crack will go off behind your head.

Also, make sure that you are wearing a wide brimmed hat, safety glasses and ear protection. I nearly took my ear off when learning this crack!

At the WE-V this year, it was raining a bit during the technical routines and the wet crackers really showed where the cracks were going off. Mark W. got it on video, and the judges said my double coachman cracks were going off right behind my head with nice puffs of vapor showing up really well. Robert Duke had some great cracks doing some of the most difficult of the routines on his way to winning the technical competition.

Bink, when your arm gets tired, it is time to start training the off hand (weaker hand). Using the off hand will cause you to slow down and really concentrate on proper whip position. The off hand cracks will be jerky at first, but the mistakes will be more easily identified and since the off hand has no bad habits you can get the cracks figured out technically. Then you can transfer to the dominant hand and polish them up.

Keep at it, it'll happen.

Jerry

Thanks for the advice, Jerry!

bink

Bink wrote:"OW! My A##!!!!!"

AHAHAHAHA! Thanks, Bink, I don't laugh out loud much, but you got me!

Yes, thanks for all the great feedback, especially from the vendors! I expected a lot more comparisons between me and Homer Simpson...

Regarding the the railroad tracks - I know EXACTLY what you mean - that was fairly intuitive, I could almost feel where the end of the whip was (even with the blastshield down...sorry), and if I didn't let it swing far enough around me before coming forward, that's when I got myself!

Keeping out to the sides really saved me a few good cracks in the back.

Thanks for all the great advice - keep it coming!

G'day All!
Oh I have to join in on this one!
That darn coachman's crack has cause so many yarns to be told over time, it cracks me up just the thought of them!
When I was learning the infamous "coachman's crack" years ago I was trying so hard to get the extra loop needed to get the crack to go off behind your back that I got myself on the "butt". And I didn't just "get" myself, I got a bloody blood blister there!!!!! Scared the cripes out of me!For ages when ever I got the courage up to try to learn it again I would tuck my butt in as I went to give the whip that extra elbow kick for the loop to be created. Oh what memories! Also to enforce the aspect of wearing your safety gear. A little mate of mine wearing a brand new akubra was learning the coachman's crack and the whip went off right on her "new" akubra and put a slice in it. Yeah a slice! So she ear tagged her new akubra with the coachman's crack! Bloody lucky it wasn't her ear that was tagged hey! One thing for sure is that it just goes to show that safety is a priority especially when learning a new routine. So don your akubra and have fun!

binkmeisterRick wrote:Yeah, Jess, I'll pour... Would you like sugar or creame, or a welt instead?

I walked into my coffee shop this morning, and I ordered mine 'with whip' just like always, but today I just couldn't stop giggling to myself...I'm pretty sure I scared the girl at the counter.

Janine - Thank god Bink already whipped himself in the butt, or you'd get worse teasing than I should have gotten already. But thanks for making Bink feel better!

All good, clean fun - J

P.S. Not that I'm suggesting self-inflicted injuries, but has anyone ever reportedly gotten a whipslice in the chin a la River Phoenix in LC? That seems fairly improbable...but I guess possible. Someone did post a pic in another thread of a vertical whelt they got on the jawbone just off the side from their chin...

Reminds me of the beginning of every good redneck story: "Hold my beer and watch this!"

That must really smart, man.

I ripped a slash out of the back of my t-shirt the first time I tried out my first whip (a 12' job) a few years ago. I seemed to catch my right calve a lot too. Even though I pretty much know what I'm doing (and generally use an 8' bull or 6' snakewhip), I still catch my ear once in a while when I try something new.

You should wear a leather jacket and a motorcycle helmet when first learning. Seriously.

Snakewhip_Sable wrote:You should wear a leather jacket and a motorcycle helmet when first learning. Seriously.

That's the truly dumb part about what I did...I had just given Bink that same advice, not a day or two before. Then I walked right out and lashed myself stupid. <img src="http://tinypic.com/5sa68">

Okay, the 'stupid' part might have been there before the lashing...

I can see it now, a special ward in the hospital for self-inflicted whip wounds!

bink

Right next to the 'accidental magic' ward?

Snakewhip_Sable wrote:I ripped a slash out of the back of my t-shirt the first time I tried out my first whip (a 12' job) a few years ago. I seemed to catch my right calve a lot too. Even though I pretty much know what I'm doing (and generally use an 8' bull or 6' snakewhip), I still catch my ear once in a while when I try something new.

Funny, I used to catch my right calf too. Although the jeans were never cut, I'd still end up with uge welts on the back of my leg. Now, when I try something new, I throw on the hat, jacket, and eye protection just in case.

I.J.

Indiana Joe wrote:Now, when I try something new, I throw on the hat, jacket, and eye protection just in case. I.J.

That's good advice. Even if you're good at it, if your just trying something new...