Rachel's Systema Writings >> Assorted Essays >> Teaching Bullwhip Handling to Martial Artists

Excerpts from Watching the Sun Rise: Teaching Bullwhip Handling to Martial Artists
by Robert Dante, bullwhip expert


"Fast is fine, but Accuracy is forever!" -Wyatt Earp

Some of the best whipcrackers in history were smaller men or women. To crack a whip powerfully, accurately and dramatically does not require a great deal of strength. If the form is correct, the physics of the whip will allow the cracker to reach supersonic speeds with relatively little effort.

(Whip's cracker breaks sound barrier at about 750 miles per hour -- this is 1400 feet per second. Since a bullet leaves the barrel of a gun at 1100 feet per second, we can honestly say a whip cracks faster than a speeding bullet!). Anyone who knows how to use a bullwhip automatically understands two principles. First, "The power is already in the whip." You cannot add to its power with muscle or savagery. All you can ever do is guide the whip, because the power is in the form itself.

This simple truth leads to the second principle of bullwhip handling: "You've got to ride the horse in the direction it's going." A whip cracker cannot "make" a whip do anything -- but, by God, it will try to express everything your body and mind tell it to, with each throw (think about that the next time it slashes your cheek or clops you on the back of your neck!).

When I speak to martial artists, I've noticed that as I explain the anatomy of whips and the different styles of whips and their uses, I usually encounter a succession of questions coming from a single perspective: Can these whips be used as weapons?

The answer, of course, is yes -- within limitations.

In Texas, I learned that for close encounters one would likely rely upon the cudgel of the handle end of the whip as much as the cracker end. If your opponent stands within the range of your whip, he can tangle it or grab it, effectively neutralizing its value as an offensive weapon. When you "cock" the whip, swinging it backward in order to throw it forward, you leave yourself unprotected long enough for your foe to gain advantage.

The solution to these problems is to use a short whip, like a snake whip, no longer than 3 or 4 feet. One should rely upon it to startle and disorient your foe by cracking at his face. If you strike the eyes, you incapacitate him immediately -- and if you do not make contact, it will still likely take the wind out of his attack.

Some inspiration to use my left arm a bit more:

I have seen that with a person's dominant hand, he or she will try to impose on the whip their vision of how the whip is supposed to crack. When the whip is placed in the other hand, they cannot impose this vision as easily, so they are forced to pay attention to what the whip is actually doing, outside of their expectations. After a few minutes of this, when they put the whip back into their dominant hands, they now crack with more awareness and understanding. This two-handed technique is also used by jugglers, because juggling and whip cracking are both activities which integrate the two sides of the brain.

In bullwhip workshops, I have seen that children seem to catch on fairly quickly, perhaps because they do not intellectualize the process. They are allowed to be awkward, and through this acceptance of the inevitability of mistakes, they can explore and grow in their ability unselfconsciously. Having an adult use his weaker hand short circuits the thinking mind in order to make the student teachable. When students move whips back to their dominant hands, they are usually amazed at how much they learn from this procedure.

Hallmarks of a great teacher:

The students with martial arts training in their background come into teaching sessions with a higher level of ability than normal. In two memorable instances, I thought I had been set up with "ringers," people who had been taking lessons from some accomplished whip coach somewhere. The movements were as graceful as the whips, traveling at their own speeds without being muscled. The foot stances and arm positions were precise and did not misdirect the whip or allow the energy to dissipate before it exploded out of the cracker. It was beautiful to watch, and the crisp cracks produced by their pure forms resounded triumphantly off the walls of the dojo.

I was truly impressed -- how dare I presume to teach people who already know how to do it, but just do not know that fact?

I accept this reality, and I give them information, I give them feedback -- and I give them permission to make the whip their own experience, not mine.

...I do not teach bullwhip handling in order to impose my view of the universe upon anyone, but this in no way diminishes my pleasure as I watch students teach themselves, as I watch them listen to their own bodies and listen to the whips. They honor me by allowing me to experience their discovery and through them to rediscover my own spirit of the whip.