Dark Castle - Sin 
BDSM Canada & Training

by Aramock Nanuck

      February 2012

 

Nothing causes the sensation of fear as much as the cracking of a whip! The sound tends to be loud, signally force and power. The harsh retort in the air clearly indicates pain is about to arrive!!!  Nowadays, the whip is mostly used to punish severely, although it is an art form a particular delight to a masochist in the fetish world.   Doing it wrong will cause damage in the most severe fashion, and so practice, practice, practice before using it on another human.

 

The appropriate handling of “Whips” is the ultimate in savage skills any dominant can demonstrate.  It is a tool of subjugation and punishment of both human beings and animals. True skill to control it with the minimum of force, so its impact inflicts measured pain.

 

Safety First

Because of the swing and free flow of the return, the first rule of using a whip involves securing your own safety. More likely, you have never used one before, and it is advised that you wear goggles protecting your eyes and a long sleeve shirt and long pants to protect your body. The whip can also create a loud cracking sound. If you are worried, wear earplugs to shield your ears.

 

Stance

Poise and posture are essential. Use the hand you have the most strength and control in; this usually is the hand you write with. Grasp the whip firmly so that it does not leave the hand, ensuring the full measure of the handle is across the entire breadth of the palm. Ensure the hand wraps tightly and holds the hilt firmly so it does not slip from your grasp. Hold the whip firmly with your thumb pointing down on the handle, where the thumb points are where the whip will travel.  

 

Do not stand perpendicular to the whip; otherwise, you can not easily move out of the way of the backswing.  Place the foot of the side opposite to the arm swinging the whip. Plant your feet firmly on the ground and about 14-18” apart in comfortable stride. The added leverage of the body during a swing can multiply the force of the delivery.

 

Exercise 1 - Control / Accuracy

Starting your arms should straight down your side and keep it straight. Then swing your arms upward and forward. You want the extended arm to be a straight line across your shoulders with your elbow slightly bent to act as a counterbalance to the swing. As you complete the swing, the top of your whip hand should now be level with the tip of your chin.  This will define your maximum reach of a whip.  Practice this several times without much force.  Always work on controlling the delivery and the return. 

 

Set a target and end the reach of the tip of the whip (a tin can on a cat scratching pole is good).  The aspiration is to have the whip's tip able to knock the tin can off the post consistently.  The intention is with a minimum of sound to have the whip always impact the can such that it knocks the can directly away from you. 

 

When you can comfortably knock the can off 9 out of every 10 attempts, you can be assured of your control.  Know change up by trying to hit the side of the can and knock it in the direction of the whip travel either right or left.  Again once you can do that, you will be assured of control. 

 

Exercise 2 - The Flick

Once you can control the whip, you can begin to practice a flick.  This is essential where the sound comes from. The snapping of a whip as it straightens causes the air to break, and the distinctive crack sound occurs. When the whip's tip is resting below and slightly behind you on the floor, straighten your arm to propel the whip forward and slightly flick your wrist to crack the whip. The objective is to change the return of the whip with a sudden jerk. If done properly, this should maximize the sound effect while returning the whip tip to its proper resting place.

 

Impact equals Distance and Force.

Realize the extended whip has the greatest force at its tip.  The result multiples the elasticity of the whip, the speed of travel, and the force of the retrieval (flick).   If the impact point is small, all of this force is focused on that area.  The volume of the sound is directly proportional to the force and distance travelled magnitude of the impact. So a short journey has less force, the less extension the whip achieves is represented in the force of the impact delivered.

 

Exercise 3 - Wrapping the Whip

The whip can also wrap around objects. This can be used as a temporary binding to swing on a  tree limb or capture an object and pull it back to you.  Indiana Jones style.  Again, the cat scratches post-move closer to one foot per wrap (average for a 3 inch (8 cm) diameter post).  The tip will be overlapped by about 2 inches this way. The goal is to have the whip wrap around the post. Slowly step forward.  If you want to capture something 3 wraps are ideally needed to ensure a firm grasp. 

 

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Then put the can back on the post, and now try to capture it and return it to you.  Remember, on the jerk back, and you will have a very painful object hit you if you can not land it precisely.  Expect bruises until you can effectively control this and the landing. Continue to practice these techniques until you are comfortable with the whip. 

 

The swing should become like the rolling of the waves, at times gentle, others times stormy but always in total control and rhythmic.   Only after you are comfortable with the skills should you proceed to the next and most challenging of skills.

 

Exercise 4 - Wrapping the Victim.

Unlike capture, you only want 1 full wrap of the whip around the object.  Duct tape a bulky pillow to the post. Now practice having the whip wrap around the post and pillow.  This time, you do not want to have the tip overlap.  Again the force is mostly in the tip, but it will be slightly distributed through the length of the impact area and reduce the force by the length of the whip divided by the portion wrapping the object, but still, 50% of the force will be focused in the tip.  If a live subject, this is extremely painful and will always leave a striation. You will have to swing sideways to affect a wrap, but this should be only a flick of the wrist, not a wild arm swing. This will prevent you from having the whip hit you on the return if you miss the target.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do’s and Don’ts

If you want to perfect the control of a whip, you have to be always practice. Even when you are not using it, practice at least 30 minutes each day, even when you become proficient.  Otherwise, your skill will wane, and your respect for the whip will wane, putting you and your subjects at risk.

 

Until you are an expert, always wear protective clothing and goggles to shield yourself. The backlash of the whip WILL cause real harm and could be very cutting. Never wear sandals or use the whip in bare feet; the natural landing point back is at the ground by the end of your arm.

 

Sexual Whipping

Never use the whip when someone is within its reach that could be hurt from it. (Unless they specifically want it.)  This is one activity when a SAFE WORD is a must. If the recipient utters it, stop immediately. The general approach is for the recipient to state “start,” “slow-up,” more intensity, please,” “back down,” or “stop.” The tempo should be controlled by the recipients in most SM scenes.  You will learn the recipient and how to get the WOW as you progress from gentle to stronger and then back to gentle, then a little stronger, … and gentle again. 

 

Make sure you start again with the lowest intensity and most control you have when starting a session.  Even a light strike from a whip is many times more painful than a belt or switch.  Most pain sluts will enjoy a slow build-up during a whipping session.  An explosive climax of impacts may be interesting, but not every recipient can take this; the person administering the abuse must take this carefully into account. Even if you ramp up the intensity, it is best to wind down gently, ending casually. Whipping is exhausting for both administer and the recipient; if done properly, it will leave both parties drained and delighted. 

 

Wrap UP

It takes practice … practice and more practice, particularly if you want to control the whip and become proficient to the point of blowing the recipient’s mind. The more practice you have, the more you will learn control, and the more you learn, the more skilled you will become.  These skills take as much dedication as any martial art. Using them to excite and enthrall the recipient is the essence of a true dom.  The skills and discipline learning this are very useful in non-SM contexts as well!