Whipcracking
Whipcracking is the act of producing a cracking
and increasingly popular in the United Kingdom, where it crosses boundaries of sport, hobby and performance.Physics
The crack a whip makes is produced when a section of the whip moves faster than the speed of sound creating a small sonic boom. The creation of the sonic boom was confirmed in 1958 [1] by analyzing the high-speed shadow photography taken in 1927.[2][3]
Recently, an additional, purely geometrical factor was recognized: the tip of the whip moves twice as fast at the loop of the whip, just like the top of a car's wheel moves twice as fast as the car itself.[2][3]
A common explanation is to derive the behavior from the
Based on simulations, the high speed of the tip of the whip has been proposed to be a result of a "chain reaction of levers and blocks".[4]
In 1997,
Shows and competitions
Goaßlschnalzen
Goaßlschnalzen, Goaßlschnalzn, Goasslschnoizen is translated as "whip-cracking", from the Bavarian word Goaßl (German: Geißel) for
Today the Goaßlschnalzer ("whipsnappers") do concert performances, often as bands that include conventional musical instruments. Whipsnapping is also a traditional sport in Bavaria. There are many whip-cracking associations in Bavaria.
Aperschnalzen
British Whipcracking Convention
A British Whipcracking Convention is held every year for all skill levels. There are workshops for the differing skill levels as well as competitions and targets. The third convention was held in Aldersley Leisure Village, Aldersley Road, Wolverhampton on 14 July 2007.
Australian sport
In the latter half of the 20th century, attempts to preserve traditional crafts, along with a resurgence of interest in Western performance arts and the release of films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (in which the hero, Indiana Jones, uses a bullwhip as a tool), led to an increased interest in whipcracking as a hobby and performance art, as well as a competitive sport. Whip cracking competitions have become popular in Australia. They focus on the completion of complex, multiple-cracking routines and precise target work. Various whips, apart from bullwhips, are used in such competitions. The most common whip used in Australian competitions is an Australian stockwhip, a whip unique to Australia.
- Target routines
- target cutting
- object wrapping
- object moving/manipulation
- Cracking routines
- Cracking patterns
- Cracking with two whips
In cracking routines, the judging criteria are the presentation and making audible cracks in prescribed moments.
See also
- Bullwhip
- Crack the Whip
- John Brady, an expert whipcracker
- Fiona (Wilks) Smith, 12 times Australian ladies champion in whipcracking
- Stockwhip
- Whip boxing
- Indiana Jones
References
- ^ B. Bernstein, D. A. Hall, and H. M. Trent. "On the dynamics of a bull whip", Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 30: 1112-1115 (1958).
- ^ a b American Physical Society (2002) Whip Cracking Mystery Explained, 26 May 2002 Archived May 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ PMID 12059302.
- ^ Creating speed Oct 2016
- ^ "Dinosaur in Motion", Discover November 1997
- PMID 36482175.
Further reading
- Andrew Conway, The New Bullwhip Book, Loompanics Unlimited, 2005. ISBN 1-55950-244-4.
- Robert Dante, Let's Get Cracking! The How-To Book of Bullwhip Skills, CreateSpace, 2008. ISBN 1-4404-0623-5.
- Why Whips Crack
External links
- The art of whipcracking
- (in German) Aperschnalzen
- The Whip Artistry Studio - Non-combative Whip Arts
- Bullwhip.org
- Brophy Family Whips and lasso artists that have been touring the world for over 30 years
- Canada Whips A resource for whipcrackers worldwide