Knife throwing

Knife throwing is an art, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapon(s) s/he is throwing, and a target. Knives used are almost always one-piece, rather than the traditional knives that have a handle manufactured separately from the blade and attached later. Additionally, many throwing knives are double-edged, and could be used as fighting knives if necessary. A similar weapon is the shuriken.

Knife throwing is frequently performed at circuses and in other forms of entertainment available at a small cost to the public. In public performances, it is not rare that the thrower enlists an assistant to stand before a wooden board. The thrower will then demonstrate his skill by throwing his knives around the assistant, creating an outline of his/her body with the knives while avoiding causing bodily damage.

It is often alleged that some of these circus acts, such as those involving blind folds, are actually a trick in which the thrower palms the knife as he pretends to throw it and a knife springs out from the target, giving the illusion of perfect aim even while blindfolded. While there is a trick to this, it does not involve a knife springing from the target.

The art of knife throwing is extremely difficult to master. Fictional depictions such as movies typically portray thrown knives as traveling in a straight line from the thrower to the target, the point of the knife always forward. This depiction is unrealistic, for unless the knife is fired, rather than thrown, it develops a rotation as it flies, making it difficult to predict whether the point or the handle will be facing toward the target when it strikes. Figuring these variables into calculations requires a good sense of distance and the ability to change the number of spins the knife undergoes before striking. These are skills that can be developed only after much practice. Many new movies and television programs have adapted the characteristic spin into how thrown knives are depicted.

There is another type of knife throwing where the thrown knife flies straight rather then spinning. It involves weighting the blade differently and using a special grip to throw. This style is called combat or spear style knife throwing. It is not intended to be just a sport and eliminates most of the characteristics that make normal knife throwing impractical for real combat.

A different type of blade-throwing, using a throwing star, can also be performed, and it is easier to successfully "stick" a throwing star into a target due to its multiple points, unlike a knife, whose single point is its only means of holding firm in the target. However, it is also easier to harm one's self when one grips a throwing star.

External link

• (http://www.knifethrower.com) Link to professional knife thrower (impalement artist)
• 1950 Newsreel of mother throwing knives at daughters
• Knife throwing technique