Throwing a knife successfully is an exciting sight for anyone. It is not an easy task to do especially when you are throwing three knives together. I hope that after reading this article, you might be able to understand the whole process of throwing knives.
First of all, you would need to know about the types of throwing knives and decide which one you are going to choose for your target and safety. After that, I am going to discuss the stance and grip that you should follow and also how you would execute the techniques. Here are the details of the following.
Different types of throwing knives:
There are various types of throwing knives available on the market. To choose the best knife for you, you should consider three things- strength, weight and balance. Most of the knife throwers use a blade heavy and balanced knife and it is best for the beginners because this knife provides more spin in the air.
You may find it a bit harder in the first step of learning with a balanced knife but gradually you would put yourself in a good stead in acquiring techniques that professionals are using from the starting. A good throwing knife should be 12inches in length and 10-12 ounces in weight. Thus, you should check the length and weight of the knife before buying.
Rules of throwing a knife:
There are three rules of knife throwing that you must follow when you are ready to throw a throwing knife. Safety comes first! It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or a professional, you should never ignore safety.
Never throw a knife barefooted and avoid places where there are many people or children are present. People as well as animals could get injured if they come in your way while throwing by any chance. You should practice throwing knives in a calm and peaceful place so that no one could disturb you or you can focus on your target properly. Moreover, you should-
· Inform people around you about what you’re doing
· Attentive to the surroundings
· Keep a rag or cloth to wipe your knife and hands and also a file for removing burrs
· Choose a place where possibility of property damage or any kind of injury is less
Another important issue that you should consider is accuracy. You may purchase a perfect knife and adopt all the techniques only to achieve accuracy in throwing knives. You should not expect that your first throw would be successful. Your accuracy level would improve by adjusting the distance between you and your target and by following different styles of throwing. Moreover, practice could increase your accuracy.
The last and main rule is the consistency that you could acquire from accuracy. High consistency would see the gap till you’re accurate in 7 throws out of 10. Practice more and more until you are accurate with throws as much as possible. After that, try different styles with different knives for developing your skill.
Choose a target:
For a beginner, wood would be the best throwing target. A round wood piece is ideal for the target but you could also use a waste plank that you find in the hut. Wide plank would be better for throwing knives. Firewood or scrap wood is also an affordable way to use. You may find a wood that is thrown out from the kitchen and use it in another way.
Soft woods such as- poplar, pine or cottonwood are the best throwing target because the knife could easily stick into the wood. Plywood and oak are hardwoods that make your target harder especially in the first stage of learning. Wait to use these hardwoods until you have gained much experience.
How to hold throwing knives:
1. Get the right stance:
The foundation of throwing techniques is the proper stance so it is important to get it right. You need to focus on your posture and footing as they are the key ingredients. Your body should be relaxed by starting with the better nerves and adrenaline system. A tense stance would not be much productive. Stand up straight for a good movement and accurate throw. Your left foot should be slightly behind while the right one is in forward. If you’re left handed, you can switch this around. Comfortable stance is important to throw knives. Throw a ball at the target to try your stance and make yourself relaxed and loose.
2. Proper gripping:
There are two ways for gripping the knife, grip by blade or grip by handle. For an unbalanced knife, you would have to hold it by the light part and the heaviest part would lead to force for entering the target as it is thrown first. But if you are using a balanced knife, you could choose which part you are going to hold. After deciding which side you would hold, your fingers should be positioned in the ways below.
Standard grip:
· Hold your knife with ring, middle and index finger
· You should have curled your thumb on the opposite part of your knife
· Your fingers and thumb should be in towards the middle of your knife
Pinch grip:
· You should pinch the angle of the knife between the second knob of the index finger and thumb
· You have to bend the rest of the hand into a fist like a grip
McEvoy grip:
· You should position the knife vertically
· Grip your knife like you hold a hammer
· Rest your thumb on the handle or the top of the blade depending on which area you have choose to grip
Hammer grip:
· You should hold the knife horizontally
· Grip the knife like a hammer using your all fingers
· Your thumb should rest on the side of your knife
How to throw a throwing knife?
There are some techniques that would be easy for a beginner to follow. You would find the details about all of these techniques below.
Half spin:
Half spin throwing technique is more popular than others. As the name says- your knife would perform a half spin to leave the hand and reach the target. You should position yourself 15 feet from your target. To get a good result in this technique, you should follow some rules.
· You should put your shoulder square to your target and assume a comfortable stance
· Choose any of the styles from above to grip your knife
· You should place the blade in front of your eye level and raise your knife like you are going to hammer a pin in the wall
· Step forward by pulling arm back
· Release it when you find it before your eyes fully
· Throw the knife like you do to throw a baseball and let your body and arm follow through
No spin:
In this technique, your knife would finish about ¼ of a spin before hitting the target. Your position should be closer than the half spin throw that would be 7-8 feet. A balanced knife would work best here.
· Assume a comfortable and established stance
· Hold your knife by handle between the second knob of the middle finger and your thumb
· Place the back end of the knife handle with index finger and bend your other fingers over it
· Raise it with the angle of the blade in the air pointing to the target
· Twist your shoulder a little bit but not your elbow
· Aim towards your target with the knife
· Stepping forward, release your knife when the tip would be pointing at your target
· Follow over your arm and finish the throw at the time when your index finger point at the surface
Full spin:
You should adjust the distance and double up the distance from half spin throw. The accurate distance would be about 30 feet from your target. The rules are same as the half spin throw like:
· Assume a comfortable stance
· Choose any of the grip style from above
· Raise your knife like hitting a pin into the wall
· Make sure that you are using the weight of your knife instead using full force and pull back your arm
· Release it when you find it before your eyes
Full and a half spin, and two spin:
Generally, knife throwing could go up to 2 spins in any competition. You just have to increase your distance from your target and give more force to throw the knife. Follow the same rules like the full spin throw. But always keep in mind that consistency, accuracy and safety comes first.
Sometimes, you may find that the knife tosses around many times. Then you have to check things like:
· The tip of the knife is sharp to stab
· The wood is easy-going
· You are maintaining the distance properly or not
· You have thrown the knife with accurate force
Hopefully, you find these techniques and tips useful. It would be fun and enjoyable to throw a throwing knife but ensure that you have followed the safety rules in the first place.