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Beginners Guide to
Knife Throwing
By Joseph Wheeler

Basics of Knife Throwing

Introduction:
Knife throwing is an art. It is also a sport, a combat skill and can be a form of entertainment.
Knife throwing has of course been used for entertainment in circuses for a long time. Knife throwing
was popularised in the late 19th century by travelling acts. The knife thrower demonstrating his/her
skills with the help of an assistant sometimes on a spinning board and sometimes with the knife
thrower blind folded. Please, please, please do not try this at home (for those you that happen to
own a spinning board)!
The skill of knife throwing dates back much further than the circus acts. The art was first used in
martial arts in Japan such as Ninjutsu (Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu). Some African tribes also used knife
throwing as a combat technique however it is considered high risk as if you miss you may be
disarming yourself and supplying your attacker with a weapon. Although many warriors would carry
more than one knife. The Ninja would carry four throwing knives plus a combat knife.
Knife throwing is also a competitive sport with societies in the USA and in Europe holding events and
competing against other knife throwers. UK Knife Throwing Club: http://knifethrowing.co.uk/
Knife throwing in all the above applications has the same basic principle and objective, to stick the
point of the knife into a target with enough force for it to hold. There are several knife throwing
techniques and styles a knife thrower may employ to adjust for throwing whilst running, throwing
off centre or throwing around corners. In this article we will go through the basic knife throwing
technique for beginners throwing straight on at a fixed target.
Knife Types:
Most hunting knives, fixed blade knives or pocket knives are not really suitable for knife throwing.
Although any knife can in theory be thrown, the balance of these knives will make it more difficult,
you risk cutting yourself and the knives are unlikely to survive many throws. A proper throwing knife
will have a good weight to allow it to be thrown over a distance. A lightweight knife will just wobble
in flight and reduce accuracy and power. The sides should be blunt for handling, a pointed tip will be
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sufficient to stick into the target. Throwing knives are built to withstand the impact when you miss
or they bounce off.
Tip: We sell single throwing knives from only 7.99 and triple throwing knife sets from as little at
9.99 so it doesnt have to cost a fortune to try out your skills.
The Grip:
There are three basic types of grip in knife throwing. For full turn throws the basic grip is known as
the hammer grip. Called the Hammer grip as you hold the handle of the blade as you would a
hammer (figure 1.) with the tip of the blade pointing up to the sky.

The modified hammer grip is the same but with the thumb along the side of the knife and the tip
pointed forward (figure 2).

The third grip type is the horizontal blade grip (figure 3). Only use this grip if your knife has blunt
edges, otherwise there is a very good chance of cutting yourself at some point. This grip is generally
used for shorter range throwing with half turns.

Try all three grips and see what feels the most comfortable for you.
Tip: The blade grip (3) will cause the knife to stick parallel to the ground creating more strain on your
knife tip and it will not last as long as if you used the hammer grips where the point of the blade
drops into the target.
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Distance & Trajectory:

In films, when watching someone throw a knife it often appears as the knife travels in a straight line
with the point always facing forward, like a dart in flight. Like a lot of Hollywood ideas this is a myth.
When a knife is thrown it begins a rotation, turning around its centre of gravity, with the blade tip
and the handle end taking turns at facing the target. The skill of knife throwing is getting the
distance and trajectory right so when the knife hits the target on its final rotation the point is facing
the target allowing it to stick in. A very satisfying feeling once mastered.
The key to this is learning your throwing distance. A general rule of thumb is three metres for one
full rotation of the knife to allow a stick. Your style, your knife and the force with which you throw
means the distance will vary for each person, this is why it not an exact science but an art.
If at first the handle hits the target first with the blade tip pointed up then move back about a 30cm
(around a foot). If the opposite happens and the handle hits with the blade pointed down towards
the ground then try moving forward a similar distance.
With practise and a little trial and error it wont take long to get your distance right and you will have
mastered the one rotation throw and will be reasonably consistent at this distance.
Next step back to the 2 rotation distance and master this throw. Once you are consistently sticking
you can work on your accuracy using targets or games.

Below is a table showing the approximate distance from the target you need to be for each rotation
of the blade. The distances get a little shorter per rotation to allow for the natural trajectory of the
knife in motion. You will need to experiment to determine your own exact distance. Distance is
always measured from the tip of your rear front.
Rotations of Knife
1
2
3
4

Distance from Target

3m (approx. 10ft)
5.5m (approx. 18ft)
7.6m (approx. 25ft)
9.7m (approx. 32ft)

Tip: At first try to keep everything the same on each throw - same body and arm movements, same
force applied, same grip and stance. This will make it easier to be consistent. Just adjust your
distance for now and establish this.

The Throw:
The throw of the knife can be broken down into these steps: the stance, the wind up, the throw and
the follow through.
Like with most target sports, golf, darts, snooker, good technique all begins will a good stance. For a
right handed thrower put your left foot in front with the toe on your distance mark. Your right foot
will be back and on its toes. Your feet should form a 45 degree angle. The weight should be on the
dominant foot (the back one right for right handers) mostly on the ball of this foot. Flex the knees
slightly to allow your body weight to shift with greater ease; the front leg should be slightly more
bent than the back leg (figure 1).

Your throwing knife should be held in your dominant hand in front of your and around chest height.
Your left hand should be out stretched, supporting your throwing hand. Do not rest your elbows on
your stomach; they should be out in front of you and less than a shoulder width apart (Figure 2).
Use the tip of the knife to sight your shot, aim the knife and concentrate on your target.
Now for the wind up, bring your throwing arm back beside your head (not too close as you want to
keep those ears). When pulled fully back your elbow should be above your ear and the knife pointing
down towards the ground in a 45 degree angle (Figure 3) this is the cocked position.
Your body will rock back slightly while your weight remains on the ball of your back foot, your left
arm will still be outstretched pointing towards your target.
The throw: Once cocked now begin your throwing arms forward motion, lunging forward with your
body weight shifting onto your front foot (Figure 5) Allow your left arm to swing down and behind
your body and your back foot to lift slightly off the ground. At the apex of your throwing arms
forward motion release the knife.

Follow through is another essential part of golf swings, snooker shots and more importantly knife
throwing. It needs to be a smooth continuous motion. Your left arm will continue its flow to counter
balance your bodys forward motion while your throwing arm will come to a stop as if you were
reaching for the floor (Figure 6).

Keep your balance and allow your back foot to come to rest near your front foot and your throw will
be complete (Figure 8). Fingers crossed it all went smoothly and you have a solid stick in your
target.
Tips: Keep your wrist stiff. Stretch a little before practise to avoid straining muscles. Protect your arm
joints by not stretching out arms all the way; stop the motion with your muscles instead.
Remember to clean your knife after use. Oils from your hands may eventually damage the metal.
Knock out any dents to your blade also.

Targets:
We will be getting throwing knife targets on Knifewarehouse.co.uk soon so you will be able to buy
direct from us. In the meantime you can use thick cork boards, logs, or planks of wood for targets.
Try to use softwoods such as Cottonwood which after it has soaked up some rainwater will act like a
self-healing dart board leaving very little marks from many throws. Avoid plywood as knives bounce
easily off these, it is rather noisy too. The same applies to chipboard which will crack away.
Hardwoods will be much more likely to damage the blade tips and bounce off.
Tips: Soak your target with water before throwing knives at it. This softens it slightly and reduces the
risk of damaging or snapping your throwing knives.

Games:
Throwing Knives Snooker Game: How to Play
This game is played like real snooker but instead of potting balls into pockets you hit them with your
throwing knife or axe.
The game is played over four rounds.
As in real snooker you need to hit a red and then a colour, red then a colour and so on counting up
your points for the break as you go.
Points are scored for clean hits and you need to nominate your colour after you hit a red.
Your break (or turn) ends when you miss your ball. As the value of the balls increases, the size of the
targets decrease. If you are not familiar with snooker the points are at the bottom of the page.
On the last round the red is taken out of the equation and you are on the colours trying to hit yellow,
green, brown, blue, pink then black in sequence.
If you miss a colour on this round the other player picks up where you left off like in the real game.
Any colour that has been hit in this round is gone (potted).
The player with the most points after the four rounds are up is the winner.
To play the game print off our Throwing Knives Snooker Game PDF and arrange the targets as shown
on the cover page of this document.

Keep Practising!
Like any skill or art you need to keep at it, try out some of the tips in this guide and keep going until
you are a proper knife throwing Ninja.
By Joseph Wheeler

View Our Throwing Knives Range Online

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