Do you remember Steven Seagal's* character "Chef Ryback" from the movie Under Siege? The one who threw knives in the kitchen?** There is a very short scene, I think the actual throwing part is a few seconds long which is meant to show what a tough guy he is. Considering how short the sequence is, it has nevertheless become very famous.
As a chef and knife thrower, I would appreciate that scene if it weren't for how ridiculous it is. Let me explain why!
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| A toy knife from Gil Hibben compared to a real throwing knife. To use another movie quote "That's not a knife, this is a knife". |
First, the knife he uses is a toy, more or less. It's a Gil Hibben model called the "Hibben Thrower" which I also have by the way. It is the one you see compared to a proper throwing knife in the picture above.
In the scene, it lies on a workbench to the right of a pile of what I think is celery and with what looks like a real chef's knife to the left. Hopefully, it is the latter that was used to chop the vegetables.
After shoving the vegetables aside, he throws the knife into a target hung on the galley wall. To the uninitiated, it might look pretty cool. For a knife thrower, it's rather a bit silly.
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| Real throwing knives that are modeled after a chef's knife. The model is called Philippe and comes from French Zitoon Knives |
Second, the target is pure crap. IF you are going to have a small target indoors, especially in a kitchen with other people nearby, you should have some kind of end grain target. Knives stick much more easily in them, so the risk of ricochets is reduced and they also last longer. In addition, it can be stated that the target is very little used as there are only a couple of holes in it. Or Ryback has recently replaced it after chipping the old one to sawdust.
Then we won't even begin to discuss the, from a hygiene point of view, less successful idea of wood chips flying in a professional kitchen. But that is perhaps asking for too much realism from an action film.
A bigger problem with the target from a "toughguy perspective", however, is that there is a giant painted ring in the middle. A normal "Bullseye" for knife throwing is ten centimeters in diameter. This one appears to be about double that. Missing it with a throw from a short distance is impossible for someone who can throw a knife.
That brings us to the throw itself. It is very short with one rotation. All knives rotate a revolution of about three meters, slightly shorter with these toy knives. Light small knives spin faster than large ones. The throw is therefore performed at a distance of perhaps 2.5-3 m on a target that a blind person can hit.
Not that macho in other words!
/ J - The Swedish Chef who beats Ryback
* The film is from before the time Segal went completely crazy. You know, like make two hundred even worse movies, move to Russia and dedicate himself to licking Putin's ass.
** You can find the clip here "Cue ball". It is the last part of the scene that is relevant and it comes after two minutes.
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