The Cane: Part 6 – One Hand Whip Cuts

Because it’s more difficult for an opponent to wrest control of your cane when you hold it with both hands, two hand cane techniques are more secure. In most circumstances, however, you naturally hold the cane with one hand.

If you’re surprised by an attack, or if you want to surprise your opponent, a one hand whip cut will bring the cane immediately into action delivering a high kinetic energy strike.

There are four basic one hand whip cuts. The defining characteristic that makes them all “whip cuts” is a loose one hand grip on the crook of the cane. The loose grip allows the shaft of the cane to rotate about the crook at the same time as the hand and arm holding the cane rotates in the striking motion. The cane “whips” and strikes the target at about twice the speed or velocity that would be available from arm motion alone.

Whip cuts can also be performed with a strong grip on the cane and a loose wrist. The loose wrist allows the cane, or other stick, to whip in a fashion similar to the loose grip whip cut.

As noted in Part 4 - Two Hand Cuts, the kinetic energy delivered by a cut is proportional to the velocity of the cut squared.

The four basic whip cuts are:

1. Forehand Vertical Whip Cut
2. Backhand Vertical Whip Cut
3. Forehand Horizontal Whip Cut
4. Backhand Horizontal Whip Cut

Each of the four basic whip cuts will be discussed in detail in following posts.

Link to Other Topics in the Special Report: The Neko Ryu Cane