Arremesso de Facas - Conceitos Bsicos

"O po cai sempre com a manteiga pra baixo." Isto porque a distncia da mesa ao cho, em geral, s permite meia volta ao po! O mesmo princpio se aplica Arremesso de Facas: a gente tem que entender o nmero de voltas que a faca d, da mo ao alvo, para acertar de ponta. Assim, o arremesso bsico o chamado "arremesso de meia-volta", onde a faca descreve meia volta entre a mo e o alvo. realizado entre 1,80 e 2,40 metros do alvo, dependendo do tamanho da faca e do arremessador, do estilo, fora, etc. Esse arremesso feito segurando a faca pela lmina. O p frente normalmente o oposto mo que lana; a faca deve ser "solta" da mo (deslizar, quando se abrem os dedos) e no ser jogada no momento em que o antebrao fica alinhado com o alvo.

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Deixe a prpria faca seguir o movimento que ela vai encontrar o alvo da forma certa. O movimento de arremesso de facas semelhante ao de um golpe cortante com uma espada. O brao nunca deve cruzar o corpo, e sim seguir paralelo. Depois do arremesso, continue o movimento at a mo descansar naturalmente na altura da coxa (follow-through). O segredo repetir sempre exatamente os mesmos movimentos e, ao contrrio do que normalmente se pensa, manter o pulso firme, como se estivesse "travado".O "joguinho" de pulso faz a faca girar alm do necessrio. Olhe sempre para o alvo e no para a faca! Talvez a lio mais importante do Arremesso de Facas que os arremessos so feitos alternando- se a empunhadura entre a lmina (ponta) e o cabo da faca.Assim, como dissemos, o arremesso de meia volta feito pela lmina. O segundo arremesso, feito aproximadamente entre 3 e 3,60 metros do alvo, feito pelo cabo, e chamado de "arremesso de uma volta". Depois, vem o "arremesso de uma volta e meia" (entre uns 4 e 4,50 metros) que volta a ser feito pela lmina. A regra , todos os arremessos mltiplos de meia volta so feitos pela lmina, os de uma volta pelo cabo. Dica: aprenda a acertar suas distncias contando passos at o alvo e marcando no cho os pontos de onde voc consegue fincar as facas. Isso ajuda muito no comeo.

Tipos de Facas
Facas de arremesso so mais grossas e pesadas do que facas comuns. No possuem corte, para permitir que sejam arremessadas pela lmina sem risco de ferimentos. Por isso, no use facas de cozinha para arremesso elas tm tambm uma tmpera mais dura, e podem estilhaar, causando acidentes. O ideal mesmo comprar facas prprias para arremesso.

Empunhadura ou Grip
Outro dado importante como se segura a faca para o arremesso.A empunhadura mais comum a chamada Hammer Grip onde se segura a faca como se estivssemos dando a mo para algum. Outra opo o chamado Thumb Grip, onde o polegar se apia na "espinha" da faca. Ambos podem ser usados tanto no arremesso pela lmina quanto pelo cabo.

Alvos
Procure usar sempre alvos de madeira macia, tipo pinus ou cedrinho, e de preferncia molhada, isso facilita a penetrao da faca e aumenta a durabilidade do alvo. Use de duas a quatro tbuas pregadas umas nas outras, como se fosse uma cerca. "Discos" de rvores macias (Pinus, palmas) tambm do excelentes alvos.

Modalidades Principais
Arremesso Esportivo ou de Competio: um esporte de tiro ao alvo, como o Arco e Flecha, por exemplo. A idia arremessar um determinado nmero de facas a alvos colocados em diferentes alturas, em distncias que variam entre 2,40 e 6,30 ms, ganhando quem conseguir maior nmero de pontos na somatria do resultado de todas as distncias.

Arremesso Circense: aquele visto em Circos e teatros, onde um profissional experiente arremessa facas em alvos (bales, cartas) ou em volta de uma partner (Impalement Arts). Esses nmeros com partners s so feitos aps muito treino, pelo risco que oferecem. David Adamovich, considerado o melhor arremessador circense do mundo disse que "se voc no tiver certeza de que vai acertar um milho de vezes em um milho de tentativas, voc ainda no est pronto".

Segurana
Finalizando, outro dado importantssimo a Segurana: a rea de arremesso deve ficar longe de objetos danificveis, e nenhum assistente deve ficar a menos de 4 metros do arremessador. Use sempre culos de proteo e calado, no comeo muito comum as facas ricochetearem, esse o nico real perigo no Arremesso de Facas. Uma boa dica , se as facas estiverem ricocheteando em sua direo ou para os lados, aproxime-se um pouco do alvo, isso ir corrigir o problema. importante destacarmos que o arremesso de facas no visa a auto-defesa, caa ou qualquer tipo de violncia, to somente um esporte de habilidade e concentrao.

COMO LANZAR CUCHILLOS

Para lograr un lanzamiento deportivo y placentero se debern tomar algunas precauciones bsicas como ser: ubicacin del blanco, distancias de lanzamiento, prever posibles rebotes, cuidar de las personas que nos estn mirando en ese momento. Una vez ordenada la zona de prctica podemos comenzar. La mayora de nosotros sabemos o nos damos una idea de cmo lanzar una piedra, imaginemos que en lugar de una piedra tenemos un cuchillo de lanzar. Nos posicionamos a unos cuatro o cinco pasos de distancia del blanco, marcamos el piso, tocamos la punta de nuestro pie sobre la marca y la otra pierna ligeramente separada hacia atrs lo suficiente para estar en equilibrio, en esta posicin lanzamos el cuchillo inclinndonos hacia adelante. Probando as y sin desanimarnos vamos buscando nuestra propia distancia, TODOS TENEMOS DISTANCIAS DIFERENTES. Cuando logremos el mayor porcentaje de aciertos o clavadas, esa es nuestra distancia y desde all debemos practicar hasta tener la seguridad de que esa es nuestra distancia, esta vara de acuerdo al largo de nuestros brazos. A cuatro o cinco pasos es la distancia ideal para iniciarse a practicar este deporte. Para lanzar por el mango dar dos pasos atrs, es un simple clculo matemtico, si damos dos pasos ms atrs volvemos a lanzar por la hoja. Por sobre todas las cosas no desanimarse y marcar las distintas distancias de lanzamiento en el piso. Si el cuchillo pega con la hoja hacia arriba deber adelantar el pie unos veinte centmetros de la marca establecida inicialmente y a la inversa si el cuchillo pega con el mango hacia arriba. Teniendo una orientacin de una de las tcnicas de lanzamiento, ya que hay muchsimas, podremos elegir qu tipo de cuchillos nos gusta lanzar, para hacer esto debemos tomar el peso, forma y tipo de cuchillo, todo debe estar en armona y acorde a nuestra contextura fsica y potencia muscular, debemos sentir que dominamos el cuchillo y no l a nosotros. Personalmente prefiero los cuchillos grandes ya que con ellos se logra una mejor penetracin en el blanco y se evita el flameo de los cuchillos livianos. Los cuchillos grandes miden entre 28 y 40 cm. de largo siendo los ms usuales los de 30 a 36 cm. y pesan 300 a 350 grs. Para saber cul es el centro de gravedad de un cuchillo de lanzar simplemente apoye la hoja plana

sobre el dedo ndice y vaya corrindola hacia la zona del mango hasta lograr el balance, esto sirve para saber si lanzarlo por la hoja o por el mango, NO OLVIDAR LAS DISTANCIAS. Como habrn notado an no hemos tocado el tema del blanco como puntera, slo estamos aprendiendo a clavar el cuchillo en el blanco, por sobre todas las cosas, reitero, practicar, practicar y practicar. Si esto lo pueden hacer con amigos interesados en este deporte, las prcticas sern ms amenas y aprendern ms rpidamente, porque cada uno tiene un estilo innato y diferente que puede ayudarnos a corregir una postura o ver en la otra persona qu estamos haciendo bien o mal. Para cerrar esta introduccin les dir que hay ciento de personas que se dedican a la prctica de este deporte y se van agrupando y formando clubes, luego inician torneos entre ellos. G.H

Knife throwing is an art, sport, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapons thrown, and a target.

[edit] A throwing knife

Knife throwing show The desirable properties for a throwing knife differ from those of a common pocket knife. Knives used are almost always one-piece, rather than the traditional knives that have a handle manufactured separately from the blade. The purpose of this design is to create a durable knife with a balanced distribution of weight. Additionally, some throwing knives are double-edged, although the edges of throwing knives are almost always dull (to prevent the knife from cutting the thrower's hands in some grips). The knife sticks by penetration of the sharpened point into the target, hence sharpened edges are unnecessary. As the knife's sharpness and its ability to hold an edge are of little importance, other factors such as weight distribution, overall weight and especially durability become important. Compared to pocket knives, the steel used to manufacture a throwing knife should be more malleable and less prone to breakage.

[edit] Basic principles

Knife throwing, whether in a martial or sport application, involves the same basic principles of mechanics. The objective in each case is for the point to stick into the target with a sufficient amount of force. For this to be successful accuracy, distance, number of rotations and placement of the body all must be taken into account. A knife rotates during flight. This means that the thrower, assuming s/he is throwing the same way every time, must either choose a specific distance for each type of throw or - more practically - make slight

adjustments to placement of the knife in the hand as well as angle of release and rotation of the wrist. Variations in throw technique can be combined to allow the thrower to stick the knife into a target up to 60 feet away. Throwers may additionally make use of these adjustments while throwing off-center, around corners, and while running.

[edit] Spear or arrow style

"Spear" or "arrow style" or "combat style" knife throwing is an alternative throwing style practiced by a majority of knife throwers in the army. The principal difference between this style and standard knife throwing is that in spear style, the knives are thrown so that they fly straight into the target with little or no rotation, in the manner of an arrow or a thrown spear. This is usually accomplished by a throw that resembles a shot put, accompanied by a slight downward flick of the wrist as the knife is released, in order to cancel out momentum accumulated in accelerating the knife. Spear style is considered more difficult than standard knife throwing, and is somewhat less accurate, but has the advantage that the thrower does not need to gauge the distance to the target or choose a number of rotations. Thus, in theory, it is more useful as a martial art. Spear style throwers usually use smaller knives - between 5 and 10 inches in length - than typical knife throwers do. They also tend to use knives balanced with more weight towards the handle.

[edit] Sport
In the USA and in Europe, there are communities of people pursuing knife throwing as a sport, similar to archery. Groups such as IKTHOF (International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame, USA), AKTA (American Knife Throwers Alliance, USA) and Eurothrowers (European Throwing Club "Flying Blades", EU) sponsor events, demonstrations and competitions. Those are an opportunity for the throwers to exchange knowledge, compare their performances, and enjoy the amiable atmosphere common to those events. The competition itself consists, in the most common form, of a series of straight throws aimed at a set of standard wooden targets. Similar to an archery target, competition knife throwing targets have a bullseye surrounded by one or more rings. A sticking knife scores points. The thrower must be standing at least a set distance away from the target, with higher distances for more challenging events. IKTHOF, based in Austin, Texas, keeps a ranking of its members based on their performance during these sponsored competitions. The scores achieved at Eurothrowers events can be examined at the meetings' reports.

[edit] Martial arts

Although it was popularized in America in the late 19th century by traveling acts such as the Barnum & Bailey Circus, the history of knife throwing dates much further back. The art of knife throwing was first used in martial arts or hunting applications. It has been incorporated into the martial disciplines of the Japanese as well as some African and Native American tribes. In such cases, throwing a weapon when fighting is generally thought of as a risk. If unsuccessful it can leave the thrower without a weapon. However, many warriors traditionally carried two or more weapons at the same time.

[edit] Military
Military personnel (usually spec-ops) seldom use "normal" knives for throwing, because lack of repeatability makes training and certification difficult. The French GIGN's knife has a liquid mercury vial hidden inside to help automatically orient the blade forward when thrown[citation needed]. The Soviet Spetznaz (special forces) throwing knife is actually a blade gun[citation needed], which uses a very strong coil spring hidden in the handle to propel the blade forward on the press of a button. The holster carries extra blades, because hitting a tree or other wooden object embeds the blade so much, removal by human strength may be impossible.

[edit] Entertainment
Knife throwing as entertainment is part of a group of performance arts sometimes known as the impalement arts.

[edit] Representations
Knife throwing has made many appearances in film, most prominently in action movies such as Kill Bill, Gangs of New York, and V for Vendetta. Many films, with the above-mentioned as notable exceptions, depict the act of throwing a knife in an unrealistic manner. Compared to the standard Hollywood throw (holding the knife by the tip, between thumb and forefinger), competition knife throwers usually hold the knife either along the length of the blade close to the center of gravity or by the handle. Additionally, the number of rotations within a distance of five to thirty feet should be no more than two. Steven Millhauser wrote a story called "The Knife Thrower." It was published in the March 1997 issue of Harper's and collected in The Knife Thrower and Other Stories. While nowhere near as popular as the use of guns and swords in video games, a few games have successfully adopted knife throwing into their gameplay, such as in "XIII (video game)" (2003), which used realistic single-piece knives, "Conker's Bad Fur Day" (2001) which used kitchen knives that when used without targeting would travel straight towards where an opponent's head was at the time of throwing, and perhaps most notably "GoldenEye 007" (1997) which could be configured in multiplayer to only allow throwing knives in an arena, and featured a single player mission that involved breaking out of a jail cell unarmed. In "Assassin's Creed" (2007), the protagonist, Altair, is very adept at throwing knives, and any targets hit will die instantly. Knife throwing is also prominent in the 10th game of the "Fire Emblem" series. Willie Garvin, the main supporting character in the Modesty Blaise series of books by Peter O'Donnell is depicted as an expert knife thrower. He can draw and throw in a fraction of a second and accurately strike targets up to ninety feet away with the blade or hilt of his custom-made knives.

[edit] External links

Knife throwing technique International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame (USA) American Knife Throwers Alliance (USA) European Throwing Club "Flying Blades" (EU)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_throwing"

Article for American Survival Guide Magazine

By John Bailey Introduction: Because of my experience in knife throwing, I have had hundreds of people corner me into giving impromptu knife throwing lessons. From these lessons I found that it was best to show the right way to start and the way to practice along with the practical application, before they reach the, "if I can't do what was on the tube, what's the use", state. This way students will find a satisfaction of the sport similar to that felt by first

time Karate students or other like disciplines. They will have the confidence to work for their personal best and look for new ways to apply what they have learned. In this article, I intend to break down movie misconceptions pertaining to knife throwing that have sprung up as of late. I will explain, with pictures, showing proper stance, methods of correction and distance judging. Also, types of knives for particular applications and answers to the five most asked questions in hunting and knife throwing in a survival situation. This will also include where the throwing stars and darts fit in, along with their lethal capacity. What knives should be thrown by the blade or by the handle, what knives not to get for throwing and emphasis on never throwing you only knife. The above mentioned impromptu lessons pretty much started 25 years ago and have never stopped. When at all possible I give a helping hand to anyone who asks. Formal classes first started while I was in Ranger Training, in the Army. As a member of the American Knife Throwers Alliance since 1972, I have contributed to their newsletter, I've given a number of demonstrations to boy Scouts and Centennial Frontier Events with both tomahawks and knives. Besides the normal classes on knife throwing, I taught classes on knife utilization at the 1985 Florida State Rendezvous and National American Pistol and Riffle Association Rendezvous held in Tenn. I am an officer with the Central Florida A.P.R.A. Unit and knife craft instructor. As a subscriber to your magazine for the past five years, I'm sure my fellow readers and you will find this article is very informative and interesting. Thank you for your time and consideration; hope to hear from you soon.

KNIFE THROWING, FACT OR FICTION

By John L. Bailey Interest in knife throwing can start at an early age while watching a myriad of Hollywood characters perform the seemingly impossible. Fascinated you can watch Robin Hood casually pluck a dagger from his belt and unerringly pin a rich Normans' money purse to a convenient tree. Jim Bowie was no slouch either, portrayed by Alan Ladd, it was nothing for him to drop a bad guy running through the woods; lit only by a full moon. And who could ever forget the dazzling and sneaky under hand throw James Colburn delivered to the poor unfortunate in the movie, "The Magnificent Seven". Moviemakers for years have worked hard at reinforcing these myths pertaining to the capabilities of knives. They delight at leading patrons to believe that this sort of trickery could be common place, with anyone who took a notion to take knife in hand and heave it, in the manner the script writer fantasized at the typewriter, a la Rambo, Jim Bowie, Ninja, Commando, Kung-Fu, etc. DIFFERENT STYLES IN MOVIES: Let's look at a few examples in which the thrown knife was bigger than life. The most over used movie favorite and by far the most useless throw to

master, is the open palm style. This has been shown as a fast and deadly throw, at distances of up to what appears to be 20 feet or so. The truth is you must be only a few feet from the target; too close for any mistake ands no chance for a second throw. Most often, the knife is seen in a bot, sleeve (opposite hand) or behind the neck rig. The knife is carried this way so it can be drawn and thrown and leaves the hand with no spin. Avoid knives with heavy handles, they will want to flip as son as they leave the hand. Nevertheless, because of the grip you still won't generate enough power to get much accuracy. Hold the knife in you open palm, with the thumb on the handle. Throw with the back of the hand going forward. The knife has to be fairly light, because extra weight would mean a tighter grip, causing more of a chance of missing target alignment. Using this style, it is crucial to have the knife slip out as soon as the arm is in line with the target. Now it's not to say you can't learn this style or that you can't throw it at a further distance, but there are better styles to use in close. You would be better off if you held on to the knife and spend the time learning a knife fighting technique. KNIVES NOT TO GET: With all the knives being made nowadays it is easier to point out what you don't want in a throwing knife, then to try and tell you what knife to buy. Good throwing knives with a throwing life of 20 years or so are hard to find. Most are passed off to look the part but are flawed either in design or steel temper. Almost all have poor handles. Knives with hollow handles are on the top of the list, second only to stag in the self-destruction department. Next are models with hilts . . . this is the cross guard between the blade and the handle. Knives that have the blades affixed only by a small part of the handle or continues only partially into it, with the handle material making up the rest of the knives length, are also not good for throwing. Knives made of very high carbon steel (files), thin spring steel blades (kitchen knives) or any combination of same, will not hold up under the continuous impact throwing knives are subject to. Folding knives are the worst things you can pick for throwing. I say this because I've never seen one stay together more than a few dozen throws. The hinge pins will loosen or break all together. What I am saying her, is you can definitely throw a Ka-Bar, Fairbairn, Puma White Hunter, or for that matter even your favorite buck folder, just don't fool yourself into thinking it will hold up for any length of time. If you still want to impress your friends with a well placed throw, with your Ka-Bar, I suggest you buy up a batch of surplus stock at a gun show to practice with, before you throw the one you care about. WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A THROWING KNIFE: Look for a knife made of spring steel, form 5/32" to 5/16" thick, tempered to somewhere between 43 to 48 on the Rockwell C scale. I have had good luck with 440C stainless. . . so far 2 years. I am writing to see if they will hold up like two of my seventeen-year-old Tru-Bal bowie-Axes. Try to figure

1 to 1.5 oz.'s per inch of overall length; not to exceed 14" nor less than 10". I like 13.5" at 15 oz. Some might like the smaller, heavy blade boot knife style. Make sure the handles are of a fibrous stock and held on with heavy rivets. Most handles that have a pommel, or come even with the end, are subject to slicing rivets off at the interface. There are a few handless stainless steel knives good for blade throwing for fun, but they are not much good for anything else. TO THROW BY THE HANDLE OR THE BLADE: There are two basic ways to throw a knife; by the blade or by the handle. No doubt you have seen someone (I am sure you can include yourself) pick up a knife and balance it on their finger and spout, "Umm good balance." Most people hope you won't ask, "what does good balance mean?" Good balance is relative only to the use in which it is to be applied. Let's say we find a knife that is NOT in the category of KNIVES NOT TO GET. How do we find out how it should be thrown? Most acceptable knives will be good for one style of throw and bad or not so good for the other style, few are good at both. Here is one of the secrets to throwing a knife. THROW THE HEAVY END FIRST. THROWING BY THE HANDLE: A knife that is perfect for the handle throw, has a good balance if it has 1 oz. To the inch and the blade is the heavy end. This is, if balanced on the finger, in the above mentioned manner, the balance point is in the center or no more than an inch back towards the handle. . . a light handle, hence a heave blade. Hold the knife in the same manner as you would a hatchet, but instead of wrapping the thumb around the handle; lay it along side the handle, usually on top of the first rivet. THROWING BY THE BLADE: If a knife with a heavy blade is thrown by the handle, it would seem that a heavy handle would be best for the blade throw. For the most part that is true, whereas the configuration of the blade is normally not a large concern on a knife thrown by the handle, it must be considered in choosing which one three methods you will use when throwing by the blade. FIRST: Daggers, Ice Picks or Stilettos are held in the same manner as a throwing star, with the point just touching the ring finer, if a light weight (floater); or just even with the little finger, if a heavier (Fairbairn or boot style). Except for the ice pick; their blades are or should be sharp on both sides and to throw it any other way is asking for trouble. SECOND: If the knife is of the hunting style (Ka-Bar, Buck, and most bayonets), the majority have a false edge. Use what I call a sandwich grip. Marines taught this style for throwing the Ka-Bar and I taught it in the Army for bayonets. With sharp edge out, lay the thumb along the center of the

flat side of the blade and push the finger tips tight to the center of the other side. This will put the false edge slightly off the meat in the inside of the hand, so when the knife is released the point the point won' drag across your palm. Never throw a SAW BACK knife by the blade, (it will do to your hand the same as it does to apiece of wood). THIRD: This method is for the most part used by professionals for stage shows. These knives don't have sharp edges, but do have sharp points. The grip used is almost the same as a handle thrower, except the thumb is most often put on the to edge. This concludes the styles used when throwing a knife by the blade. Personally I do not recommend that you spend too much time trying to learn them: (except perhaps style three if you intend to go professional). I say this because, I have never seen anyone carry a knife in a sheath handle down; nor have I seen anyone successfully grab for a SHARP knife and throw it in a manner that could be in anyway construed as, a better, or faster way; than a knife thrown by a person of equal skill using the handle. The only reason I teach these styles, in my class, is to show the student the how and why some knives seem to throw better than others. UNDER HAND STYLES BY THE HANDLES: Next are two different under hand throws. In the first method the blade is pointed down or forward, and is most often drawn from a sheath or from a sleeve of the opposite arm. Like the open palm style, there is not much power in the throw. The knife is held in a similar manner, except the fingers are lightly wrapped around the handle. Most people will find that arm and shoulder muscles won't allow you to develop much leverage on the back swing, and because of the limit put on the apex of the throwing curve, it is very important to keep the spin as slow as possible. One complete turn is about max with a light knife, two with a heavy knife of 13 oz. Or more. This can be remedied and an increase in power obtained with another method. The second method is more often seen used with a High-Rise upside down belt sheath on the throwing arm side, or a sleeve drop rig, on the forearm of the throwing arm. The knife is pulled out of the belt sheath by the end of the handle and held mostly by the thumb and inside ring finger, with the blade next to the back of the arm. If the sleeve rig is used, use a light knife, and make sure the blade is clear of the sleeve after it drops. The throw itself is the same as the first, except that as the hand is brought back down from the back swing, the knife is allowed to pivot between the ring finger and thumb (light knife) or with more of a full grip with a heavier knife. At the instant the knife starts to drop the elbow must be pointing down and the forearm brought up sharply with the hand, allowing the knife to develop a spin, by bending the wrist to 90 degrees pointing up and opening the fingers, in progression, starting with the little finger and the forefinger and

thumb being last. In this way the knife leave the hand already spinning, and generating speed and power. When executed properly with either light or heavy knife you can hardly see it coming, a la, Commando. THE OVER HAND THROW: So much for show boating. Her is the style that for all intense and purpose is the one to learn for hunting or a more true to life survival scenario. You have the best of all styles when you throw by the handle, it is effective in that it will get you the most impact, game and control. The knife handle is the first thing in your hand when you reach for it, by mere virtue of design, that is where it is suppose to be held. Unlike the under hand and the open palm style, the most powerful muscles in the arm and shoulder are used in this style. Whereas the target in the under hand and palm styles have to be a soft tissue points, such as throat, diaphragm or kidneys because the impact needed to get between ribs and vertebra is not developed. The overhand throw can make even a knife of boarder line weight get maximum penetration. I know of a man in Florida who put a Tru-Bal Bowie-Axe (13.5" long x 2.0" wide, 3/16" thick with a weight of 15 oz.) into a 275 lb. Boar's right shoulder at a recorded distance of 75 feet. A second knife was thrown at about 50 feet, to kill the animal, and hit just under the neck and cut through into the chest cavity. This example along with many other show that a throwing knife weighing close to one pound can indeed put food on the table. The skill level a throw like that involves means six or more full spins and more luck than I would suggest you can count on; however, you're the one who has to make the decision. A lost knife could be results of failure. More on when to throw. THE STANCE: There are two basic stances for the over hand throw. Start with the shoulders square to the target, if you are right handed put your left foot forward (reverse if left handed), start the windup as the knife comes past the head, unweight the left foot, slide or take a small step forward as the knife is brought forward, settling your weight back down exactly at the same time as the knife leaves the hand. In other stance, the left foot is back. When the knife is drawn back as described, start your step forward. Continue the stride as the knife come forward. The step must be completed with your foot settling back down exactly as the knife leaves the hand. This will give you more power, but can lead to a tendency to lose sight alignment. If you can keep a god eye on the target and control the bobbing, this is a good stance to use when walking or running towards a target. Just remember to start the windup on the right foot and throw on the left. THE WINDUP: The windup starts at the stance ready position; hold both arms in front, foot forward or foot back ready for the step through. Draw the knife arm back as is if you wee pulling back a bow string or back for a fast ball pitch. Leave the opposite arm out for balance and aid in aiming.

Continue back until the elbow is pointing back ad the forearm is up at a 90 degree angle. Take care to have the blade come from the point-up position (at the start of the windup), to pointing straight back or back and slightly to the opposite shoulder position. From here the wrist and arm are brought forward as if you were dragging the point with it. When the hand is about even with the head, let the opposite arm come down; and here is where the knife starts its return rotation cycle. The point now comes from the trailing, to the up, and then finally pointing at the target. Her it is released as if it had suddenly become a red hot coal; DO NOT SNAP YOUR WRIST. FOLLOW THROUGH: This is where almost all problems start. Try this; Use a baseball for practice. You don't snap your wrist when you throw it do you? Well then, don't do it when you throw your knife, otherwise you will never be consistent. Oh maybe you will get OK after awhile, but you will always take forever learning another knife or take longer to change distances. Bring the cutting edge down as if you were cutting a limb. If you release the knife any time after it has crossed the body it will spin in a oscillating manner; so even if it comes in point first, the side spin will more than likely twist it out of the target. This error is multiplied more so with longer throws. Remember release the knife as it starts to come in line, and let loose as if it were red hot; DO NOT SNAP YOUR WRIST. MAKING CORRECTIONS AFTER THE THROW: If all has gone well, your knife is now stuck firmly in the target; but most of the time this is not the case. If the knife stuck at all, check the position of the handle. When the handle is pointing up, the knife developed to much of a spin, and would not have stuck at all had you been only a few inches back or had your hand just been a fraction lower on the handle. So move up 6" or so and throw the knife EXACTLY the same as before. You can't make changes in both distance and your normal throw (grip, speed, follow-through) and expect to get a feeling or automatic sense of distance. Make every throw at the same speed. You will have time later to learn about hard and fast throwing. When the handle is pointing down, the reverse is the case. The knife just barely completed its spin and there it is, already at the target. This happened because you were to close to the target or your hand was to far up on the handle. Slide your right foot back a few inches and throw again; and at the risk of repeating myself, make sure you throw it at the same speed. As I mentioned previously, in both cases you can make corrections by moving your hand up or down on the handle. Now assuming you threw your first knife, with your thumb on the first rivet, and the knife stuck in the target, with the handle up, you could slow down the spin by either moving ahead or you could slide your thumb and hand up, lets say ". The results will be: the knife will leave your hand with a slower spin and the handle will come down. Same thing applies with the under thrown knives, handle down. Slide your hand down the handle and you will speed up the spin; therefore bringing the handle up. This is the method you would use when hunting, as you will read

later, YOU SHOULD NEVER THROW YOUR ONLY KNIFE. SO, if you make any stopping blow with the first knife and the second is needed, to take the game, your correction can be made without approaching it. This also applies for knives that hit the target and don't stick, keep your eyes at the impact point. If the blade is absolutely vertical with the handle up or down, instead of 6" back up or move ahead 1'. It if comes in backwards, move 2'. NEVERS TO THROWING YOUR KNIFE: Now that you think you have got it down pat here is the rule of the combat knife thrower: 1. No fight has ever been stopped to retrieve a thrown knife that's missed its target. When it's gone it's gone! 2. Never throw your only knife: Except if someone is turning their gun on you to shoot you. 3. Never use a thrown knife as the key to an action: Patrol, rescue, i.e. Trying to takeout a sentry. WHEN TO THROW YOUR KNIFE 1. To save a life: When yours or someone else's life depends on it. 2. For taking game: When others are also looking for food, or for you. 3. As a diversion: they never heard anything but, "something strange is going on here?" 4. Running away: Keep the chasers guessing, i.e. Rounding corners. 5. As a signal: Thrown at a mob or gang leader will show you mean business and back them off. Where your gun fire could alert more or draw attention. 6. As back off warning: Thrown at a mob or gang leader will show you mean business and back them off. Where your gun fire could alert more or draw attention. THROWING STARS AND OTHER THINGS TO THROW: No class is complete until I hear someone ask, "What about throwing stars, spikes, or the Spring propelled knives (the copy of the Russian shooting knife)." Stars and spikes along with cheaply made knives have one use as far as I am concerned, besides to play with; that is, when thrown from a safe distance at someone i.e. flight of stairs, a window, they can be annoying obstacles to anyone who is chasing you. Just imagine a person tossing one at you ever time you rounded a corner. However, you should be aware the lethal capacity of the star is highly overrated. This goes for the other goodies such as the: Ninja throwing spikes, spiked lead shot, darts, etc. I suggest the longer the spikes, the better, also keep in mind that if you don't hit our target at least once they will be picking the stuff up and throwing it back at you or keep it for a fight later. So practice using the same style as you would with a dagger or ice pick, and use the cheapest stars, spikes and knives as possible. The spring propelled shooting knife has the hitting power of a full thrust what???? At a reasonable distance, 10' or so; with a threatening

distance up to maybe 20'. But keep in mind it is a three part system, the spring handle, the blade cover, and the knife itself. After the knife is shot the other the other two parts are dead weight and without them the knife ain't much. When cocked it is like a loaded gun, with the safety pin pulled, a loaded gun with a hair trigger. Generally, the knife has only one good purpose, that is to aim it and push the button, then watch your $80.00 plus knife go and hope you have another to reload, and five minutes or longer to do it. Some of the tips listed may be questioned, by some people because I did not describe the way they were taught by their Dad or some other teacher. I am not saying theirs is wrong or mine is right, as far as I know there is nothing etched in stone that says, "This is the way, period". In the years I've instructed throwing, I have thrown just about everything that can be thrown, and a few things that can not or should not. From this I found the best way to stop people from using or doing the things that don't work. My intent is to make your time learning as easy as possible and to clear up disillusionment you may feel the first time you realize that you won't be able to throw your knife as far and as fast and as deadly s the journalist or movie producers would like you to believe. But you will find the more realistic uses will be as much or more rewarding, and you find that you have just been hooked on an old tradition that's making a strong come back.

Book "The Art of Throwing: Practical Instruction for better Techniques"

bibliographic details
Over the past years, the author Amante P. Marias Sr., has thrown different objects for a total of 1.3 million times. This book contains the knowledge and experience he gained, and also tells the story of his throwing journey. The basic concepts of throwing are presented in the first chapter. Grips, throwing methods, spins in flight, target construction, distance corrections and the like are covered. The presentation is a very condensed one, so that beginners will often not easily understand. Advanced throwers will find new ways to group their own experiences, as they question mentioned facts, and after some thinking realise that the author is right, but has omitted the explanation. (Mind you, I do not agree with everything, for example I think wood is a generally better target material than cardboard, and I would also take a different view on the physics of releasing a knife.) The different varieties of knives are presented in the next section, before a very brief section on axes. The entire second half of the book is on alternative throwing weapons like spears, Japanese and Chinese specialties including stars, shuriken and coins, or the ordinary dart. As with the knives, for each implement there are explanations as to how to grip and throw it, illustrated by many photos. Additionally, the author gives diagrams with his learning curve for each throwing object, detailing how his sticking rate developed

over the months. (Beginners can not expect to start with such a high success rate as the author who has mastered several throwing styles already.) Since Marias has a background in martial arts, self defense related aspects are mentioned frequently. What I am missing in this book are some practical hints as to the impact of grips on the throw, background on the history of throwing the various weapons, and a mention of the very active communities of sport axe and knife throwers in Europe and the USA. Altogether, the book contains the insightful experiences of a master thrower, albeit in a very condensed form. Beginners will often wonder, but advanced throwers will love the chance to read about such a variety of throwing objects.

Books and videos on knife throwing

As with every sport, there is no such thing as the one and only correct technique, but rather many different styles, and you will like some better than others. So, if you want to get deeply involved in this sport, you should read some literature, learn some different techniques. But I do recommend that you first read the pages here at Knifethrowing.info thoroughly to learn some basic facts, so that you will be able to tell if something in the book is perhaps not completely right (as it is sometimes the case). The list is quite short for now, as I did not read that many English books, but you can check with the commented lists at Thrower and Sticking Point. Recreational Knife Throwing (John Bailey) Recreational Knife Throwing II (John Bailey) The Fundamentals of Knife, Hawk and Axe Throwing with an Introduction to the Impalement Arts (David R. Adamovich) Le lancer de couteaux (Michel Dujay) Knife Throwing: A Practical Guide (Harry K. McEvoy) Knife & Tomahawk Throwing: The Art of the Experts (Harry K. McEvoy) The Art of Throwing: Practical Instruction for better Techniques (Amante P. Marias, Sr.)

DVD Recreational Knife Throwing by John Bailey Bailiwick Enterprises, Florida first published in 1999 Order here / read review This is a very nice video to get started with the sport of knife throwing, but it also offers interesting chapters for the advanced thrower. The author, John Bailey, has taught many people how to throw knives using his "brach-chopping" technique. We have a review of this video online, and you can buy it on DVD in our online-shop. DVD Recreational Knife Throwing II by John Bailey

Bailiwick Enterprises, Florida first published in 2001 Read review This is the sequeal to Recreational Knife Throwing (obviously :-) You will be see demonstrations of some new throwing techniques, and John will show you round his collection of throwable objects. The video is intended for the advanced thrower. We have a review of this video online. DVD The Fundamentals of Knife, Hawk and Axe Throwing with an Introduction to the Impalement Arts by David R. Adamovich Dr. David Adamovich, Freeport, New York first published in 2001 Order here / read review "The Great Throwdini", the knife flinging minister, shows his skills and demonstrates his style of throwing. Also included is an introductionary chapter for beginners. We have a review of this video online, and you can buy it on DVD in our online-shop. Le lancer de couteaux by Michel Dujay Michel Dujay, France first published in 1996 Read review The author shows how to throw pocket knives in such a way that they stick in the target. He always uses a blade grip, even on the handle. We have a review of this video online. Knife Throwing: A Practical Guide by Harry K. McEvoy Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc. first published in 1973 ISBN-0-8048-1099-0 about 6,95 $ The standard; The author was a master of the art and founder of the famous Tru-Balance Knife Company. Here you will find explanations of different grips and throwing styles. They are all tailored for the heavy American throwing knives, but most can be adapted for lighter ones. The professional style used by circusartists and professionals is also detailed. A whole chapter is dedicated to the throwing of tomahawks and axes, another presents famous knifethrowers and their stunts. Knife & Tomahawk Throwing: The Art of the Experts by Harry K. McEvoy Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc. first published in 1988 ISBN-0-8048-1542-9 about 9,95 $ This sequel to Knife Throwing: A Practical Guide first sums up the the basics presented there. The history of knife throwing is interesting to read. A part of the book deals with the throwing of tomahawks. In the remaining chapters are little anecdotes about famous knife throwers, their lives and stunts (in more detail than in the first book).

The Art of Throwing: Practical Instruction for better Techniques by Amante P. Marias, Sr. Tuttle Publishing first published in 2007 ISBN-978-0804837873 about 16,95 $ / 15 Euro read review For the advanced knife thrower, who wants to put its own experiences into a bigger concept. For those that want to read about throwing weapons beyond axes and knives.

Trajectory of the throwing knife and right distance to the target

In the beginning, you try to always make the same movements with your arm and body, with always the same force. Having mastered that constant movements for the throw, you can now find the distance from the target where the knives stick if you throw them with this movements.
In his flight towards the target, the knife will turn around his center of gravity, blade and handle will take turns pointing to the target. The throwing knife will rotate in a way that, if thrown from the handle, the blade will go downwards at first. The first distance for a stick is about three meters from the target (Always measured from the tip of your rear foot!). Grip the knife at the handle, throw it, and after one full rotation it will stick. If it doesn't, move back or forward a little (see chapter on training). The second distance is about one meter behind the first. Now you grip the knife at the blade (if possible), and after one and a half turn the knife will stick. It is important that you do not have to do anything to get this turns, they will just come. (In fact, later you will be trying to get less rotations to be in better control if you throw from further away.) From the third distance, you once again use a handle grip, just now you get two full rotations of the knife till it sticks. Because you always throw with the same movements and force, the knife rotates in the same manner, and flies with the same speed every time. Therefore you can calculate or feel how much you have to go back so that the knife has completed another half turn. The pros with many years of experience can throw from distances where the knives make seven full rotations! Once you found your distance, you should measure it off and note it down. Note that the distance will slightly differ the next training day. You might want to check out the turn-distance formula at StickingPoint.
(By changing your grip on the knife a little, you can stick it from distances between those of half turns. If you take more of the knife in your grip, it will spin slower, allowing you to move a little bit back from the target. Gripping it more towards the end will increase the spin.)

Grips for throwing

The easiest is the hammer grip, where you hold the knife as you would hold a hammer. You may place your thumb on the spine (=small side) of the knife, some people find they can aim better this way. Your wrist has to be absolutely stiff when throwing, otherwise you will get uncontrollable rotations. If the knife is sharp, you should only use this grip on the handle! The hammer grip is primary used with heavier knives, such as adopted bowie knives.

The pinch grip is used to throw light knives fast, suddenly and with force (that is some stress for your poor arm :-( The knife has to be gripped (pinched) between thumb and index finger, in a manner that it is a straight extension of your arm. You can hold it with the 2/3 of your finger that are next to your hand and the thumb (compare picture #1, my preferred method), or only with the fingertips. If you grip a heavier knife or want to throw further, you can additionally use your middle finger. If the edges are not sharp, you can use this grip also on the blade. If the knife is not sharpened, a blade grip is no problem, just do it as described above. If the blade is sharpened on only one side, you can carefully hold it with your thumb and middle finger as shown in picture 2. I prefer not to have the knife extend such a long way in my palm, it might cut. Of course, the sharp edge faces out of your palm! You have to hold the knife so tight that it does not leave your hand early, but not too tight, especially not cramped. Only a relaxed throw is a successful one! There are many other grips, especially from Asia, but the ones described above are the easiest and most common. John Bailey`s technique uses variant of the hammer grip that I like. Thrower has a pictured overview of different grips.

John Bailey's knife throwing style

See also the review of the teaching video
John Bailey is a professional knife thrower I met in Solingen, Germany. He was visiting the factory where two throwing knives that he designed (the Tan-Kri and the Starlight), are manufactured. And on this occasion, he taught me his throwing technique which I think is very easy to learn, efficient and elegant. Notice: This page ist a kind of summary for the throwing HowTo. It explains some things again, only this time in the light of a special throwing style. You should have read the knife throwing HowTo before you read on. After reading this page, you can have a look at the picture sequence of John throwing a knife. The grip (Explanation for right-handers): Hold the knife like you would a hammer, just put your thumb onto the narrow side of the knife (see picture). This is called a modified hammer grip. Now pull the knife out of your hand, until only your little finger still touches it. This facilitates the release and such stabilizes the flight. If the knife is not sharp, you can try this grip as a blade grip. Be sure to let the tip extend at least 1cm out of your palm, or else it could hurt you.
For his very sharp Tan-Kris, John uses a special blade grip: the thumb is on one, the four remaining fingers on the other flat side of the blade, the knife is clamped tightly between them. The little finger gives support to the tip, the other three are a little apart. You will need strong fingers for this to work, though!

The stance (see picture on the left): Your right foot is the back one. In front of it, scratch your distance mark into the ground or mark it with a stone. Your left foot is in front, the gap between them is about two feet (your actual foot, not the measure). The heels are nearly on a line. Your two feet form a 45 angel (left 12 o`clock, right 13:30 o`clock position) or wider. Both knees are bent, especially the front one. The weight rests primarily on the ball of your back foot (behind

your toes).

Both arms point to the target. Keep them lax and loose! The hands lightly touch each other. The throw: John has developed an exercise that will teach your muscles the right movement sequence: Imagine you are standing in basic stance, your right knee touches a low garden fence. On the other side of the fence there is the branch of a tree that you want to chop off with your knife. Unfortunately, the branch is far on the other side, so you have to stretch to reach it. Now wind up the arm with your knife and try to chop the branch (see picture below). It would be best if you had a real stick that you try to chop (perhaps really a branch, held by a friend). After you did this for some time, take away the stick, make the swing and just let go the knife as it points exactly to the target. That`s it!
Just to have it really all on one page, here the whole movement, starting from basic stance: The right hand with the knife goes back with a natural movement, until the elbow is on a level with the shoulder (in the picture below, the elbow is not high enough!). The blade points to the sky, the hand is a little behind your back. Now you can begin the smooth movement: The hand swings towards the target, arm and shoulder do extend (the branch is far away). The knife glides out of your hand as it points exactly to your target point. Do continue the forward movement; It is called the follow through. You can see the whole motion in a special picture sequence.

To get a right-angled stick (or at least some stick), read the training-section of this manual. Please change the distance to the target only in steps of at most 10cm! Don`t forget to update your distance mark accordingly. John Bailey has published an instructional video where, among other things, he explains this method. You can buy the video here at knifethrowing.info.

John holds the stick behind the imaginary fence that I shall try to chop. My right elbow should be higher!

O Arremesso de Facas: Conceitos Bsicos

"O po cai sempre com a manteiga pra baixo." Isto porque a distncia da mesa ao cho, em geral, s permite meia volta ao po! O mesmo princpio se aplica ao Arremesso de Facas: a gente tem que entender o nmero de voltas que a faca d, da mo ao alvo, para acertar de ponta. Assim, o arremesso bsico o chamado "arremesso de meia-volta", onde a faca descreve meia volta entre a mo e o alvo. realizado entre 1,80 e 2,40 metros do alvo, dependendo do tamanho da faca e do

arremessador, do estilo, fora, etc. Esse arremesso feito segurando a faca pela lmina. O p frente normalmente o oposto mo que lana; a faca deve ser "solta" da mo (deslizar, quando se abrem os dedos) e no ser jogada no momento em que o antebrao fica alinhado com o alvo. Deixe a prpria faca seguir o movimento que ela vai encontrar o alvo da forma certa. O movimento de arremesso de facas semelhante ao de um golpe cortante com uma espada. O brao nunca deve cruzar o corpo, e sim seguir paralelo. Depois do arremesso, continue o movimento at a mo descansar naturalmente na altura da coxa (follow-through). O segredo repetir sempre exatamente os mesmos movimentos e, ao contrrio do que normalmente se pensa, manter o pulso firme, como se estivesse "travado".O "joguinho" de pulso faz a faca girar alm do necessrio. Olhe sempre para o alvo e no para a faca! Talvez a lio mais importante do Arremesso de Facas que os arremessos so feitos alternando- se a empunhadura entre a lmina (ponta) e o cabo da faca.Assim, como dissemos, o arremesso de meia volta feito pela lmina. O segundo arremesso, feito aproximadamente entre 3 e 3,60 metros do alvo, feito pelo cabo, e chamado de "arremesso de uma volta". Depois, vem o "arremesso de uma volta e meia" (entre uns 4 e 4,50 metros) que volta a ser feito pela lmina. A regra , todos os arremessos mltiplos de meia volta so feitos pela lmina, os de uma volta pelo cabo. Dica: aprenda a acertar suas distncias contando passos at o alvo e marcando no cho os pontos de onde voc consegue fincar as facas. Isso ajuda muito no comeo. Messerwerfen Le lancer de couteaux O Arremesso de Facas Knife throwing

The physics of knife throwing

It is important to keep in mind that a knife throw happens instinctively, without thinking, much like walking or riding a bike. You must not try to think of the throw! Helpful notions like "release when the knife is pointing exactly at the target" are necessary to learn the motion sequence, but your brain will automatically adjust to release the knife in the right moment (a little earlier). Another example for this is "holding higher". Here too, you just can`t explain what exactly you change in your throw. The following explanations are just for the sake of completeness, for those who are curious to learn about the physics involved in a knife throw. Michael, thank you very much for the drawings and your thoughts on the topic. Aaron Roberts observed some phenomena while throwing knives, and tries to find the physical reasons behind them. He sometimes comes to different conclusions than I.

How does the knife leave the hand?

If someone is new to throwing, he will always be told to release the knife when it points exactly at the target. This advice, which does well as a helping notion, is given by many books as well. But in reality, the knife is released earlier. Describing it with regard to physics, the following happens: The hand makes about a circular motion around the shoulder joint. The movements in the elbow joint just change the radius of the circle and will be ignored. Once released, the knife will fly on tangentially to the circular path (see the pink 90 angle of the trajectory to the radius, and the picture; the knife is gripped by the blade!). Perhaps some of you remember the experiment in physics at school, when the teacher swung a weight on a string around his head and then let go? If you were to release the knife exactly when pointing to the target (blue line), it would fly straight to the ground. Rather, it must be released when the tangent of the circular path of the swing points exactly at the target (upper red line), or better a little earlier, because the ideal tangential trajectory will be affected by gravity (lower red line). In the very moment when releasing the knife, it will be about perpendicular to the ground, then start to turn. The arm will go on in his downward swing (follow through). In this case, personal perception and reality diverge. At first, based on my experience, I could not believe I release the knife that early. But it has to be that way, physics proves it, and some other things: when reviewing the slow motion sequences in his video, David Adamovich discovered that his knives leave the hand when being perpendicular to the ground, and Tim Valentine came to the same conclusion after doing some video analysis (he took this fact into account when writing his distance-turns-formula; 2 turns really are 2). Below, there are some photos taken immediately after the release of the knife, at the Thrower Meeting 2002 in Mncheberg (thank you, press photographer Johann Mller from Dbberin).

Photos which prove that the knife leaves the hand when being perpendicular to the ground:

The rotation of the knife (theory)

As mentioned above, the throwing movement follows a circular path around the shoulder joint. During the throwing movement, the knife changes its angle to the ground (), like a watch hand. The value of the changed angle per time is called angular velocity in physics. After releasing the knife, it will fly forward and continue to rotate around its center of gravity with the same angular velocity it had during the throwing movement. At the end of the throwing movement, the tip of the blade goes down (if you are holding it at the handle for the throw, that is), and so it will during the flight: tip going down, handle coming up. Thus, if your knife reaches the target with the handle pointing up, it has turned too much, and you must go nearer to the target to allow less time for rotation. The rotation of the knife around its center of gravity depends on how fast you are changing the angle of the knife (=) during the throwing movement. Now, if you do minimise the circle of the movement by not extending your arm, keeping it bent, throwing with usual speed will result in a faster rotation of the knife (higher ), because in the smaller circle it takes less time to move the knife for a certain angle. Accordingly, you can also slow down the rotation using a larger circle, extending your arm. This is also accomplished by the technique of "leaning in", where you stretch the throwing movement towards the target, making it into an oblong oval. With respect to the angular velocity, this oval acts like a larger circle ( slower rotation).

It is very interesting to note that the velocity of your throw has no impact on the distance the knife will travel during one full rotation! Proof: The angular velocity (angle per time t) can be measured in radian, its unit is then 2 / t . The distance d the knife travels while completing one full rotation is his forward velocity Vf multiplied by the time needed to complete the rotation: d = Vf (2 / ) (formula 1)

The forward velocity Vf of the knife equals its circumferential velocity Vc at the moment of release. Vc is the part of the circular arc (with the radius r measured from the shoulder joint to the center of gravity of the knife) that is covered by the knife per time unit, and with already being in radian, the formula is (circumference equals r 2): Vf = Vc = r (formula 2)

Inserting formula 2 into formula 1 yields: d = r 2 (formula 3)

The distance d which the knife travels during one full rotation hence only depends on the radius of the throwing movement, not on the force or speed of the throw!
The last formula also explains why axes (and large knives) travel longer distances during one full turn: their center of gravity is well away from the hand, making the radius r of the circular throwing movement bigger.

The rotation of the knife (applied)

The formula d = r 2 (formula 3) derived above is of little use practically, since the radius r is not known. The throwing movement is not an exact circle, but a bent curve, and the relevant radius r is the one of the curve at the moment of release. The conclusion that the parameter d (traveled way/full rotation) only depends on the distance (radius r) of the shoulder joint to the center of gravity of the knife remains true (presuming that the throwing movement itself is not changed, of course). Because the arm length of the thrower remains constant, and only the radius changes with different throwing devices, it is possible to empirically determine the parameter d for throwing devices of different length. Experiments yielded the following diagram:

Here, lg is the whole (general) length of a knife, ls is the distance or location of the center of mass, which will be assumed to be at lg/2, because well balanced throwing knives have their center of gravity in the middle. With axes, the center of gravity is nearly exactly at the end of the handle, hence we set ls equal to lg. Therefore, the lg axis in the diagram is for the knives, ls for the axes. Example:A knife with a length of 30cm (lg = 0.3m) would travel around 2m while completing a full turn. An axe with a handle length of 30cm (ls = 0.3m) would need about 3.5m for that according to the diagram. These values are true for a normal throw using the hammer grip. Due to different grip variations and other factors, the real values can scatter around the ones given (yellow area in the diagram). Knife throwers know that they can slow down the rotation of a knife by taking more of it into the hand, holding it more towards the middle. This results from the fact that the knife needs more time to clear the hand after the release, whilst the hand continues to travel downwards, pushing onto the handle. This slows down the rotation, which normally would have the handle going up. The technique of throwing the knife with the thumb on its spine slows down the rotation for the same reason. Another alteration of the grip does slow down the rotation: do not hold the knife so that it is a straight extension of your horizontally outstretched forearm, but bend it slightly back up. After being released, the knife can now not easily slide out of the hand, but has to work against the front fingers, tumbling over them, thus adding spin.

Trajectory and speed of a throwing knife

The speed of a thrown knife depends of course on the power of the thrower and on the throwing technique employed. There are reliable experiments which clock the speed of a ball thrown by a handball player at up to 120 km/h. But those were professionals.

David Adamovich made an

experiment to determine the speed of throwing knives: In front of a background that had vertical lines every 3 inches, a knife was thrown with "normal" speed across a distance of 3.4m. The flight was filmed with 60 frames/second (KnifeThrowing.info has seen the video), and the speed of the knife calculated as being around 50km/h. Do note that the knife turns and hence for the impact on the target the rotational speed would have to be added.

A very similar experiment was done by a TV team reporting on our Big Throwers Meeting 2007. (The somewhat lurid report by German national TV chain Pro7/Galileo can be viewed here.) The results are very accurate, since the two testthrowers were filmed with a high-speed camera that could record several hundred pictures per second. The knife speeds of 55 km/h and 61 km/h reported were somewhat higher the one given by Adamovich. However, the faster speed was observed with a very fast thrower (Gregor Paprocki) who throws all his body towards accelerating his bayonet. Knife throwers will most probably throw less hard, hence slower, at short distances, than they would for long ones. This is partly so due to the fact that they fear the bounces of the knives from the target, which can be dangerous at short range. Long throws (> 6m) are done harder, keeping the arch of the trajectory flat due to increased speed. The hope is achieving a higher accuracy, because one can focus better on the target. But as already shown, this is of no help as the knife is not on the line eye-target on release.

Figure 1
The slower the speed of the throw, the higher the arch of the trajectory must be, hence the real distance traveled to the target will increase (see Figure 1, green curve). As already shown, the distance a knife travels during one full turn does not depend on the initial speed of the throw. So, in theory one should be able to control any over- or underspinning of the knife as it hits the target (as higher initial speed results in a shorter

distance traveled to the target). In reality, this would only be the case if the distance the knife really traveled to the target (Figure 1, green curve) were significantly different to the distance to the target (Figure 1, distance d). This can be calculated using the formula for the trajectory of an angular throw (see Figure 1, formula y(x) ). A graphical representation of the results is shown in Figure 2:

Figure 2
Four different throws with initial speeds Vc between 35km/h and 100km/h were examined, the formula for the trajectory of the knife (see Figure 1, formula y(x) ) being used to calculate the corresponding angles of the throw. The angle of 45 degrees is a special case, it allows to achieve the furthest throws, a knife (or any other object) thrown at this angle with a speed of 35km/h will just about make it to the target. The distance d to the target has been set as 10m, the target point is on the same level as the point of release (so we are looking for y = 0). The following is a chart with the speed of the throws, corresponding angles and corresponding real distances traveled on the arch during the flight: Initial speed Angle of throw Real distance on arch [km/h] [degree] [m] 35,66 45,00 11,47 50,43 15,00 10,12 75,18 6,50 10,02 99,09 3,72 10,01 Evidently, the difference between the real distance to the target (d = 10m) and the real distance traveled by the knife on the arch is rather low in the range of 50km/h to 100km/h. Only for very weak throws (35km/h) one can see a significant influence of the speed.

Conclusion: Even for long distance throws one should stick to a relaxed throw.

How to throw a knife: The throw

(Instructions for right handers; Left handers simply switch the side instructions.)

Here you will actually learn how to throw a throwing knife. Let's begin with the stance: your right foot is the back one (toes at distance mark), your left foot is in front, the gap between the two is about two feet (your actual foot, not the measure). The heels are on a line. The two feet form a 45 angel (left 12 o`clock, right 13:30 o`clock position) or wider. Both knees are bent, especially the front one. The weight rests primarily on the ball of your back foot (behind your toes). Both arms are straight and point to the target, which is in the height of the chest. The right arm now makes a round and smooth swing to the back, the knife is even behind the head. Then it swings forward towards the target, like you wanted to chop off some branch between you and the target. While swinging forward, the weight is shifted to rest on the front foot, the chest follows this movement. The right shoulder does not move, it remains in a (tilted) line with the left. As the knife arm is about in line with the left one and points exactly to the target, quickly let the knife go and snap your fingers back together. Do not stop the swing of the knife throw, go on with the movement. This is called follow through and considered very important for a good stick. Compare the description of John`s knife throwing style, where the knife throw motion sequence is explained again, or the pictures at Throwdini. For the throw, the weight is shifted to the left foot while the right arm with the knife is brought to the front.

If you do not need your left arm for aiming any more, you can draw it back when beginning the forward movement. Later, you can even employ your hip to add to the power of the knife throw (long distance only). As already explained, it is important that you get the whole movement into your muscle-memory, that you do it the same way every time. Then find the distance where the knives stick. That is the only way, force or sharp blades won't help.
Lightweight throwing knives (with 100g or even less) float or wobble in the flight if thrown slowly. For them, you can use the snap throw described here. Be aware that the sudden movements will take a toll on your muscles and joints, it will hurt after a while! Hold the knife in a pinch grip. Both arms are straight, stretched out towards the target. Now draw back your right arm. Your upper arm is now in one line with your shoulders. The forearm points to the sky, a little in the direction of your head. The right hand is a little bit above your ear, and the knife is in one straight line with the forearm. Now draw the knife arm back (behind your back), then jerk it back to the front, towards the target. Even better then a jerking movement is one where you draw the knife forcefully to the front, a little bit like the knife was attached somewhere in your back with a rubber band. The weight is now shifted to your front foot, the chest swings towards the target. Again, the right shoulder does not move.

Some hints:

When training the throwing movements, take care that the arm is stretched out completely and the knife points exactly to the target when you release it. To protect your joints, do not stretch out your arm to the fullest, but stop the movement with your muscles. Again: The wrist remains stiff!

The training
Do try to get practice as often as possible! Twice a week would be perfect, but you will learn it even if you don`t have that much time to spare.

To be in good shape for throwing, try to do 20-40 pushups every evening. In the beginning, your fingers will most likely be too weak, so try to get exercise with finger weights or springs until you feel that the knives leave the hand when you want them to. Keep the training sessions short at first. After 15 minutes, your arms will get tired, and you loose your concentration. You will get very few sticks, and perhaps even adopt a bad throwing style! Accuracy: Do not aim at a whole area, but a one specific point, e.g. an irregularity in the grain of the wood. Most likely you will notice that your knives do not stick in the target point, but in a specific direction beside it. Now it is easy, just move the point you are aiming at in your mind. For the target point, you have some possibilities: really paint it on the wood, use playing cards or pieces of fabric. You can also make rings to throw into. Make sure to sprawl the little targets all over the target board, it will thank you by lasting longer, and you have more diversity for your practice throws. But leave an empty margin around your marks so that not too many knives miss the board. To correct the distance to the target, you must know how the throwing knife rotates: If thrown from the handle, the blade will first go down. Such, if the knife sticks handle up, it rotated too much, meaning it has traveled too long because you stand too far away from the target. If it sticks handle down, you should move back. And seeing just the back of the handle, you can proudly call it a perfect stick. Move only a few centimeters back or forth to find the right distance. You should only change one parameter of the throw at a time (e.g. the distance or the grip). That way, you know why your knife suddenly doesn't stick any more.

Knife throwing in the martial arts

In the martial arts, the goal is to find a way to throw the knives so that they do not turn at all or very little. Thus, one would not have to calculate distances when an opponent comes a charging. Several methods to achieve those no-turn-throws have been proposed, from slightly tipping on the handle with a fingertip while it leaves the hand so as to stop the rotation, to the system of Vladimir Vasiliev (see this Interview with him). All of those methods are similar in that they are very hard to learn and only mastered by a few people. Yury Fedin from Moscow now came up with a system that combines several techniques to slow down the rotation, which seems easier to learn. He kindly wrote the article below to explain to the knife throwing community how it works. One of his pupils, Yury Ershov, translated it from Russian to English, and also offers lessons in wave knife throwing. I would like to mention that I (Christian Thiel) personally do not condone the use of knife throwing in self defense, compare also the interview linked above.

The energy of two waves

(Fedin Fight System)
This article is destined to describe the application of my hand-to-hand-fight wave technique to the battlesuited throwing of knives, screwdrivers and the like. In the frame of this article I won't touch all the details of my wave method. But some remarks surely have to

be made. So, why the "wave"? Historically, traditional Russian martial arts include slash punches, sometimes with an open palm, which clearly use the energy of the wave. The origins possibly lie in the usage of the whip in horse riding or lashing in traditional punishments. Both inherently have "flicks" at the moment of the junction of two waves. Similar wave and circular hand and leg movements with the same "flicks" at the end roamed into the martial arts. I have reformed and brought them into my Fedin Fight System. Returning to knife throwing I would like to start with a half-turn mode that is easy to learn in self-dependent training and uses the effect at two waves' junction. Let me start with the knives I use for this mode. So called "traditional" long and heavy knives for throwing are prohibited by Russian law. Therefore Russian throwers use other kinds of ordinary house knifes. The two examples on the photo are named (from left to right) Vjatich and Osetr. Although they look different, both knives have some common features which make them suited for the throwing mode to be explained below. First of all they are only sharpened on one side. Secondly, their center of gravity is not in the middle but towards the handle. The first feature allows for the same kind of grip (see photo) in which the forefinger is pressed to the blunt side of the knife. The second feature stipulates that a grip from the blade side is preferable. This is not necessary but in case of a grip at the handle the knife will rotate faster, reducing the battle distance. And last but not least, the knives are reasonably short to be carried. The big photo sequence shows the basic form of the wave throw movement. Being put in brief, the limp arm makes a slash in the vertical plane as if it had a whip in the hand. The action starts with the elbow smoothly shifting into the backward-up direction, which creates the first wave. At this moment the forefinger should point to the target. The elbow pulls the hand with the forward-pointing finger backwards until its physical limit. Afterwards the limp forearm continues moving backwards with the hand turning until the forefinger points into the direction opposite to the target. As the forearm moves smoothly backwards the elbow starts a return movement which is much faster than the initial one. This slash creates the second wave. It is necessary to balance the smooth backwards and fast returning elbow movements, so as to feel the second wave overtaking the first one to create a flick not in a whip but in the arm itself. This effect of two waves' conjunction should have place on the tip of the forefinger at the moment the hand passes the ear on its return way towards the target. Together with the flick the knife should leave the hand in almost vertical state, the handle pointing upwards. It is important to make the throw when the hand is as close to the ear as possible. In case the throw is made too late, when the hand has already passed the ear towards the target, the knife won't receive enough energy and will start rotating much faster as well. The described kind of wave knife throw provides enough energy potential to strike the target with the above knives from a distance of 4-5 meters. The knife makes only a half turn or, to be more correct, three fourth of

a turn as it leaves the forefinger when it is pointing nearly vertically to the sky. Leaving the grip the knife flies with its handle pointing forwards for at least half of the distance. Then it makes a quick half turn just in front of the target. There are three reasons for that sort of flight: a center of gravity towards the handle, powerful initial impulse caused by the waves' conjunction, and the forefinger sliding off the blunt spine of the knife. The latter also slows its rotation and provides accuracy. (Note: Watch for notches on the blunt side of the knife, take care of your forefinger.) The photo sequence below shows the addition of the chest muscles' potential to the described wave hand movement, which permits to stretch the half turn distance with the same knifes to up to 7-10 meters. With the help of some secrets I manage to prolong it to up to 12-15 meters. So, you can clearly see that such a mode of knife throwing is quite flexible in battle situations. You just need to get used to the feeling of your knife. Variations of throw impulse and chest muscles' addition, if needed, give the possibility to strike the target in the range of distances between 3 and 15 meters without the need to count turns. For distances up to 3 meters just take the knife by the handle with the same grip and repeat the same wave movement.

Sequence illustrating how to incorporate the chest muscles into the throwing movement.

The basics of the above throw can be also used in a so called relative no turn technique which you can see in a video placed on my site. It is called relative because the knife makes one fourth of a turn on 5-7 meters distance. No need to point out that the half-turn mode can be also used together with nails, screwdrivers, shurikens and the like. With this article I would like to draw attention to the perspectives of wave movements in martial arts. The potential is really strong. In order to initiate some interest I would also like to mention that I have found a way to effect real no turn throws (the knife flies like an arrow), side throws, down throws and throws behind the back as a further development of my wave system. I will be glad to receive any comments as well as to meet in Moscow and abroad with those who are interested in learning my system.

Yury Fedin,
September 2005 Homepage: Fedin-System.com

How to Throw a Knife Without It Spinning

If you're reading this, you probably already know how to throw a knife already. Or you're just interested and think knife throwing is cool. Two methods for throwing a knife without spinning it are the Modified Hammer Grip and the Pinch Grip.

Modified Hammer Grip

1. Hold your knife by the handle; in your fist, much like the way you would hold a hammer (hence the name). But (this is the "modified" part) then you take your forefinger and lay it along the spine of the knife (the top edge). It now looks like you are pointing your finger.

2. Hold your arm in front of you, but with your elbow bent in a 90 degree angle with your forefinger pointing toward the sky. 3. Bring your hand up and back, and then snap it straight out at your target, rotating your hand so your forefinger points to the target. If it spins forward, try flicking your finger down right at the point when you are about to release. This may prevent the forward momentum from making the knife spin. If it spins backward, lessen the force of the flick.

The "Pinch" Grip

1. In this grip, use your middle finger to find the balance point on the knife (the center of gravity). 2. Pinch the blade on the balance point between your thumb and middle finger, and lay your pointer finger on the spine of the knife. 3. Bring your arm out with your upper arm at a 90 degree angle to your body, your hand brought close in to your ear, and the pointer finger facing behind you. 4. Bring your hand out and down, while holding the knife loosely. The knife should fly out of your hand, and straight to your target.

[edit] Tips

The reason these techniques work is the thumb; or, in the case of the "pinch" grip, the pointer finger. The knife, when thrown, rotates around the knife's center of gravity. The fingers on the spine counteract the rotation of the blade and give it a straight flight to the target.

[edit] Warnings

This is knife throwing. Remember that! You're throwing a small, possibly sharp, at least something with a point at something! Use caution. Also, use common sense. Don't throw knives at anyone, no matter how annoying they are. Throw your knives at a board, preferably a thick one. Do not throw them at the side of the house. This will damage the blade and cost you a knife to throw. Use your common sense (again) and do not bring them in a bag/backpack/suitcase that will be possibly checked by a public official (e.g. airport gate security) for your knives will be confiscated. Be prepared for the knife to bounce back at you(or those standing near you). Use the same precautions as you would for firearms.

[edit] Sources and Citations

http://www.knifethrowing.info/

Throwing Knives at Target Is Novel Sport KNIFE throwing is an inexpensive, exciting game of skill in which all ages and both sexes can participate. It has something of the novelty and thrill of the circus and never gets monotonous. The equipment can be set up in the cellar in an evening. It consists of an old chopping block, three knives (ours cost 19 cents each), a small roll of tire tape, rag bags, two boards, nails, and a little paint. The total cost is less than a dollar. The target A is a block of wood without knots, 17-1/2 in. in diameter and about 15 in. long. Soft pine is best. Saw the face smooth across grain so that knives can enter with the grain. Paint rings as shown at B. Attach a board midway from each end on either side, and hang on joists about 52 in. from the floor in such a way that the block can swing back and forth. About 1 ft. behind and, if necessary, to the left and right, tack up rag bags to stop knives and prevent their damage. Lay rough boards loosely on the cement floor, under and in front of target. Cover these with rag bags or old carpets. An ordinary butchers knife will serve the purpose. Grind to the shape shown at C for balance, and wrap the handle with tire tape to hold the rivets. Grind and round off the cutting edge up to within about 1/2 in. of the point and file the point to a blunt, chisel-like edge that is not sharp enough at any place to cut the hand. This is important. Experience has shown that although this makes the game safe, it does not interfere with the penetration of the knife. Not one of all who have thrown these knives has ever received even the slightest injury.

The position of the knife in the right hand is shown at D. This gives a firm, steady grip. Stand facing the target 12 ft. from it, knife in hand. With arm over head, elbow bent slightly, swing arm at shoulder foreward and downward.

After throwing three knives, we count score, remove them from target or floor, and throw them again until we have thrown 21 knives in 7 sets of 3 each. The accumulated total thus gained is our score. A doubtful knife in the target is measured across its width at the surface of the target. The greatest width in either ring decides the issue, and one exactly half and half is counted on the lower score. Only knives in the target after the third has been thrown are counted. Variations in knives, knife holds, distance from target, and other conditions will quickly suggest themselves.W. W.

Tipos de Facas
Facas de arremesso so mais grossas e pesadas do que facas comuns. No possuem corte, para permitir que sejam arremessadas pela lmina sem risco de ferimentos. Por isso, no use facas de cozinha para arremesso - elas tm tambm uma tmpera mais dura, e podem estilhaar, causando acidentes. O ideal mesmo comprar facas prprias para arremesso.

Empunhadura ou Grip
Outro dado importante como se segura a faca para o arremesso.A empunhadura mais comum a chamada Hammer Grip onde se segura a faca como se estivssemos dando a mo para algum. Outra opo o chamado Thumb Grip, onde o polegar se apia na "espinha" da faca. Ambos podem ser usados tanto no arremesso pela lmina quanto pelo cabo.

Alvos
Procure usar sempre alvos de madeira macia, tipo pinus ou cedrinho, e de preferncia molhada, isso facilita a penetrao da faca e aumenta a durabilidade do alvo. Use de duas a quatro tbuas pregadas umas nas outras, como se fosse uma cerca. "Discos" de rvores macias (Pinus, palmas) tambm do excelentes alvos.

Modalidades Principais do Arremesso de Facas

Arremesso Esportivo ou de Competio: um esporte de tiro ao alvo, como o Arco e Flecha, por exemplo. A idia arremessar um determinado nmero de facas a alvos colocados em diferentes alturas, em distncias que variam entre 2,40 e 6,30 ms, ganhando quem conseguir maior nmero de pontos na somatria do resultado de todas as distncias. Arremesso Circense: aquele visto em Circos e teatros, onde um profissional experiente arremessa facas em alvos (bales, cartas) ou em volta de uma partner (Impalement Arts). Esses nmeros com partners s so feitos aps muito treino, pelo risco que oferecem. David Adamovich, considerado o melhor arremessador circense do mundo disse que "se voc no tiver certeza de que vai acertar um milho de vezes em um milho de tentativas, voc ainda no est pronto".

Segurana
Finalizando, outro dado importantssimo a Segurana: a rea de arremesso deve ficar longe de objetos danificveis, e nenhum assistente deve ficar a menos de 4 metros do arremessador. Use sempre culos de proteo e calado, no comeo muito comum as facas ricochetearem, esse o nico real perigo no Arremesso de Facas. Uma boa dica , se as facas estiverem ricocheteando em sua direo ou para os lados, aproxime-se um pouco do alvo, isso ir corrigir o problema.

 importante destacarmos que o arremesso de facas no visa a auto-defesa, caa ou qualquer tipo de violncia, to somente um esporte de habilidade e concentrao.

Dalmo Mariano, Brasil

O Arremesso de Facas no Brasil

Dalmo Mariano, Mago das Facas

O Arremesso de Facas no Brasil, at onde eu pude pesquisar, sempre limitou-se a atividades circences. Mas mesmo no Circo, que teve seu auge entre as dcadas de 1940 e 1960, antes da popularizao da TV, o Arremesso de Facas sempre foi uma atrao menor. No tenho notcia de nenhum grande nome no Arremesso de Facas Circense, embora tenhamos tido bons artistas de Trapzio, Malabares e alguns palhaos famosos que atravessaram geraes, como Piolin e Arrelia. Nas poucas apresentaes de Arremesso de Facas circense que pude presenciar, normalmente havia um arremessador estrangeiro, e seus nmeros se limitavam s Ladder of Death em volta de uma assistente, embora o empresrio Beto Carreiro me tenha dito que por volta de 1950 havia artistas apresentando a Roda da Morte. Curiosamente, os Arremessadores circenses brasileiros com quem conversei se limitam ao arremesso pela Lmina da faca, normalmente de meia-volta e mais raramente de uma-e-meia-voltas, tendo ficado surpresos quando lhes demonstrei os arremessos de uma volta e mltiplos, feitos pelo Cabo da faca. As facas que vi, alis, so facas com muito peso no cabo, sendo por isso adequadas mais ao arremesso pela lmina. Acredito que isso se deva ao fato de nossos arremessadores terem aprendido com artistas Europeus, que tradicionalmente se especializam mais no arremesso pela lmina, ao contrrio dos americanos, que se adaptam mais ao arremesso pelo cabo (isso se deve a terem desenvolvido seus arremessos com facas Bowie, com mais pelo na lmina e, muitas vezes, dotadas de fio cortante). Contando brevemente minha histria, sempre fui fascinado pelo Arremesso de Facas, que vi um pouco em Circos e muito na TV e no Cinema. Comecei a arremessar muito cedo, mas por falta de quem me ensinasse as sutilezas da arte (s conseguia arremessos de meia-volta) acabei deixando esse hobbie meio abandonado. Aps uma viagem ao Canad, onde tive contato com um arremessador americano, Lee Fugatt, comecei a me envolver mais com o Arremesso de Facas, atravs de contatos via Internet. Recebi muitas informaes e

dicas de, alm de Lee Fugatt, Ed Sackett, Joe Darrah, Tim Valentine, Scott Gracia, John Bailey e de meu grande Amigo David Adamovich (The Great Throwdini) considerado o melhor arremessador circense do mundo. Aps anos de treinamento dirio, hoje arremesso em vrios estilos diferentes, e pratico tanto o Arremesso de Competio quanto o Arremesso Circense. J fiz apresentaes em pblico, em shows, na TV e fui matria de entrevistas em revistas. Produzo artesanalmente facas de arremesso, sendo que meu modelo principal, a "Faka" exportada para os EUA e Alemanha. Tenho ensinado gratuitamente muitos alunos na cidade de Atibaia, onde moro, e todos meus "alunos" se tornaram adeptos do esporte. Ainda neste ano fui eleito como membro da IKTHOF (International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame) e minhas facas fizeram parte de matria na revista MesserMagazin. Alm de contato dirio com arremessadores americanos, me correspondo tambm com arremessadores da Europa, com Christian Thiel, da Alemanha, e Roy Hutchinson, da Inglaterra. Acredito que num pas como o Brasil, to ligado a esportes rurais, o Arremesso de Facas tem um enorme potencial de expanso, em Campeonatos Regionais e como parte de Rodeios, que aqui tem tanta importncia quanto nos EUA.

Dalmo Mariano, Brasil