Knife throwing
Encyclopedia
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
technique, involving an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
skilled in the art of throwing knives
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
, the weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s thrown, and a target.
A throwing knife
The desirable properties for a throwing knife differ from those of a common pocket knifePocket knife
A pocket knife is a folding knife with one or more blades that fit inside the handle that can still fit in a pocket. It is also known as a jackknife or jack-knife...
. Knives used for throwing are almost always one-piece, rather than the traditional knives that have a handle
Handle (grip)
A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that can be moved or used by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tradition...
manufactured separately from the blade
Blade
A blade is that portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with a cutting edge and/or a pointed tip that is designed to cut and/or puncture, stab, slash, chop, slice, thrust, or scrape animate or inanimate surfaces or materials...
. 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; Other factors such as weight distribution, overall mass and dimensions and especially durability also become important. Compared to pocket knives, the steel used to manufacture a throwing knife should generally be more malleable and less prone to breakage.
Basic principles
Knife throwing, whether in a martialMartial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
or sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
application, involves the same basic principles of mechanics
Mechanics
Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
. 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 unless a no-spin technique is employed by the thrower (there are spin and no-spin throwing techniques). If the thrower uses a spin technique, the knife will rotate during flight. This means that the thrower, assuming 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 allow great accuracy and range. Throwers may also need to adjust for throwing off-center, around corners, and while running.
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. In this 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 putShot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
, accompanied by a slight downward flick of the wrist as the knife is released, in order to cancel out rotary momentum accumulated in accelerating the knife. Spear style is sometimes considered more difficult than standard knife throwing, and can be 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. In theory, it is more useful as a martial art. Spear style throwers usually use smaller knives (commonly 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; Although the technique applies equally to larger blades such as swords.
Sport
In the USA and in Europe, there are communities of people pursuing knife throwing as a sport, similar to archeryArchery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
. 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 or in some cases foam. 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 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.
In Canada a new organization has taken initiative in trying to make knife throwing an Olympic sport but for them to do so they need financial support, from various sources this organization is called Association of Canadian Knife Throwers (ACKT) and their website is http://throwmasters.com
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.Military
Military personnel (typically special forces operators) seldom use "normal" knives for throwing, because lack of repeatability makes training and certification difficult. The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting KnifeFairbairn-Sykes fighting knife
The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife is a double-edged fighting knife resembling a dagger or poignard with a foil grip developed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes in Shanghai based on concepts which the two men initiated before World War II while serving on the Shanghai Municipal...
, used by the British Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, is finely balanced for throwing
Throwing knife
Throwing knives are knives that are specially designed and weighted so that they can be thrown effectively. They are a distinct category from ordinary knives....
. The French GIGN's knife has a liquid mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
vial hidden inside to help automatically orient the blade forward when thrown . The Soviet Spetznaz (special forces) throwing knife is actually a ballistic knife
Ballistic knife
A ballistic knife is a specialized combat knife with a detachable gas- or spring-propelled blade that can be fired to a distance of several feet or meters by pressing a trigger or switch on the handle.-History and usage:...
, 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 deeply, removal by human strength may be impossible.
Entertainment
Knife throwing as entertainment is part of a group of performance arts sometimes known as the impalement artsImpalement arts
Impalement arts are a type of performing art in which a performer plays the role of human target for a fellow performer who demonstrates accuracy skills in disciplines such as knife throwing and archery. Impalement is actually what the performers endeavour to avoid - the thrower or marksman aims...
.
Representations
Knife throwing has made many appearances in film, most prominently in action movies such as Kill BillKill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
, Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
, V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta (film)
V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
, and prominently in The Expendables
The Expendables (2010 film)
The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released in theaters on August 13, 2010 in North America.The film is...
. 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
Steven Millhauser
Steven Millhauser is an American novelist and short story writer. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel Martin Dressler. The prize brought many of his older books back into print.-Life and career:...
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. Willie Garvin
Willie Garvin
Willie Garvin is a character in the long-running British comic strip series Modesty Blaise, as well as a series of novels based upon the strip. The character was created by Peter O'Donnell in 1963 and, alongside Modesty Blaise, made his first appearance in the story La Machine, appearing for the...
, the main supporting character in the Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows the adventures of Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin...
series of books by Peter O'Donnell
Peter O'Donnell
Peter O'Donnell was a British writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of Modesty Blaise, a female action hero/undercover trouble-shooter/enforcer...
, is depicted as an expert knife thrower. He can draw and throw in a fraction of a second and accurately strike targets up to 90 feet away with the blade or hilt of his custom-made knives. In the young adults book series, The Ranger's Apprentice, rangers carry a set of throwing knives that they are trained expertly with to use, and can be also used as melee weapons.
The opera Queen of Knives
Queen of Knives
Queen of Knives is an opera in two acts by the American composer Eric Stern. The English libretto was written by the composer. The opera premiered in Portland, Oregon on May 7, 2010 at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center...
, which premiered in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
on May 7, 2010 tells the story of a brother and sister knife throwing act in the midst of the student protests in Birmingham
Birmingham campaign
The Birmingham campaign was a strategic movement organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring attention to the unequal treatment that black Americans endured in Birmingham, Alabama...
in the early 1960s.
Several video games have successfully adopted knife throwing into their gameplay: XIII
XIII (video game)
XIII is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Ubisoft. It was released for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube consoles and the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. The game is based upon the 1984 Belgian XIII comic book series.XIII was developed and published by...
(2003) used realistic single-piece knives, Conker's Bad Fur Day
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Conker's Bad Fur Day is an action-platform video game developed and published by Rare. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 2001 and was Rare's last game published for the console. The game was in development for four years; it was originally intended for a young audience, but was redesigned and...
(2001) used kitchen knives that when used without targeting would travel straight towards where an opponent's head was at the time of throwing, GoldenEye 007 (1997) 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, Altaïr ibn La-Ahad, the protagonist in Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed is an award-winning historical third person, stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The bulk of the game takes place during the Third Crusade, with the plot revolving around a sect known as the Secret Order of...
(2007) is adept at throwing knives and targets hit will die instantly, knife throwing is also prominent in the tenth game of the Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem
is a fantasy tactical role-playing video game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems , the maker of Advance Wars , and published by Nintendo...
series. Tactical strategy games (such as Jagged Alliance 2
Jagged Alliance 2
Jagged Alliance 2 is a tactical role-playing game for PC, released in 1999 for Windows, and later ported to Linux by Tribsoft. It is the third game in the Jagged Alliance series, and was followed by two expansions: Unfinished Business and Wildfire...
and Silent Storm
Silent Storm
Silent Storm is a tactical role-playing game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Russian developer Nival Interactive and published by JoWood in 2003. The game is set in World War II Europe. The player commands a team of up to six elite soldiers on the Axis or Allied side, undertaking a variety of...
) portray knife throwing as a silent and sometimes instantly lethal ranged attack. The popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
also features throwing knives as a one-hit kill weapon. In Red Dead Redemption (2010) throwing knives can be used to kill or maim enemies and used knives are retrievable from the corpses of the fallen.
Sources
- Collins, Blackie. Knife Throwing-Sport – Survival – Defense. Knife World Publications, 1978. (ISBN-0-940362-03-1)
- Echanis, Michael D. Knife Fighting: Knife Throwing for Combat. Ohara Publications, 1978. (ISBN-0-8975-0058-X)
- Hibben, Gil. The Complete Gil Hibben Knife Throwing Guide. United Cutlery Corp., 1994. (ASIN-B0006FAV9E)
- Madden, James W. The Art of Throwing Weapons. Patrick Publications, 1991. (ISBN 0-9628825-3-4)
- McEvoy, Harry K. Knife Throwing: A Practical Guide. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., 1973. (ISBN-0-8048-1099-0)
- McEvoy, Harry K. Knife and Tomahawk Throwing. Knife World Publications, 1985. (ISBN 0-940362-10-4)
- McEvoy, Harry K. Knife & Tomahawk Throwing-Art of the Experts. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., 1988. (ISBN-0-8048-1542-9)
- Moeller, Harald. Knifethrowing: The Viper Story. Lynclif Publishing, 1988. (ISBN 0-921444-00-1)