 |
|
|
|
|
Newsletter: Issue #53 by Scott Gracia sgracia@wi.rr.com http://www.throwzini.com ======================================= IN THIS ISSUE 1. What's New 2. Accuflight Throwers: The Idiot Proof Thrower! by Joel Huncar 3. Recreational Knife Throwing Video by John Bailey 4. Share The Fun, Share The Knowledge - by Carl Geddes 5. Advertising Opportunities 6. Contact Info/Reprint Guidelines 7. Subscribe/Unsubscribe ======================================= 1. WHAT'S NEW Hello fellow flingers of pointy stuff! Hello Throwers! The days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer! I can almost see the blades flying outside already! You only get a "few" good months in the Summer to throw outside here and then its either freezing or raining. So take advantage of it while you can. Unless you're one of the "spoiled people" who don't ever have to see or shovel snow :) SITE UPDATES We have some great pics of a target range that was built in Austin, TX at the newest knife throwing school in the USA! To check out some pics just click on this link: http://www.throwzini.com/bakido_targetrange.html LOCAL THROWERS If you are looking for people to learn from or just hang out with and throw sharp pieces of metal, then this is the place for you. Ya never know, there could be another thrower that lives right in your neighborhood! Currently there are 78 throwers listed in 28 states, and 12 different countries! And more people are signing up every week. Soon you'll be able to throw with someone no matter where you go! Going on vacation? Check the LOCAL THROWERS page first to see if there are any people listed near your destination. It's easy to bring your knives just about anywhere you go, and you won't have to haul your targets from home :) So c'mon and check it out! Follow this link for more details or to see if there are any throwers that live near you: http://www.throwzini.com/local_throwers.html Until next time... Scott Gracia sgracia@wi.rr.com 101 FREE KNIFE THROWING TIPS http://www.throwzini.com UPCOMING EVENTS There are contests going on all over the place nowadays! Places like San Diego, CA - Malakoff, TX, Bingham, ME and Gainesville, GA. The Hurlathon, The GTA's Annual Spring Fling, and the Texas State Knife & Tomahawk Championships are all coming up in the next few months! There is also a new event taking place in Maine! The sport is definitely gaining momentum every year! I still think EVERYONE should go to at least one event. It doesn't matter if you've been throwing a week or your entire life, you should go! I learned so much from the people I met at last years IKTA Event that my scores almost doubled within a few weeks! And I still keep in touch with quite a few people I met while I was there. I can't think of any better way to improve your throwing than to just go to one of these events. The "experts" are there so why not learn from them? :) For more info just visit our homepage and click on the link that says CLUBS/EVENTS: http://www.throwzini.com WKTG & BLADE SHOW TOSS OFF The W.K.T.G., Inc. and the 2002 Blade Show will be having its 2nd Annual Invitational Knife Throwing Toss Off Sunday, June 2, 2002 at 11:30. This toss off is usually performed by champions of other throwing knife and tomahawk clubs. The reason for using different clubs is to show the audience the different rules, techniques, etc. of each club. It also brings the clubs together, which is one of the main goals of the W.K.T.G., Inc. Last years champ, Pat Minter, will also be there to defend his title! There will be 2 other competitors as well. Mike Kolisch, who took 1st place in the A.K.T.A. championship and Roy Neal, who took 1st place in the Rocky Mountain Knife & Tomahawk Championship will be competing. You will find all of these men to be very professional in this great and exciting sport. We are hoping, if all goes well, that there will also be a knife spinning demonstration and tomahawk demonstration along with the competitions. (More on that later.) Hopefully all knife throwing enthusiasts will be able to make this special event. John L. Bailey President/Founder of the WKTG Winter Springs, FL bahamajohn@sprintmail.com OTHER UPDATES When you visit the site you'll also notice a brand new QUICK IDEA and lots of interesting posts in our THROWZINI FORUM! Its a great place to ask questions about ANYTHING that has to do with the sport of throwing. You can learn tons of useful knife and axe throwing tips, or learn about upcoming events or how to make a target, just by visiting our homepage and clicking on the THROWZINI FORUM link. http://www.throwzini.com Thanks again to everyone that submitted their info/pics!!! ======================================== 2. GUEST COLUMN: ACCUFLIGHT THROWERS: THE IDIOT PROOF THROWER! By Joel Huncar -------------------------------------------------------- Note: I realize "knife throwing" takes skill and precise timing of the turns of the blade, but Clyde's knives also build skill in throwing of a different sort. The Celtic Dart, the Chinese Cloth Dart, the Roman Dart etc, are all examples of the same type of throwing weapon. Its history is deep and old. - Joel Huncar -------------------------------------------------------- Clang thump! Clang thump! Clang thump! That was the sound of me attempting to throw one of the popular throwing knives available today. It was a frustrating process filled with lots of swearing and very little success. Then I found the Accuflight Easy Stik Pro thrower and things changed. I first saw the Easy Stik Pro on a web site advertising the knife while surfing the net. I contacted the owner and designer, Clyde Hoch, on line. He came across as a very honest and genuine man who just came up with this knife design because he liked to throw but hated the frustration of learning how to throw knives. He was generous enough to send me three sample knives, a T-shirt and a video about his product. I realize now that it was not just generosity that made him send me the samples, it was also his confidence in his product. When I first received my Easy Stick Pro I thought "what the hell is this?" It looked like an arrowhead attached to a paintbrush. It was not at all what I thought a throwing knife was supposed to look like. An oversized dart or a mini spear is more how I would describe the Accuflight knife. The knife edge was not all that sharp and had a steep angle that you would expect on an axe but not a knife. But this does not effect performance and in fact will be more durable for the abuse this knife has to take. I thought what the heck and headed over to my cousin's to play in his back yard and try out the knife. I don't know what my cousin's neighbors must have thought but there we were with my United Cutlery Gil Hibben throwers, a Cold Steel True Flight Thrower, a cheap Pakistan Tomahawk, a couple of flea market specials, and the Easy Stick Pro. Well after an hour or so we could make the Gil Hibben large thrower and the Cold Steel True Flight stick once in a while, but the Easy Stick Pro was sticking every time. In fact we were getting so cocky with the Easy Stick Pro that we were doing running throws and experimenting with all sorts of throws. We knew it was time to call it a day when we were doing forward rolls into a throw. (Why is it that no matter how old I get I still regress into a twelve year old when I have fun toys to play with?) One thing I should mention is that it is because of the "paintbrush" bristles that the Easy Stik throws true. They work like the flights on a dart, in fact the Easy Stik Pro is very similar to a Chinese cloth dart in both design and physics. Be aware that the more you flare out the bristles the better the knife works. So I liked the knife, but how much punishment could it take. I am not one to abuse a knife, well not too much any way, but I was on graveyard shift at my job at a vinyl siding plant. So I put up a target behind my production line about 70 feet from where I was packing vinyl siding. (Management only worked bankers hours at this job, so 16 hours a day we ran the show, and we often did things to entertain ourselves.) At first I would catch up my line, do a few throws then go back and pack my line. My coworkers were throwing the knife and everyone seemed to like it. As the night wore on I got more and more bored (Boredom can make villains of good men.) So I started throwing from further and further away. As you can guess I missed my target a few times, especially when I threw from my line, well the target was small. I pierced the metal siding on the building a few times, hit a steel girder at least once and the knife bounced off the cement more then once. Amazingly it suffered no damage. To further prove the toughness of the knife, well actually I missed another target. On my way out from work the next morning I was showing it to some other co-workers, who will remain nameless as they should have been at work, not in the parking lot. Well of course they had to try it. Everything went fine until it was my turn to throw. We were using a piece of plywood from one of our siding frames, for those of you who have never worked in a vinyl siding factory, we stack siding on heavy duty steel frame with plywood beds and four steel uprights. Of course lucky me, I hit one of the steel uprights, heavy gauge tube steel. (Don't judge me on this... I do teach Filipino knife fighting, but all my training taught me how to poke and slash people with knives and to defend against people doing the same, but throwing knives was alien to me. Remember the Filipino saying "lose your knife, lose your life"...) To read the rest of this article just follow this link: http://www.throwzini.com/review_easy-stik-pro.html Article Contributed by: Joel Huncar BC, Canada ============================================= 3. RECREATIONAL KNIFE THROWING VIDEO If you want to learn the insider SECRETS, TIPS and TRICKS that the masters use to hit their mark every time, then John Bailey's Recreational Knife Throwing Video is for you. Here is a taste of what you'll get: - 9 inexpensive target designs - 11 demonstrations - How to eliminate the most common throwing error - Master grips, stances and throws and so much more! For a limited time, you can have the ultimate knife throwing video for only $19.95. By acting now, you'll save 33% off the regular price of $29.95 For a full description and ordering details, follow this link: http://www.throwzini.com/tgt_video.html AOL USERS LINK ============================================= 4. SHARE THE FUN, SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE by Carl Geddes As some of you know, Chuck Fogarty is the unofficial traveling ambassador of knife throwing. These last couple of weeks he has been visiting his son and family in San Diego where I live. Chuck threw with me one day, and with me and my friend another day. What a pleasure it is to throw with someone else. You learn so much from each other. And if you get to throw with Chuck, he can also tell you how some of the other people involved in the sport throw because he visits lots of them when he travels. Improving on your throwing without someone else's help is a slow process. When you throw with a friend or in tournaments your throwing improves dramatically! Chuck, also gave me a set of knives on his last visit. No one has ever done that before. I'm blessed with a good friend. I've traded knives. I've bought knives. Chuck won't trade with me and he wouldn't let me pay him for the knives. Now I'm forever indebted to him. What do you do when a guy is so nice he makes you crazy? He's got me over a barrel and he knows it. Throw with someone new. Teach someone to throw. Register on the "Local Throwers" page. There's a lot more to knife throwing than playing by yourself. Share the fun, share the knowledge. Oh yeah, and LIFE IS GOOD!!! Article Contributed by: Carl Geddes San Diego, CA To sign up for the LOCAL THROWERS page or to see if there are any people throwing things in your neighborhood just follow this link: http://www.throwzini.com/local_throwers.html ============================================ ADVERTISE WITH US Run an ad in this newsletter and expose your business to over 9,000 potential customers! Send an e-mail to sgracia@wi.rr.com with "NEWSLETTER AD" in the Subject line, for more details. You'll also receive a FREE REPORT, 12 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Maximum Response to Your Ads. ============================================= A FEW WORDS FROM OUR SPONSOR Worlds Easiest To Use Throwing Knife! The Easy-Stik Pro. You will throw like an expert in just a few tries. Order from the 'net or send a check or money order for $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping to: Accuflight Inc. P.O. Box 25 Pennsburg PA. 18073-0025 See the video of this knife in action at: www.accuflightinc.com Dealers inquires invited. Thank you, Clyde Hoch ============================================ If you have any questions about throwing that you would like answered in one of our upcoming issues, or if you have an article or story about throwing that you would like to share, simply send an e-mail to: sgracia@wi.rr.com with QUESTION FOR NEWSLETTER in the Subject Line, and your name and question in the body. ============================================ (Copyright 2002, Scott Gracia, The Great Throwzini.) Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears in full: Reprinted with permission from Scott Gracia's The Great Throwzini Newsletter. Get your 101 FREE KNIFE THROWING TIPS and Newsletter, filled with throwing tips and ideas to help you learn about this fun target sport, at The Great Throwzini web site: http://www.throwzini.com ============================================= Scott Gracia, The Great Throwzini, 3765 S Ahmedi Ave. St. Francis, WI 53235-4151 Phone 414-744-8689, E mail: sgracia@wi.rr.com http://www.throwzini.com ****************************************************** AOL USERS: USE THESE CLICKABLE LINKS TO VISIT OUR WEB SITE The Great Throwzini Web site Recreational Knife Throwing Video Part I. ****************************************************** It's free, and there's no obligation. |
Want to improve your accuracy?CLICK HERE "...the ability of David to throw different turns at different distances was outstanding and the impalement acts were 1st rate..." Chuck Fogarty Countryside, IL FREE STUFF CLICK HERE for FREE 101 Knife Throwing Tips Info-Pak Want hundreds of great knife throwing tips, ideas, articles and interviews with some of the biggest names in the sport of knife throwing? Get our FREE, twice-a-month Great Throwzini Online Newsletter. Just click below and send. CLICK HERE for FREE Online Newsletter or send e-mail to: sgracia@wi.rr.com with SUBSCRIBE in the Subject Line. I respect your privacy and will never share or sell your e-mail address to anyone. |