Whipping and Flogging

Please read  also Safety, and Safety: whips

These require a lot of practice for hitting safely. They should be used with light or medium weight floggers. Cats and single-tailers are too dangerous for playing this way.

The forehand circle

Deliver an overhand stroke, but follow thru, using the impulse of the arm and whip for getting it up from the lower left to the starting position, to deliver another overhand. The movement should be fluid and natural. This can also be done when hitting vertically, passing the tails by your right.

 

 

The figure eight

Once you have control over the backhander, you can get fancy and combine overhand and backhand, for hitting alternatively from both sides. This should be a flowing movement, not jerky, for not loosing control of the points, which, if not hitting in the same direction as the body of the whip, will drive it sideways, making difficult to control the next lash.

 

The tips of the tails should describe a figure eight as regular as possible. You should be especially careful in the transition from the up/down motion from one side to the return upwards for preparing the next lash. Follow the downward movement until its natural conclusion, and rotate your elbow for continuing the movement upwards.

 

 

The windmill

With your forearm at one side, hold the whip from the very end of the handle, the knob, if it has one, and spinning your wrist, make the whip spin at your side.

Do not hold the whip by the wrist strap, because it is not made to withstand such a force, and will probably break. The wrists were neither designed for such a work. Don't overdo it, or you'll hurt them.

When you have the whip spinning, move forward until the tips of the tails brush the target.

 

 

 

 

You could, spinning fast, just fan your bottom's back, or brush lightly over the skin, or finally, hit with the tips of the tails.

 

The harder you hit, the more the tails will spread and change direction, and the harder will be to get them back together for the next stroke. More speed helps.

Two handed spinning

With enough practice, you could make spin a whip on each hand, for a spectacular show.

 

You can hit on the same side as the whip's arm, or on the other side, crossing the whips at the front.

 

Of course, if loosing the rhythm, the tails of the two whips will bump into each other, with a real show of tails flying all over the place, hitting anywhere, most likely on your face. So, practice a lot and be careful.
 

Published: 07/07/04