Knife Throwing April 2026

 

- What a month!

Now it's time to talk about knife throwing again. A growing interest can be observed. Last month went completely crazy! I was spurred on, of course and maybe even a little stressed by the fact that we had a real Fimbul winter here, and I saw my throwing friends and also competitors training and documenting everything on social media. Either because they can throw indoors or live in such a climate that it is possible anyway.

But then spring finally arrived here, too. March arrived, and the throwing finally began. As I wrote in my last summary, it led to 63 hours of throwing and about 28,000 throws. Those numbers are now crushed!

The latest addition to the throwing knife collection, Merlin Kiridashi from Acejet

The almost constant nice weather, combined with the fact that I am looking for work while waiting for my studies, has provided good conditions for knife throwing. Especially when combined with a great motivation based both on the desire to train and the fact that I am now a coach for a group of happy knife throwers in Växjö Sportkastning. The latter is very fun and stimulating. So much so that I have now started a sports coach course.

So last month's efforts resulted in*: 

• 27 training sessions
• which gave about 90 hours
• and resulted in about 40,000 throws

The number of throws per training session varies greatly, of course, depending on what is mainly being trained. Basic training at short distances with 6-9 knives gives many throws. Long-distance throwing with one or a couple of knives at a time, of course, gives significantly fewer throws. The same applies to competition training, as all results must be noted between each round.

Part two of my presentation on the AceJet Merlin Kiridashi. Probably the first in the world. It can be found on my very primitive YouTube channel.

    The top list in terms of used knives looks like this:

1. Throwingzone Pathfinder: 11 163
2. Zitoon Le primitif Rotation: 6 654
3. Zitoon No Reload: 3435
4. Zitoon Le primitif NS: 3048
5. Zitoon Le Rafale: 3015
6. Zitoon Philippe: 2290
7. Bullseye Blades Nobu: 2133
8. Zitoon Commemorative Dagger: 1595
9. Acejet Excalibur: 1490

The distribution is not so strange as the Pathfinder is my competition knife in No Spin, and Le Primitif is the choice for rotational throwing. The next three knife models are thrown a lot and together as I use them for "volume training". My current choice for long throwing and 7m precision is Bullseyeblades Nobu. Although they have competition from 7m by Lanceur de L'âmes Dague de Compétition. It can be pointed out that all throws with Philippe are thrown from the sheath to the target. 

This month was mostly basic training for two reasons. Partly because it is needed, but also to not wear out too many targets. The target in the picture above was a points target a few weeks ago, and we will soon be through it.

Therefore, I have neither achieved nor improved many results ahead of the upcoming U.K.A.T. World Championships in Carpi, Italy, this summer.

But there was one increase and one refinement. My current PB in distance throwing (training) is now 17.25 m with rotational technique. Then I also improved the result in my main discipline, No Spin, and that was in the heaviest part, Walk Back. My training PB is now improved from 235 p to 237 p.

More competition training with a focus on Walk Back, Precision 3/5/7 m and various "Games" will be in a month or so. I will also be adding Axe to the mix. But first, I have to fix the shafts for both my Norse Hawks and my custom Ceratops from Throwingzone.

Next up, in addition to basic techniques and training others, there will also be some "review throwing" of knives that will be discussed here on the blog, but also AIM Games K24 Flying Car Madness. More about that another time!

/ J - happy

* More precisely, it was 89 hours and 45 minutes and 39179 throws.

U.K.A.T. World Championships, part 1

- or preparations de luxe

So the adventure was over for this time. My wife and I have been back home for a few weeks after our road trip in Europe. During this period, we accomplished a great deal. However, the main focus was on our first intermediate goal. That was what guided the direction of the entire trip. Of course, I am talking about the World Championships in Sport Throwing 2025.

Before leaving, I noticed that time has a tendency to disappear, especially in the summer. In addition to midsummer celebrations and various boring private matters that had to be dealt with before departure, there were school graduations for loved ones.

Then it was time to concentrate on the vacation and, of course, the big event.

The event took place outside Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, under the auspices of U.K.A.T. - United Knife and Axe Throwers. One of the larger organizations in the world, although there are others.

The Sunday before departure, I had some kind of dress rehearsal. There is quite a lot to practice because I throw "everything". Or more precisely, both No Spin, which is my main strength, and rotational throwing. Then, of course, there is axe throwing. I am a novice in that area, but I am learning as I go.

Throwingzone Pathfinder is my choice for No Spin

Within the different areas, it is primarily the discipline Walk Back that requires the most attention and time. It is this format that determines who receives the actual world championship titles. In short, this means that you throw from distances of 3, 4, 5, 6, and seven meters with three knives/axes per distance. This is repeated four times, and the total points that can be obtained are a maximum of 300. Think Bowling but with sharper balls.

For rotational throwing, my choice was Zitoon Le primitif rotation

In addition, there are a number of complementary disciplines such as precision throwing, long-distance throwing, and, not least, Games. There are disciplines such as Duel, Silhouette, Moving target, Plank, and, for me, completely new Hunter. Then there is also Speedthrowing and the game Coutanque. I was unable to practice any of the latter as I lacked both equipment and time. I participated, but more for fun than well, if you put it that way.

This probably applies to most of it, as I have only been training for a few years. This should be put with the fact that some people have devoted most of their lives to throwing.

This year's training in numbers

My preparations started as late as March 1st, as I don't have the opportunity to throw indoors and am therefore completely weather dependent. However, a cold but dry spring and early summer generated the following statistics:

• 80 000 throws distributed on
• 58 sessions, which gives a training time of
• 187 hours

Basic training, No Spin, but with completely different knives.

On average, I practice for over three hours once I'm in place. That's quite a long time, I must admit. If you're untrained, you won't be able to handle that time. The knives don't weigh much if they're held in your hand or thrown once or even ten times. But a few hundred throws, not to mention a thousand or more, are felt in your shoulders and arms if you're used to it. I can promise that. This is especially true for longer distances.

The focus has been on my relatively new No Spin knives, the Pathfinder from Throwingzone, and the rotational knives from Zitoon called Le primitif rotation. Both sets are from France, by the way. Those were the ones I chose as competition knives this time.

Now I know that you shouldn't change knives every season, but I'm still a beginner and haven't decided which ones I like best to throw with. I haven't even decided if I prefer more Bowie-like knives or daggers, which is a bit of a watershed.

Throwingzone Custom Ceratops 

With the axes, there have been significantly fewer throws. Partly due to a lack of good targets, but mainly because I got them a couple of weeks before the competition. Therefore, of course, there have not been that many throws with them. But if you add earlier training with my Norsehawks, there will, of course, be a few more.

Thus, the number of throws with the competition sets before the World Cup can be summed up:

• Throwingzone Pathfinder: 27100
• Zitoon le primitif rotation: 16900
• Throwingzone Ceratops Custom: 4000

In addition to that, I have also tested a whole range of other knives, including the backup knives, the Zitoon Spinner XL. I keep them because experience from early competitions shows that it can be helpful to change if everything goes wrong during warm-up. It's solely psychology and nothing else. If nothing works, change something!

Some of the first throws with Zitoon The Primitive, early this spring

The technique training has been a bit uneven. Sometimes I'm really good, so good that I maintain a good international level, mainly in No Spin. But it's the valleys that need to be made a little shallower. The lowest level needs to be raised because the technique tends to fail when I stress myself out. This mainly applies to the longer distances, which have been a problem for me in the past and turned out to be partly the case at the World Championships.

To remedy this, I have, of course, trained that part a little extra. Furthermore, I have trained to reduce the warm-up time and in more competition-like conditions. This includes doing a Walk Back after a few warm-up throws, for example. All to prepare myself for unknown conditions. It was my first World Championships after all.

However, there were things that I couldn't prepare for. More about that in part two of this series. Then you can never train for a competition, so to speak. That situation is as it is and must be experienced.

Precision training with Pathfinders. Something that would pay off, it turned out.

Overall, I think the preparations went relatively well. Especially in the last few weeks, I got in a couple of solid training sessions, we're talking about five to six hours at a time. Other than that, it went pretty well for the most part.

With that in mind, I was about as prepared as I could be. After that, it was just a matter of enjoying the trip.

/ J - likes his preparations

The first Year

 - a summary of the knife-throwing this far

This was not just any year, it was the year I resumed my childhood interest. Or perhaps more correctly, a youth activity. If it is possible to say so without it sounding like you're a criminal. But damned, I am excused partly growing up in the woods and in a time without computers and the internet. You had to do something. My best friend and I threw a lot of knives, cycled, played table tennis, devoted ourselves to freediving, and did some camping, among other things.

There, at the other end of this dirt road, you find my youth, or at least where I grew up

Then we quickly jump more than thirty years into the future and suddenly the term for the day, and not just for the day, unfortunately, was "pandemic". The social distancing attracted a lot of dormant interest among the citizens not only in our elongated country but in the world, I understand. In my case, it was a knife-throwing that was dusted off and taken out of hiding. An activity that quickly transformed from a childhood interest via pandemic hobby to the semi-fanaticism it can be compared to today.

Now it so happens that it has been about a year since that metamorphosis occurred and I started training. The first entry in the Excel sheets that make up my training diary is dated April 21st in the year of grace 2021. Therefore, this summary extends from that date to the twenty-first of April this year.

It started modestly with a set of Spyderco Spyder Thrower Ls and an old United Cutlery that was soon supplemented with a set of Hibben Classic. Not because I thought they were an upgrade but because they looked good for a small garden. This was followed by an experiment with Max Knives followed by Cold Steel and Condor.

I thus intended to celebrate this anniversary by presenting the "throwing year" that has passed in numbers.

A rough overview indicates that I have thrown

• 479 hours, divided into
• 232 training sessions, which resulted in
• 204 700 throws

That's about 40 hours and 17,000 throws per month to put it in perspective.

What is practiced is ... everything! In terms of technique, it is mainly rotational throwing that has been prioritized as it was completely new to me a year ago. In my youth, I used half-rotation techniques such as Military half-spin and Military half-spin underhand. I simply did not know anything else. The few times I tried rotational throwing, the knife went off like a propeller and if it hit with the tip first, it was pure luck. There was no one who could inform me about how it should be done. That distance and comprehension were decisive in the context.

Of course, half-rotation throws remain in the repertoire even if they no longer dominate. But at short distances of three to four meters, they are still very instinctive for me. 

In addition to the two basic techniques, No Spin has been added, of course. Then Instinctive half-spin is also thrown, which is a variant of the half-rotation technique with a different grip. These three basic techniques are then practiced at several different distances and also with the backhand. Very rarely with the non-dominant hand, left, so far even if it happens from time to time. It may be the next area of development.

In principle, it can be said that this is then used for three main variants of throwing. It is mainly about learning to stick the knives in general with some consistency with the different techniques. Then time is devoted to precision throwing in various forms where the competition form on the distances 3 and 5 m gets the most time. Another form of competition to which time is devoted is "Walk Back", ie where you throw from different distances from three to seven meters.*

In addition, I spend some time at two more competition disciplines. That is "Speed throwing" where you throw as fast as possible directly from the sheath and long-distance throwing. The latter is mostly a no-spin discipline for me. 

After that, the situation escalated and this is the arsenal today. In addition to the previously mentioned brands, it also includes knives from AceJet, Biting Metal, Graf Knives, WL Custom Blade and Wulflund

These efforts have so far resulted in, among other things, the following results:

• Highest score in Walk back, rotational: 215 p
• Highest score in Walk back, No spin: 173 p
• Best result in precision, rotation 3 m: 103 p (touched three times with two different knife models)
• Best result in precision, No spin 3 m: 90 p

• Longest throw, No spin: 9,82 m
• Number of throws of varying type and length in a row with stick: 346 throws
• Number of Bullseye in a row from 3 m: 23

No extreme results by any means but I keep on practicing. After all, it's my first year!

Already after a couple of months of throwing, I competed in the Swedish Championships 2021, which resulted in two silver medals. In front of me was, for example, the eminent Marcus Pehart, who is one of the biggest sports throwers in Sweden. For me, VERY surprising medals were won in No Spin 3 m and in Walk Back rotational. Of course, the success was partly due to those who had the opportunity or rather not had the opportunity to attend. But on the other hand, it is in the nature of competitions no matter what sport. If you are not there, you can not perform.

I'm not sure that things will go better in terms of placement in this year's championships 2022, which will take place in Nynäshamn if everything goes according to plan. But one thing I do know is that my level is significantly much higher than last time. It should ensure better results even if daily form and not least nerves are of crucial importance in precision sports.

Now it's just training. Throws pile up, hours are added to hours and suddenly a bank of experience has been built up. Meanwhile, I have tons of fun!

/ J - half-obsessed

* According to the formula, three knives against three different targets at the distances - of 3,4,5,6 and 7 m, constitutes a round. It is then repeated four times. In total, there will be 60 throws and the maximum number of points that can be obtained is thus 300.