A little about MACH ONE founder and instructor, Daniel Trout
Image courtesy of Jennifer C. Trout
I grew up in the Appalachian foothills of Southeast Ohio during the 1980's, and like most geeky boys of my generation, I've been fascinated by the bullwhip since seeing one flash on the big screen in Raiders of the Lost Ark, (the whip gets a close up even before Harrison Ford's!)
I spent a good amount of my childhood allowance buying cheap novelty store bullwhips made of ratty goatskin braided over a sisal rope core that would start coming apart after a few light pops, (if you're interested enough to read this far, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.)
Eventually, I acquired a rather nice twelve foot long cowhide bullwhip with a swiveling wood handle that I purchased at a flea market for the steep sum of $25, (not a small amount for a 13 year old.) After a number of years with that, all I'd really learned to do was not hit myself, but that was something.
I knew about the quality bullwhips I really wanted to play with, even in the days before the World Wide Web made the acquisition of such things a possibility for a teen from my little corner of Appalachian nowhere, but between cars, girls, and comic books, I lacked the disposable income to really get started.
Flash forward to "adulthood", (whatever that is...)
In 2004, I suddenly found myself to be in my very late 20's in a rather sedate little Ohio town, teaching at a rather sedate little regional campus of a state university as a rather sedate full-time faculty member.
This is not me.
Rather than do something boring and tedious for my 30th birthday, like bar-hopping or buying a sports car, I decided to take the plunge and treat myself to a weekend learning from whip artist and coach, Gery L. Deer at one of his two-day bullwhip handling workshops. Gery's studio in Jamestown, Ohio was about 3 hours from where I lived, and I thought "Well, even if I end up not liking it, I can say that I've done it! It makes a heck of a story!" So, I made the sojourn to meet Gery.
That weekend quite literally changed my life. For years I had been looking for "The Activity." Team sports have always bored me. While I enjoyed music, have sung semi-professionally and played drums all through high school, I never truly committed to mastering an instrument. Eastern Martial Arts had some appeal, but I never found a school or teacher that I had particularly connected with, and so dabbled in a number of forms that I never stuck with. I'd done historical reenactment and Medieval/Renaissance style sword combat/fencing. Again, I enjoyed it, but it just didn't grab me. But that day, I picked up one of Gery's bullwhips, (an exquisite 6 foot Indiana Jones style bullwhip made by Joseph Strain,) and swung it gently behind me, and with as little effort as possible, pushed the whip forward.
>BANG!<
"OH MY GOD, THAT WAS AMAZING!"
Crack is addictive, and I was hooked! Over the the following 16 years, I've had the opportunity to train with professional whip performers, Guinness World Record holders, Hollywood stunt people, amazing martial artists, and to celebrate my 40th birthday, I started MACH ONE as an attempt to "Pay Forward" the incredible wealth of knowledge, style, and technique that the aforementioned whip artists, (most of which you will find in the links section,) were generous enough to share with me, along with insights I've gained, and techniques I've developed, put together, and discovered on my own, and now I offer my services to you.
The training methods and material of MACH ONE Whip Artistry have been built on a fine lineage of skills and knowledge of a great many people, but my training model, method, and mechanics are unique to me.
So, please take a look around, drop me a line, attend a demo or workshop, and join me in the wonderful world of "Meditation at Mach 1"
I spent a good amount of my childhood allowance buying cheap novelty store bullwhips made of ratty goatskin braided over a sisal rope core that would start coming apart after a few light pops, (if you're interested enough to read this far, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.)
Eventually, I acquired a rather nice twelve foot long cowhide bullwhip with a swiveling wood handle that I purchased at a flea market for the steep sum of $25, (not a small amount for a 13 year old.) After a number of years with that, all I'd really learned to do was not hit myself, but that was something.
I knew about the quality bullwhips I really wanted to play with, even in the days before the World Wide Web made the acquisition of such things a possibility for a teen from my little corner of Appalachian nowhere, but between cars, girls, and comic books, I lacked the disposable income to really get started.
Flash forward to "adulthood", (whatever that is...)
In 2004, I suddenly found myself to be in my very late 20's in a rather sedate little Ohio town, teaching at a rather sedate little regional campus of a state university as a rather sedate full-time faculty member.
This is not me.
Rather than do something boring and tedious for my 30th birthday, like bar-hopping or buying a sports car, I decided to take the plunge and treat myself to a weekend learning from whip artist and coach, Gery L. Deer at one of his two-day bullwhip handling workshops. Gery's studio in Jamestown, Ohio was about 3 hours from where I lived, and I thought "Well, even if I end up not liking it, I can say that I've done it! It makes a heck of a story!" So, I made the sojourn to meet Gery.
That weekend quite literally changed my life. For years I had been looking for "The Activity." Team sports have always bored me. While I enjoyed music, have sung semi-professionally and played drums all through high school, I never truly committed to mastering an instrument. Eastern Martial Arts had some appeal, but I never found a school or teacher that I had particularly connected with, and so dabbled in a number of forms that I never stuck with. I'd done historical reenactment and Medieval/Renaissance style sword combat/fencing. Again, I enjoyed it, but it just didn't grab me. But that day, I picked up one of Gery's bullwhips, (an exquisite 6 foot Indiana Jones style bullwhip made by Joseph Strain,) and swung it gently behind me, and with as little effort as possible, pushed the whip forward.
>BANG!<
"OH MY GOD, THAT WAS AMAZING!"
Crack is addictive, and I was hooked! Over the the following 16 years, I've had the opportunity to train with professional whip performers, Guinness World Record holders, Hollywood stunt people, amazing martial artists, and to celebrate my 40th birthday, I started MACH ONE as an attempt to "Pay Forward" the incredible wealth of knowledge, style, and technique that the aforementioned whip artists, (most of which you will find in the links section,) were generous enough to share with me, along with insights I've gained, and techniques I've developed, put together, and discovered on my own, and now I offer my services to you.
The training methods and material of MACH ONE Whip Artistry have been built on a fine lineage of skills and knowledge of a great many people, but my training model, method, and mechanics are unique to me.
So, please take a look around, drop me a line, attend a demo or workshop, and join me in the wonderful world of "Meditation at Mach 1"
