Background: My interest in whip art began with the
"sword and sandal" movies, I always thought that the patterns left on the hero's back were quite interesting in these movies, as well as in the first version of Mutiny on the Bounty . I also had an interest in recreating authentic corporal punishments, so the first attempt at whip art was with a cat o' nine tails.
As you can see, the pattern left after 50 strokes with a cat is nothing like the early movies depicted. I later learned that the movie studio "standards and practices" departments (a.k.a censors) did not allow authentic reproductions, just a hint. To achieve the effect I was looking for required the use of a single strand whip, commonly referred to as a "bullwhip".
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