(May 2003) I was lucky enough to have a visitor this past weekend. It was Joe Darrah, yes the guy I mentioned in the last newsletter that I said I couldn't wait to get some free lessons out of :-) Joe arrived Saturday afternoon and we were expecting rain all weekend, and since the rain had not started coming down yet, we unloaded his stuff and headed out to the targets! We started out throwing full spins and Joe was sticking them with AUTHORITY right away! The logs we were throwing at weighed at least 30 lbs and I could have easily picked up the stumps just by grabbing the knife! The good thing about throwing with some force is that you don't have to worry as much about knocking your other knives out of the target. The bad thing is that if you're trying to be helpful and pull Joe's knives out of the target for him, you could end up with a pulled groin muscle or a blown "hammie"! (hamstring :-) It was great to watch Joe's knives rocketing through the air and then "THUNK", right in the target! Joe is a very consistent thrower but I got pretty lucky a few times, like in the following picture: After a few rounds of warming up, we threw from 8 feet, out to 56 1/2 feet! (Well, Joe threw from 56.5 feet, I stopped at right about 40 feet). At 56 feet, you have to throw over some telephone lines and you're also about 10 feet off to the side of the targets so you're not perfectly lined up for your throw. This is what the target looks like at over 56 feet: And here is one of the knives Joe stuck from 56.5'. It was sticking over an inch into the target! The next day my other buddy, Dave Fettig, decided to come over and throw a few. But since it had been raining all day, and showed no signs of clearing up, we headed for the basement where the small knives are thrown. I have 2 piles of cardboard (about 3" thick) that are glued and taped together. They work fantastic for smaller knives and spikes but the bigger stuff will tear them up way too fast. I also have a cheap paper dart board that we were throwing at. We ended up throwing small knives (about 5"), and spikes at the targets. We threw all sorts of "floaters" (aka light stuff) and it was loads of fun! So we start warming up and it ends up that we're all trying to hit the hole in the dartboard where the bullseye used to be. (Its one of those cheap paper dart boards with the red wooden bullseye that always falls out). So the bullseye is only 1/2" in diameter and the spikes we were throwing were 1/4" in diameter and 7" long. We were standing about 14 feet away and this was going on for about an hour (we're very dedicated :-) Well after a few close misses, Joe stuck a spike EXACTLY in the center of the bull! The spike wasn't touching the sides of the board either, it went straight thru the hole and into the cardboard target behind it. It was friggin' beautiful! :-) Joe came and took the "Throwzini Belt" from me, but he's gotta come back eventuallly and I'll be waiting... and practicing :-) Thanks again for making the trip out Joe! I really enjoyed your company and can't wait to hang out again! I think he's trying to hypnotize the blade! :-) Beware of flying metal!!! Scott Gracia 101 FREE KNIFE THROWING TIPS www.throwzini.com It's free, and there's no obligation. |
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