Whip Basics. The Forum

It's a tricky one to get hold of Ron, but you'll do it . I still can't do the Tasmanian Cutback and I've been trying for months

Ron, your technique is - basically - okay, but the second crack is more of a circus crack, again on your right side After the first crack you bring your arm back over your head, so you're on the right side again. But - it's a beginning! Don't let fear stand in the way of your practice. You're doing fine.

Ben - everything is cool. But... You should allow the whip to roll out at the first crack. You pull it down so fast, that it can't crack anyway. It reminds me of running behind a train, which is already too fast to reach it Patience. The whip will not run away if you slow down.

Matt - Good thing, but for the crack you need way more body movement. Hip & shoulder have to rotate way more than they do right now. But - like I said to Ron - it's a beginning! And a good one.


It's a bit sad to see how few folks are participating in that 10/10 challenge. I'm watching and commenting, when I think it's time to comment (as you can see...), but only three people participating and showing their videos? Three...? Hm.


Robby

Thank you Robby for your input. It's greatly appreciated.
Yeah, "fear is the is the mind killer". I am definitely not giving up.

I too am disappointed in the number of members that are not taking advantage of this. I am very appreciative of Ben, Matt, and Tristan for wanting to improve their technique.

I also appreciate input from practitioners like yourself and Mr. Robert for their invaluable input and observations.

It's like having a free cracking school with the best teachers and observers to help and guide and tutor. I'm not understanding why others have not taken advantage of it.

Practicing for 10 minutes every day for 10 days on a specific crack is not that hard to do. I am so grateful for those who have dedicated themselves to this exercise and have stuck with it .

Where else but Whip Basics Forum can you even find something like this.

Ron

Thanks Robby . I'll keep working on it.

Today's practice was pretty much the same.
I did focus on turning and bringing the whip back as far as I can before trying to finish the crack.

I am trying to bring the thong in a diagonal line to the side out away from my body in stead of letting it curl around behind me which, I believe, is why it keeps the back of my head and neck hostage in completing this crack.

I may be on the right path.

Ron

Phew. Making headway. I practiced for 20 minutes today. I was a little distracted because I was on the phone for much of it, but this also helped me take my mind off of the crack, as I believe Robert once suggested.

I will say that I automatically want to to a circus crack instead of an FC when going through this.

Ha! Tristan, you may have discovered a great new training technique: practise and talk on the phone at the same time!

Tristan, Mr. Robert's right. Not about the phone but about overthinking it.
I get into my mind what I want to do , visualize it, and try and let my body do it, and let the whip finish it.

I think mine is getting marginally better, but it's no where near where I want it to be.
But small improvements are still improvements.
Tomorrow is the last day for this crack / combo and Saturday we will start on another which I have sort of tried in the past but have not achieved.......... the "coachman's" crack.

Ron

Ron, I am convinced that small improvements are the best improvements. They tend to be permanent!

I have never manged the coachman's crack - except a few times by accident, with no idea how I did it!

Mr. Robert, I sort of did the same thing while trying out the Victorian cutback and doing it wrong, it sort of ended up all most a coachman's crack but not quite.

Ron

Ron, my compliments to your effortless way of whipcracking !!!
Same here with the coachman's crack - haven't been able to do this crack yet, but that's what this challenge is all about (improving whipcracking skills through regular practice and sharing the process).


Matt, I agree with you 100% - the crossover "X-motion" reminds me of a motion which is beeing used in Kali (and many other systems/styles as well ) - thank you for sharing that video !!!


Robby, thank you very much for your advise - I'll focus particulary on the rollout of the first crack and on slowing down the action on my next practice sessions !!!


My practice during the last couple of days has been fun - I did focus on doing the first crack in a diagonal plane and I'm slowly getting there
There is still a lot of imrovemet to be made but as Robert said:"small improvemts are the best improvements" and I'm very happy about them !!!


All the best
Ben

This is one crack that's going to take a lot of work and time to get it to where I think it should be. Right now it's just not right.
I am still ending in more of a diagonal circus crack in stead of the proper cross over crack finish. I will come back to this one in the future.

https://youtu.be/jbuy0lXhtcs

Ron

Quote from Ron:"I will come back to this one in the future" - ME TOO !!!

Here is a small clip of the "last day" of my cross over crack practice - it feals and looks like a step back compared to the previous days of practicing this technique. Since it's not the first time for me to experince a "drawback practice day" I'm not going to get frustrated - there are good days and bad days but in the end daily practice will pay off !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyTE99N ... e=youtu.be

At 0:09 seconds you can see how I'm "throwing" a leaf at my wife (who was shooting the video) with my whip - a good reminder why not to practice on gravel.

All the best
Ben

Ben, you are much more dedicated than I for practicing in the rain.
The second part looks so much better than before and totally better than mine.
The first part might have to start just a little bit higher to keep it from morphing into a side arm crack.

You are still doing it nice, slow and controlled.
Over all a very nice job.

My second part is still looking like a diagonal circus crack. But I am working on it.
We both can come back to this one together.

Ron

Thank you very much Ron, I'm 100% sure that I will join you when we will get back to this crack and thank you very, very much for your advise !!!

You did a very good job on your last day video - I aplogize that I forgot to mention it in my previous post !!!

All the best
Ben

Ben, I'd say exactly the same thing as Ron. The second part looks great; the first part is a little uncertain what it wants to be!

A couple of days ago I got in 20 minutes of practice, and today I did another 30 minutes. No video still - partly because the weather here is overcast and making for poor lighting, but mostly because my phone's battery tends to be in a perpetual state of near-death, even after replacing it. But hopefully soon.

In any case, today I focused a lot on just the second crossing over, getting used to cracking it crossed over from my left side. It worked, as I got some cracks, but the real progress came when I relaxed and flicked the whip gently.

Tristan, that sounds like good progress.
Good job.

Ron

Tristan Foy wrote: ... but the real progress came when I relaxed and flicked the whip gently.

Aha! Tristan, I have no doubt that it will eventually become as natural and effortless as - I don't know, pressing a light switch!

20 minutes today. I should be done with 10 minutes tomorrow.

I also made a video, but the funny thing is, as soon as I turned my camera on I got nervous and choke-y, which is silly because there was no one there to make me feel pressure. As soon as I put my camera way, I started performing better. I'll try again tomorrow, but if I don't get better results, or the weather isn't good enough to film in, I'll post the video.