Anyone here do any work with whips? I`ve seen it at demos, but am just now devloping interst in them. It seems like the angles are the same as stick work, just at greater range. I think it would be great for skill devlopment........and a heck of a lot of fun. But so far all the whips I`ve seen online (except for the tourist souveniers with the paper core) are several hundred bucks. OUCH!
Anyone know where to learn more or find a cheaper one?
I'm not an expert with a whip but I hope you find the following useful:
Tom Meadows'
The Filipino Fighting Whip is a great resource. If the cost of the 4-6 foot leather whip used in his system is too prohibative, then I agree that the nylon versions such as those described above are a good alternative.
For longer whips, take a look at Anthony deLongis' DVD set
The Art of the Bullwhip. You'll learn a lot about the body mechanics that he uses in his system (and there is a short section featuring Tom Meadows on the 2nd DVD).
Keep in mind that these are not toys and can do some serious damage. Wear eye protection:
Here's the same clip expanded to show the bare mininum of effort used to move the whip around; even at a relatively slow speed the whip still stung and could have done a lot of eye damage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdTrKcaS9es&feature=related
Another alternative is to practice with a rope whip as described by Tom Meadows' book. This was a specialty of Momoy Canete. The rope whip is more difficult to move around than the leather whip but is a lot of fun as well. One peculiarity is that the body of the whip is attached to the handle with a simple ring. Following is one of my earliest attempts with a rope whip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exViD1lLpq8&feature=related
As you can see, I still haven't gotten it down, but I've improved a little since then.
If you're interested in this kind of whip just PM me.
Best,
Steve
