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Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. | 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. A stilt-walker entertaining shoppers at a shopping centre in Swindon, England Entertainment is an activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience (although in the case of a computer game the audience may be only one person). ...
The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. ...
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For other uses, see Weapon (disambiguation). ...
The throwing knife
The desirable properties for a throwing knife differ slightly 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. Most knives designed for throwing also lack a formal handle, but are instead shaped from one piece of steel with no attachments. 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 through 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. A pocket knife is a type of folding knife with a blade that fits inside the handle. ...
Look up handle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A blade is the flat part of a tool or weapon that normally has a cutting edge and/or pointed end typically made of a metal, most recently, steel intentionally used to cut, stab, slice, throw, thrust, or strike an animate or inainimate object. ...
The 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. For example, holding the knife farther away from its center of gravity will cause it to spin faster, whereas holding it closer will have the opposite effect. 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. Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ...
For other uses, see Mechanic (disambiguation). ...
Spear or arrow style "Spear" or "arrow style" or "combat style" knife throwing is an alternative throwing style practiced by a minority of knife throwers. 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.
Knife throwing as a 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. Archery is the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. ...
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. Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. ...
Knife throwing in 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. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus that was formed from the merger of the Ringling Brothers Circus and the Barnum & Bailey Circus. ...
Knife throwing in the 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. The Soviet "Spetznaz" throwing knife is actually a blade gun, 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. Conversely North Korean frogmen and other elite DPRK troops are skilled in throwing "ordinary" knives as well as other common household objects, e.g. eating forks.[citation needed] Categories: Stub | Law enforcement in France ...
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For the Wizard of Oz series character, see Frogman (Oz character). ...
North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), is a country in eastern Asia, covering the northern half of the peninsula of Korea. ...
Representations of knife throwing Knife throwing has made many appearances in film, most prominently in action movies such as Kill Bill and Gangs of New York. 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 5-30 feet should be no more than two. Kill Bill is the fourth film by writer-director Quentin Tarantino. ...
Gangs of New York is a 2002 film set in the middle 19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. ...
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. Steven Millhauser (born 3 August 1943 in New York City) is perhaps one of modern American fictions most elusive characters. ...
An issue of Harpers Magazine from 1905 Another issue, from November 2004 Harpers Magazine (or simply Harpers) is a monthly magazine of politics and culture. ...
Knife throwing as entertainment Knife throwing as entertainment is part of a group of performance arts sometimes known as the impalement 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. ...
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