Keep in mind that you want the weight to be thrown first. If you are throwing a blade-heavy knife, you will want your blade to be thrown first. Hold the knife by the handle to throw it. And vice versa – if you’re throwing a handle-heavy knife, you will throw it by the blade.
Hammer Grip: Grip the handle of the knife as you would the handle of a hammer; place the handle across your open palm near your knuckles, wrap your four fingers underneath and around the handle, and place your thumb over the top. This grip is especially useful if you’re learning to throw a double-edged blade. Pinch Grip for a Single-Edged Blade: Hold your palm out in front of you and move your thumb to create a crease between the fleshy pad of your thumb and the rest of your palm. With the handle pointing away from you, place the blunt edge of the knife blade into this crease so that the tip lines up with the bottom of your thumb crease. Place your thumb along one side of the blade and all your fingers except the pinky along the other side, thereby pinching the blade without pressing against the point or the sharpened edge. Pinch Grip for a Double-Edged Blade: With the handle pointing away from you, grasp the tip of the knife so that the tip of your thumb is one side of the blade and the tips of all your fingers except the pinky are on the other side, thereby pinching it without pressing against the point or either sharpened edge. Note that hold will not allow for a powerful throw; if you are just learning to use a double-edged knife, you may have better luck with the hammer grip.
Close-range: Bend your wrist back toward your forearm. This will allow the knife to turn over in the air more quickly, which is necessary because there is so little distance between you and your target. Medium-range: Slightly bend your wrist back toward your forearm. This will somewhat increase the speed with which the knife turns over in the air, which is necessary because there isn’t a lot of space between you and your target. Long-range: Keep your wrist unbent. This will keep the knife from turning over too much in the air, which is necessary because there is plenty of distance between you and your target.
Your targets can be hanging, mounted, or free-standing.
Resist the urge to throw the knife like a baseball; when you do this, your arm swings across your body, whereas in knife-throwing, the goal is to swing your arm straight up and down so that the knife doesn’t hit at an angle. To curb this cross-swinging tendency, it may help to pretend you are chopping wood. If you have angled the knife upwards, bring your wrist straight as you finish the swing.
Knife throwing is more about finesse than strength. It is most important to keep the entire movement fluid and only apply as much force as is needed. Once you get the hang of it, you will be amazed at how little force is needed.
As always, heavier objects will require more force to propel them at the desired speed over the required distance. Instead of increasing the strength of your throw beyond the point of losing fluidity and control, you might consider aiming for a point slightly above your intended target when throwing with larger/heavier knives.
As always, heavier objects will require more force to propel them at the desired speed over the required distance. Instead of increasing the strength of your throw beyond the point of losing fluidity and control, you might consider aiming for a point slightly above your intended target when throwing with larger/heavier knives.
It is also important to clean your knife if your target was something, such as a piece of meat, that could produce oils that could harm the blade.
