Throwback 2025

- Another year of knife throwing has passed

Time flies, they say. That's something I can agree with. This is especially true if you are engaged in an outdoor activity in the northern hemisphere, where it is cold and dark for most of the year. Then interests are concentrated in the available time. This accelerates the feeling that time is flying.

Despite that, there has been some throwing during the winter, but any proper "training" is difficult to engage in under the conditions that have prevailed. It can possibly be considered training in throwing in all weathers.

But that was the end of the season. Before that, a lot had happened, more than ever in fact. Here is a summary of the knife-throwing year 2025.

Knife throwing - another state of mind. Zitoon Le primitif rotation

To be reasonably consistent with how I usually present the season, I'll start with a few statistics.

This year's knife-throwing in numbers

My fifth year as a knife thrower generated the following:

• 408 hours, divided into
• 138 sessions, which resulted in 
• 162 700 throws

The numbers are more accurate than in recent seasons when I haven't been doing as much "spontaneous throwing" in the form of forest trips with a throwing knife or two in my pocket. The training sessions have simply been more pure training. Much of that is because I am now closer to the throwing range.

Interestingly enough, the average time per session is still almost exactly three hours, but since the number of sessions has increased compared to last season by 27 occasions, the number of throws has also increased significantly from about 90,000. In fact, this is the year I have spent the most time throwing since I started practising! This, in turn, is of course dependent on a combination of motivation for the 2025 big event, something I will return to, and weather conditions, as I am an outdoor thrower.

No spin-kastning i början av året

Regarding personal records, not much has happened in the time that has passed since last year's summary. I have not had access to targets of sufficient quality for that. Therefore, it has mostly been basic training of various kinds. However, there have been some refinements of previous results.

As usual, I would like to point out that all PBs are set under calm training conditions and not competition, which is something completely different.*

Walk Back (3-7m / 300p):

• Rotational: 265 p
• No Spin: 235 p
• Axe: 213 p (from previous Swedish Championships with borrowed axes)

Precision, rotational (105p):

• 3 m: 104 p
• 5 m: 99 p
• 7 m: 83 p

Precision, No Spin:

• 3 m: 101 p
• 5 m: 91 p 
• 7 m: 70 p

Precision, Axe:

• 3 m: 100 p
• 5 m: -
• 7 m: -

Long distance:

• Rotational: 15,75 m.
• No Spin: 11,1 m
• Axe: 13,67 m (Swedish Championships)

As I said, very modest adjustments to the results, but they mean that I added five points in WB rotation and two points in WB No Spin.

As for precision throwing, it was the target problem that meant that I couldn't train specifically on that detail.** What has been added, however, is that I now have throwing axes. However, no special results with them yet for the same reason. The PB in Walk Back that exists was set during the Swedish Championships.

Furthermore, I have improved my results in long-distance throwing somewhat, but they are still very modest; I am simply not good enough for that detail. But there was a two-meter improvement in rotation and about half a meter in No Spin.

Knives

The number of knives also increased during the current season. Some of the new models are also candidates to enter the competition sets. But one set that for once will not be replaced is my knives for No Spin, it is and will remain, for the foreseeable future, Throwingzone Pathfinder!

This model is going nowhere, Throwingzone Pathfinder

I might consider using a different and heavier model for long-distance throwing. The same goes for rotational throwing, as I will probably use Zitoon Le primitif rotation for walk-back and precision throwing. But for the latter discipline, the Lanceur de L'âme Dague de Competition is also very good as they are excellent to throw from a grip in the handle. The same can also be said about Bullseye Blades Nobu, which is also the likely choice for long-distance throwing. So the choice is not completely decided yet.

A candidate for precision throwing - Dague de Competition from Lanceur de L'âme

The knives I trained with the most in 2025 were:

1. Throwingzone Pathfinder: 53 900 throws
2. Zitoon Knives Le primitif rotation: 28 800 throws
3. Zitoon Knives No Reload: 9 800 throws
4. Zitoon Knives Le primitif No Spin: 98000 throws
5. Bullseye Blades Nobu: 8 900 throws

Then it just so happened that several of them were new for the year. For example, the Nobu set was bought during the World Cup, so they have only been used since July.

Competitions

World championship

There were also a few competitions in 2025. First and foremost was a premiere. It wasn't just any premiere, but a World Championship under the auspices of U.K.A.T.s. It is the largest throwing organization and the competition took place in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.

As a warm-up for the World Championship, I had planned to participate in the AIM games online, but it had to be cancelled due to the weather. Instead, I practised a lot as soon as the weather allowed. The result from the World Championship was more successful than expected, and I brought home two medals. A gold in 3 m precision, No Spin and a silver in "Hunter".

In addition to that, there were mixed placements, but overall, I became the best Swede with an 18th place if all results were added together. The modest placement is due, among other things, to the fact that until just before the competitions, I had never trained with an axe and that several disciplines were completely new to me. But it's difficult to get to the top of that list as it also requires you to be able to practice things like Duel, which I don't have the equipment for.v

En guldmedalj i Böhmisk kristall, vad annars?

Before the competitions started, however, I had not dared to hope for such success. The goal was to participate and to set results in all disciplines that can then be improved! They are now in place!

A good basis for that is that I now know a little more about what is required and how it can be done. The next step is to bring out a little of what I know at the next competition, and it could go really well. On the other hand, there are lots of external factors that you can't control, so how it goes remains to be seen. But I am extremely motivated to start practice.

Swedish Championships

The 2025 Swedish Championships in sport throwing were a bit of a strange story. Much due to the fact that several participants, including myself, had tough times in life, both mentally and physically. This meant that perhaps not everyone threw at their best, even in the disciplines where they usually do. But as I usually say about competitions; It's important to be healthy and whole to be able to train, it's important to be in place, and it's about what is done there and then. Not quite simply, in other words. Everyone who competes in something knows that.

But it was a successful Swedish Championships for me. Despite rather mixed results, I managed to retain my title as Swedish champion in No Spin. To underline that, I also took gold in long distance and silhouette in the same discipline and a bronze in "Plank" with the same technique.

In knife, I moved up a position and took silver in Walk Back, and to top it off, there was a real surprise in the WB with axe. There, I unexpectedly managed to grab a bronze medal even though many throwers who were actually better than I were there.

Almost all the medals from the 2025 Swedish Championships, I actually missed some

Overall, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places and other results meant that I racked up enough points to become the best thrower overall. A title that I hardly think I'll keep, but that I'm still very proud of.

 

Towards 2026

The new year will bring several big changes. Two of them are closely related; that is, I, together with my dear wife, have started a club, Växjö Sportkastning***. In addition to everything that will entail, it also means that instead of having 15 km to my training range, I now have 1.5 km. It makes training much easier.

Otherwise, some of the main points are the same as before. One of them that I wish to participate in to a greater extent is, of course, the ever-present online competition AIM Games, where my participation is unfortunately minimised due to a lack of target material and winter weather. For example, a knife competition has just ended, and an axe competition, H10, is about to start. I can't participate in either of them as it looks at the moment. One has already been sabotaged by winter, and the other looks like it won't take place either.

Another permanent feature in my calendar is, of course, the Swedish championships. Especially since my ambition is that I want to continue to subscribe to the title of Swedish champion in No Spin. Then the other results resulted in increased interest. As soon as I can, I will also practice some of the different elements in Axe.

That competition takes place in Arboga, and there is also another event that usually takes place there in the form of the Soulthrower Open. My ambition is to participate there as well. But time and money can be tight as it is very close to the biggest competition of the year.

The main goal for 2026

I am, of course, talking about the U.K.A.T. World Championships in Italy, which will take place at the end of July. There, I have every intention of trying to surpass the 2025 results, although of course it will be difficult. Especially as these competitions look to be even bigger in terms of the number of participants. Among other things, countries such as China and Indonesia have been added, and I know there are incredibly good throwers there.

Thus, there will be a lot to report on from a knife-throwing perspective also in 2026. There will be no shortage of blog material.

/ J - "The Swedish Chef"

* But as I usually say, if you can't achieve good results in training, they won't magically appear in competition either, so you have to start somewhere.
** It's difficult to achieve correct competition targets with pieces of wood with large holes in the middle.
*** As a subdivision of VAIS