- or all roads lead to...
Maybe they don't lead to Rome these days, but at least to Italy. It was there, or more precisely in the town of Carpi, and the Hotell Garbada on its outskirts, that this year's big knife-throwing event took place. Several hundred throwers from twenty countries clashed to compete for honor and medals. All under the rules of U.K.A.T. There are other organizations, but as far as I know, none as big and covering as many countries.
It suddenly feels distant where I am now, sitting in my little garden for a moment of "weapon care". In fact, some of the scars in the form of rust are still there from the trip. I haven't used my competition set of Pathfinders since then. But the training set is good, I might add. I'm already looking forward to next weekend and the Swedish Championships, which will be decided then.
 |
| Finally, it was time! |
But first, all the impressions from Italy must be digested, and some of them put into print. One lasting impression was, of course, the heat. It was noticeable but not extreme when the competitions themselves took place, but climbed steadily in the weeks after that to reach around forty degrees or just below when we left Pisa. It is a few degrees too much for me personally, I can say.
When we arrived, however, it was a few degrees cooler than last year in the Czech Republic. However, we are still talking about plus thirty degrees in the shade. Something that is not so dangerous if you are lying under an umbrella on the beach or sipping a coffee in the shade. But a competition day may extend for more than ten hours in total. From throwing into the award ceremony. Many of them are spent waiting and throwing in direct sunlight. It takes a toll on your fluid balance and strength, which clearly affects your ability to concentrate.
Due to the heat and the slightly longer distance, our own car was not used as a means of transport this time. Instead, my wife and I flew from Copenhagen to Bologna, where we picked up a rental car. Incidentally, it was our first contact with the aforementioned heat. The company that washed the cars for the rental car company had temporarily, one hopes, lost the very car we were supposed to have. So we had to wait two and a half hours before another one could be booked.
 |
| All journeys start somewhere. This one with the local bus from the neighborhood down to Växjö station |
 |
| Not my own car this time |
Then it got faster. It's not many miles from Bologna to Carpi, and the traffic was relatively quiet. Once there, it was time to settle into a simple but very large hotel room. One that thankfully had good AC.
 |
| Hotel Gabarda in Carpi is once again the scene of a major knife-throwing competition |
 |
| View from the hotel room. The competition courses are located fifty meters to the left, behind a hedge. Unfortunately, you couldn't go there as you came directly into the throwing direction, so it was a half-kilometer detour. |
It was now evening, and after saying goodbye to friends and both old and new acquaintances, it was time for me to get a feel for the targets. I had already read that the material would be white poplar. A particularly good type of wood, as long as it is fresh and watered. It would later cause a lot of problems, as it turned out.
 |
| The warm-up arena was located in a cool alley that was still a bit of a pain, as it ate knife tips for breakfast if you missed. There were lots of pebbles on the ground. |
 |
| The warm-up targets were of a slightly simpler type |
But not this first test throw. Now the targets were new. The warm-up arena was set in an alley, which provided both shade and a lot of stones on the ground. The latter was discovered after a short while when a missed throw caused one of my brand new No Spin knives to end up on the ground, and thus the first tip was worn. Not much, but still, I intended to keep them in top condition. That's how well that plan worked.
However, the targets were as soft and nice as I had hoped, and the throw-in felt very good. I tested my three knife sets. I had one for No Spin, which would also work for games like Hunter and Nine Targets, and two for rotational throwing. One for Walk Back and then another set for long distance and seven-meter precision. I will come back to why. Then another knife with a case was brought for Quick Draw/Duel.
 |
| Time to let my Pathfinders lead the way once again |
All the knives bit into the targets well. The mood was great, and the atmosphere was as good as usual. As I always say, there is something in the air when you gather a lot of people with the same interest in a small space. Then it doesn't matter if it's motor racing, a music festival, or knife throwing.
To celebrate, I signed up for the Coutanque tournament and bought a T-shirt. Then I felt ready. Mostly to eat, but still.
The conditions for the next three days look very good. Especially since I had actually trained a lot for the event. As I wrote about earlier here on the blog, I had even secretly trained in the heat as much as possible in Sweden. There was not much more I could do at this point.
But this event would turn out to be a roller coaster for me. Something I intend to tell you about in part two.
/ J - was expectant
