I will politely point out that in some Asian cultures, the purpose of a throwing weapon (Shuriken in Japan, a category encompassing throwing knives, needles and stars) was in fact not to kill or injure but to make the opponent start, cover their face, or otherwise flinch and give the thrower extra time (to grab a sword, or just run out the door or something). Now, you would probably argue that you can achieve the same effect with a stone and it will be less expensive. It's also a motion that takes much more time and energy. If I want to hit you in the face with a rock hard enough that it would make a difference, I have to twist my body and put all of my mass behind that throw. With a throwing needle or star it only takes a flick of a wrist or upper arm, and so is quicker and takes less energy.
I'd think that a Ninja, especially when found out and outnumbered, would throw whatever he could at the assembled guards so the throw would not have be very accurate. And of course while everyone reacts to the thrown things (knives, shuriken, stones, whatever), the Ninja would try to get away.
AudieHolland Yeah, but the point was that if you want to get away you had better not spend a lot of time throwing a heavy rock. I mean, the thing you throw has to be some threat to your pursuers or else they really won't care. For that purpose any sensible person would pick a light, sharp/pointy item, not a pebble. If you pick something overly heavy you will just slow yourself down throwing it.
OwariNeko Knives, shuriken, stones, whatever. Who said it had to be a heavy stone? Whatever, a handful of sand, some pebbles whatever. I never said it had to be heavy. Just something to distract the enemy, make them react defensively. Is a stone by definition a heavy object?
So throw a *card*. You can carry lots of those easily, they're cheap, they're light, throw great with a flick, and are also unlikely to kill or injure, but can still make them start and cover their face. Thus throwing knives (or stars or whatever) are still silly.
LindyBeige, one film that I know of does indeed display other results of throwing knives, and that film is Kung Fu Hustle. Admittedly it is a comedy, but it does display far more reasonable results of throwing knives than most other hollywood movies. If you find yourself in need of a laugh I highly suggest it.
I'm not arguing for the effectiveness of throwing knives on a battlefield here, but as to your second point I felt an urge to mention that there are methods of "no-spin" knife throwing that make the one or two foot difference between you and the wall a non-factor in determining which side of the knife will hit. Someone would struggle to throw a knife more than 20 feet like that, but within a certain range it seems to me that there's nothing inherently inaccurate about a thrown knife hitting a wall close behind the hero point-first. Not until they include a slow-motion shot of the knife twirling through the air, or have a novice throw a kitchen knife like that.
Just would like to point out that the intended use of japanese shurikens is disturbing or distracting the opponent. Basically you throw a handful of pointy things in the face of the enemy and attack (or run away) while he is occupied with the ducking or bleeding.
***** Hmm I was searching for "throwing glaive" on the internet but the only hits I found were out of fantasy books and games. Is there any historical reference that such thing exists?
***** yes but not a throwing polearm. i dunno where did you get this "throwing glaive" idea in the first place, but I'm maybe happier if I didn't know :D
Because of you i will now make a movie where the main protagonist throws his only knife at the main antagonist and either misses and it bounces off the wall or just flat out hits the antagonist handle first...
Lindy, you missed the main purpose of a throwing knife: pinning someone's clothing to a wall. If movies are to be believed, this happened very often in the past.
actually, there are multiple methods of throwing knives. the spinning method is not meant for combat. there is a method where its thrown blade first, doesnt spin at all, and this method allows you to put a great deal of power into the throw. using the proper combat technique, i myself have thrown my knives through a piece of 3/4" plywood. i threw is so hard, the tip of the blade stuck out about half an inch on the back of the plywood target. i've also sunk my blades at least 1 1/2" - 2" deep into living oak trees. i concede there are other more effective ranged weapons, but i just feel like this video does not do throwing knives justice. they can be incredibly deadly in the right hands. but thats kinda the whole point. its not something anyone can just use, its more of an obtained special skill you have to go out of your way to be competent at. its not a sword where anyone can just use it
well any weapon requires training to use effectively. but a random person on the street will have a better chance picking up a sword and using it than a specialized weapon like throwing knives.
I think that it should be noted that there was an exceptional use of a throwing knife in The Princess Bride, in which Count Ruegen pulls one from his boot (he's still got a sword, btw) and throws it at Inigo, who is wearing nothing but cloth. The knife must be quite sharp, because it sticks into his stomach and causes him to bleed quite a bit, which hinders him during the proceeding swordfight between the two of them. Here it is used as a last-ditch effort to wound someone and cause them pain and bleeding to make them weaker so that you can kill them easier with your main weapon, in this case, the rapier. It should be noted that Inigo takes a couple more light wounds to the arm and shoulder, pulls the knife out, and actually walks away from the fight after dispatching Ruegen. All in all, the knife was not super effective, but it did stick in the target. It should also be noted that Ruegen was being chased, and lead Inigo to a space of his choosing, and lined up his shot and waited at a specific distance at a doorway at the bottom of a staircase where he knew Inigo would be coming. He had every opportunity to line up his shot from the appropriate distance to ensure that if he hit, it would land point first. A very long stretch of extenuating circumstances in which the throwing dagger ultimately proved to be at least a little effective, but to a realistic degree.
Throwing a knife only makes sense in context. The typical "shurikan" was a sharpened bit of scrap/broken metal that "ninja" used as a dirty fighting trick to distract while fencing. Why not a rock? #1 you can hold a stack of them in your hand while fencing, then surprise them with a bit of sharpened metal, more than once or to more than one person. #2 As silly as it is humans are more afraid of a sharpened bit of metal, even though the stone could potentially cause more damage, thus making a flinch reaction more probable to occur.
@DasFork Not sure who the 'you' is in this. I was criticising films in which such weapons are depicted as the preferred choice for an assassination - the weapons that actually do the deed. If they were for softening up an enemy, dramatically reducing his combat ability, then they would have been very common battlefield weapons.
Someone who I once met who threw "trick shot' knife throws, showed me a throwing still, where you essentially 'palm' the knife and 'sling' it in such a way, it never goes spinning through the air, but rather - it carries more like a dart. They were weighted different than a regular knife too. In films, they like to show them wildly spinning which is flawed for obvious reasons. But I'm tempted to watch now on TH-cam, some throwing trick shots to see whether they spin them, or not. Again - they might still, because it looks 'cool'. But I guess my point is this - you *can* absolutely throw a knife, with reasonable force, without having it spin wildly through the air. I myself got good enough to easily hit a mark like a big tree 10 yards away. I'm by no means arguing their use in battle, or any such thing. Just mentioning that you can definitely throw them in a non-spinning fashion.
Well you have to understand that before the development of firearms (especially small, rapid fire ones), being able to strike an enemy at a distance, even if it was only to wound, represented a significant advantage. And yes, bows were already in existence and were extremely effective, but bows were typically large, nonconcealable, and slower to fire than a small blade kept handy.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't weapons like the Shuriken designed to be thrown at an enemy to distract them, while you got closer for an actual attack? I mean, if someone throws a sharp piece of metal at your face, you either dodge it, block it with your shield or let it hit you. I think most people would chose one of the first two.
Correct. they where mostly used to distract the enemy. So you could either get a better chanse to attack them or flee. they where not really made for or used for killing someone
@link0099 There are techniques that make for very slow spins, yes, but no evidence that these were used in battle, or for assassinations, or hunting, so what does that leave? Mucking around in the back garden?
As an amateur knife thrower, I would have to say that yes, throwing knives were never meant to be used as weapons in real battle. They are fun for target practice, but if I really needed a weapon that served that purpose in real battle, I would use some kind of dart, not a knife. I could MAYBE see knives being an effective weapon for someone who for some reason practiced half a lifetime in the use of this weapon, until judging distance and rotation of their throw was second nature, but then why would they not spend all that time practicing with a weapon more suited, like a dart? Last of all, I once heard of a friend of my friend... yeah... who practiced a lot with knives. He would keep them stuck in the walls around his room and had practiced throwing them at the door enough that he once went to sleep, and woke up to find that he had thrown them all into the door in his sleep. I suppose for him, in a situation where an intruder was coming in through the door, something sharp to throw would be quite effective, but yeah, that's kind of situational, and something he probably did for the heck of it that required more trouble and time commitment than most people would want to invest.
Actually, correction, I CAN see a reason someone might practice throwing knives instead of something more suited. In a society where EVERYONE and their grandmother is likely to have some kind of knife on them, the ability to consistently stick a pointy object into a remote target could actually be quite useful, whereas I doubt there EVER was a society where you could regularly count on a dart, or other such specialized tool, being handy. So again, MAYBE, there might have been a practitioner, somewhere. But that would have to have been the exception. Not the norm.
Perrin Larson and if you hit an intruder who doesnt want a fight with a throwing knife, yes it may be effective. but the video is discussing enemy combatants. as in "I need to incapacitate or kill him or I die". a throwing knife's chances of doing either of those is very very slim. the area of damage is too small snd the force is not there. not to mention the pain from a super sharp knife stabbing is not that bad if your adrenaline is going. youd be far better off with a dull knife. only problem is then it wouldnt penetrate
@@perrinlarson3842 i take it you have looked at no spin throwing ... and if you adjust i have seen people no spin throw over 12/15 feet with enough control and power to kill or atlest do nasty nasty damage ... enough to stop them lol ... it comes down to stopping power and distance really ... and how good the thrower is lol ...
@@deewing6439 Interesting. I had never heard of "no-spin" throwing. So I looked it up. And there is no such thing. So called "no-spin" throwing is absolutely no different than spin throwing. The knife still spins. Distance must still be judged to get the spin right. "No-spin" throwers are simply throwing with enough speed and at a short enough range that the knife doesn't have time to spin more than half a turn. I've done this plenty myself, of course. This is of course far easier than throwing at a target far enough that the knife must spin a full rotation or more, but it still takes a great deal of practice for it to become second nature.
Big Trouble in Little China: Hero throws a knife at main bad-guy. He misses and the knife bounces off a gong handle first and lands on the ground. Of course that is offset by the fact that bad-guy picks up knife and throws it back at the hero, who has a special reflex ability to catch things flying at his head...seriously they set that up in the opening shot of the movie, catches the knife in mid-air and throws it back at bad-guy right into the skull. Well they ALMOST had a realistic knife throw.
+Anonymous surfer the knife didn't stick into the bell it hit the thing side ways and bunched off. that movie roasted the hell out of a lot of overplayed tropes. Like the part where the main character fired a gun at the ceiling to get everyone's attention, and a support beam falls on his head.
Saw them. That's pretty much the way I tried. It's a slow spin technique - the blade has to pivot 90 degrees before impact, and the method of release reduces your power. Interesting to see that when the bearded guy goes through the method, he uses a weak throwing arm position off to his right, but in some of the shots of him showing off he uses a much more powerful long-arm technique that I wouldn't want to be hit by. Either way, if you wanted to kill, you'd choose another weapon.
You made a pertinent point there...about how they fall dead and quiet. Fighting that injures or kills always leads to a great deal of screaming. No human alive goes out in silence unless terrified of discovery, and even then it is tough to do. Anyone who has experienced tremendous pain knows it is hard not to scream.
In the circus act I saw, the knives seemed pretty useless. The target was a stationary woman who stood in full view against a board just a few yards away. The 'master' didn't manage to hit her even once.
Realistically, If someone got hit in the head with a knife, they'd freak out and would get ambushed while panicking about whether or not to leave it in.
+CaptainTinTyrant Realistically, there's almost no way a knife could get stuck in the head if that's what you're implying. So no, no panic about whether or not to leave it "in"
@BloodfromtheAshes A dart will hit point-first every time, and is rear _stabilised_, so possibly might be what you are looking for. Darts, unlike throwing knives, were used in battle.
I've had the unfortunate experience of being hit, point first, by a pair of heavy, iron, sewing scissors, and I can confirm that you're unlikely going to die, but it does hurt a lot and it completely winded me.
The advantage is that the knife throwing protagonist can withdraw the aforementioned knife from the dead guy and make some kind of smug remark, berfore walking away casually or dealing with everything else in the battlefield.
@EmperorMossy Distraction, yes. A thrown anything, even air, is a distraction. Poisoning a shuriken would be a very bad idea. The chances of nicking yourself greatly out-weigh the chances of poisoning someone else, and unless you have extraordinarily fast-acting poison, the target will cut you down before he succumbs.
@9123flash If they are heavy enough to kill no matter which part hits the target, then (a) they are VERY heavy and not a convenient load, and (2) why not just throw a brick or perhaps a tree trunk?
@NateStei I don't recall where exactly he was hit, but it is possible to fight on for a while with a couple of arrows in you. A lot of arrow wounds would have been mortal, but few would have been instantly fatal. Through the heart or brain would quickly end you, but other places might take hours to kill you.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but just that it would not be the killing weapon of choice. If you want to _kill_ someone rather than hamper or distract him, then your first choice would be something considerably more lethal.
@Tarantio1983 Black powder is for fireworks - big noisy things. The notion that one might use something that draws attention to you in an assassination might not be appealing. Grenades need lighting, and they haven't invented matches yet, so that's awkward when on a stealth mission, and once lit they go off after a fixed and unalterable time, and primitive ones either go off in your hand or too late. It might take a lot of development and persuasion to get people to use one in war.
Wow - I didn't know that this point was quite as important as it now seems. What are the other two? I'm guessing #1 Learn that "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same thing, and #3 in bear country, always travel with a slower runner than you.
Perhaps, in an emergency, yes, although you can throw anything to have this effect - even miming throwing nothing can work. I was dealing with the way throwing knives are commonly presented in films; as a primary means of killing.
Think about it: a shuriken is sharp all the way round, and is kept in small bundles where it is quick to access. It is grabbed in a hurry in the dark with the hands, to be thrown. Do you think that makes it a good choice of weapon to poison? Do you have any actual evidence that they were ever poisoned?
@chickenmadness1 Yes, it's almost as though the target never moves away or towards them, and they themselves stay on the spot, keeping the distance between them perfectly predictable and constant.
@EmperorMossy If you can come up with an example of a medieval poison that could kill quickly if introduced via a cut, and which had an effective antidote that could be administered even faster, then you'd have a good argument.
It is next to impossible to throw a knife with _no_ rotation, but there are those who throws them with a rotation so slow that the knife can land point-first without having made one spin. If this is your goal, though, why not use darts?
Wat. You can throw a knife at someone and as long as it hits them in the head or in the back they will die silently and instantly. This I learned from Far Cry games. Angle shmangle.
Have you ever tried to throw a knife without spinning it? Even a tip-heavy one? I find it very difficult, and detrimental to the power and accuracy of the throw.
"Have you ever seen a film where the throwing knife goes past the guy, and hits the wall NOT point first?" Big Trouble in Little china - Jack Burton's K-bar flies past Lo Pan and butts the gong; everyone in the room looks at Jack like he's a moron. Lo Pan then picks up the knife, throws it back... where jack snatches it out of the air and hurls it through Lo Pan's forehead. So... STILL silly (though to be fair, Lo Pan is over a thousand years old, one imagines maybe his bones aren't that strong?)
On the matter of the viability in throwing knives and shurikens: Many times they had a venomous coating on them. As for why not an envenomed arrow? Bows are much bigger than a throwing knife or shuriken which can be concealed in a pocket. By no means are they viable in warfare. But they were not war weapons either. And as for "well why not walk up to the guy and assassinate him?" Easy: Between you and the target might be the LoS of another patrol. A knife going through the air will get less attention than a person running, they might not even notice the movement of something that small in the dark.
darkblood626 That makes sense, but modern chemistry has allowed poisoned weapons to be safer for the user and deadlier for the enemy. Powdered toxins avoid the risks inherent with liquid toxins and are now deadlier then ever. Placed inside grooves near the edges of small throwing weapons, weapons meant for harassing can now be as deadly as their melee counterparts.
Aside from that, any sensible assassin who relies on poison has an antidote on them in case they accidentally poison themselves (though they might poison themselves purpousfully when they give their victims poisoned beverages, and then it's really necessary to have a supply of antidote)
I saw a program where they were talking about the actual Iga ninja, and the shuriken they showed weren't of the star variety, but more of a long straight spike, like a weaponized lawn dart. They showed them being thrown underhand, with startling frequency, at a range of about 15 feet, and embedding them pretty well into a heavy wooden plank.
Big Trouble In Little China - Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) threw a knife that missed his target and clanged hilt first into a wall. Kudos to Director John Carpenter.
Thank you, this is a great video on why throwing knives were not thrown as the primary method of killing (they were experimented with, such as the Russian Special forces, and still used to my knowledge), in all but last resort situations. The ninjas sometimes poisoned their throwing weapons (with rust, or bacteria from the ground, etc.) for just the reasons expressed here, very rarely are they a fatal one hit, instant kill. Great video, look forwards to more.
Chosenninja demonstrated knife throwing at good distance and accuracy but he used an underhand throw to prevent spin and the knife had a tail for stability like an arrow's fletching. I absolutely agree though that insta-kill is complete fantasy.
I would like to bring up the Spetsnaz train heavily on throwing knives, and even entrenching tools. I would say it's certainly not a primary battle implement, but they do train extensively in employing thrown weapons. I believe the reasons are in part that the force delivered on impact is quite high on a thrown weapon versus stabbing them by hand.
Throwing knives do actually hit surprisingly hard, you will be surprised if you practise it, you'll find that throwing a knife into a wooden plank will go significantly deeper than just sticking it in by hand(as hard as you can). But indeed not a weapon for on the battlefield. But my point is that a throwing knife will probably kill you fast, its like getting stabbed by a knife but harder.
You obviously don't stab very hard... Most people (non-wimps) could stab someone with a Fairbairn & Sykes fighting knife down to the hilt, I very much doubt anyone could achieve the same by throw it. Knife throwing is little more than a circus trick... Filipino knife fighting is a fine example of a real knife fighting form. Why would you throw away your weapon?
***** The constant applying of force does indeed help stabbing flesh because the energy is great enough for the knife to penetrate. Whereas stabbing wood you can simply not deliver enough constant energy to push through. But throwing the knife gives it more acceleration which does help the penetration capability. So at that point you are partially right. Except that we are in fact limited by our strength when stabbing. I know because I am not at all afraid of stabbing with the same knife that I throw, because I don't use a throwing knive but a survival knife with a sturdy cross guard so there's no chance of cutting myself. maybe that's also where the confusion might be, I'm actually talking about throwing with a normal knife an not a 'throwing knife'.( which is in fact the concept of the video 'You've got a knife and you throw it' 0:35 .
I don't know about you, but my smallest weakest finger is my pink, and if any finger is safe while stabbing it would be my pink , except offcourse the fingers of my left hand, or when I would stab holding the knife pointed downwards. If that is what you mean then I'm more concerned about the side of my hand. Which would just be a minor factor in the penetration of the knife. But you're right, you can stab very hard with a knife, maybe almost as hard as throwing a knife, but while throwing you're not applying much force at all and still it penetrates very deep, deeper than your hardest stab. And a knife with an arm attached to it is easier to block and offcourse you do have the element of surprise thowing the knife. But I am in fact not on the side who claims throwing knives are very useful at all. I can not think of many situations where such a thing would be effective, because throwing knives requires a lot of skill and numerous other reasons. I was just pointing out how surprisingly hard they hit for the energy used. And I am courious to see one hit ballistic gelatin too.
***** I'd say penetration capability is an overall factor, not something that differs as much between targets (offcourse with the exception of the resistance of the material itself). but like I said before but which you seem to have completely forgotten already (and which also validates your statement almost completely) quote: 'The constant applying of force does indeed help stabbing flesh because the energy is great enough for the knife to penetrate. Whereas stabbing wood you can simply not deliver enough constant energy to push through.'
good point. However, you shouldn't disregard it altogether: a throwing knife is front heavy, it straightens up during its course towards the opponent like a dart. If it's not a throwing knife you avoid throwing it at all costs(though there are some exceptions to this as well)
Thing about throwing knives (and axes to some degree) is that they hit targets based upon known distances. In a battlefield scenario, unless you knew the exact distance of yourself to your target, it is almost impossible to hit them, and if they're moving targets forget it. Told this by a professional knife thrower and expedition shooter. Men have successfully thrown knives (Jim Bowie), but it's from a defensive position at a known, fixed point with a very wide, fat blade and it rarely killed.
@BrenmadsMinecraft I had always considered the sai as mainly a melee weapon. A really good throwing weapon for short distances is half a brick - and it's really cheap!
Throwing knives, there is a reason Paul Veerhoven included them in the training regime of the Mobile Infantry in the anti-war film Starship Troopers. Throwing knives were used as diversionary weapons - to force an enemy to protect their face from the risk of impairment to vision and thus creating an opening for an incapacitating strike - poisons would be counter conducive to this purpose because they would require careful handling by the wielder, detracting vital seconds from actually throwing
Shuriken might be portrait as a star, but they came in lots of different forms. One usual form of shrunken was a 10" iron spike. + they were many times used as distractions.
Shuriken were actually more commonly used as a utility tool/close combat weapon. For the first purpose the square hole in the middle could be used to pry nails out. Held in the hand (which was possible because usually only the last half of each point was sharpened on Japanese shuriken) they worked as effectively pointy, multi-directional brass knuckles. They would be very hard to see, especially in poor light so the wielder may appear unarmed.
One thing that makes throwing knifes a bit more useful is preventing it from sniping, the Russians have a trick for throwing knifes in such a way, basically you throw the knife normally but just as it leaves your hand you are supposed to apply a bit of for on the opposite direction of the knife spin. If done right you stop the knife from spinning, making it so that you don't need to calculate distance. (of course this requires a lot of practice) Now, I'm not saying that makes it a perfect battle tactic, but if you have two knifes and somebody is running at you with a musket it might be useful to hit them with the first one to stop their momentum, rather than fighting him head on with your lack of reach. Just something I tough would be nice to mention.
***** I agree that with you that it can be used as an improvised projectile if needs be, but I agree with Lindybeige that knives are either an inferior choice or an expensive choice. Also you mention that it takes training to wield a throwing knife effectively. I infer you already know that this isn't ideal; why not train using other weapons or defensive tools that avoid the need for small range projectiles. Or save time and money and go back to using rocks! I am interested to see this Russian knife throwing thing. Are there any videos I should look at for a good demo?
We did reply to this video and use quarter spin or no-spin which is basically the Same a Russian and I throw one throw at the end in that style :D th-cam.com/video/J22AN_AAWTE/w-d-xo.html
There isn't enough rotational force to cause it to do so. There is a reason it's called the "no spin throw" and not the "so close it can't spin more than once" throw. Watching the video shows the throw having the same effect at multiple ranges, and it appears to be the "knuckleball" of knife throws.
We do knife throwing demos with my sword school regularly. Everyone from trained throwers to hobbyists to people who've never held a knife in their lives has tried, and the same results always happen - no consistency in hitting blade-in, very little good aim, and putting force behind it will sometimes rarely result in a knife bouncing off the striking surface and arcing back towards the crowd. We have two people with shields on the sides of the line, on-guard and ready to dive in the way of a thrown knife to deflect it. I've been one of those people, and had to deflect a knife once, and it does provoke all the "OHCRAPBITOFMETALCOMINGFORMYEYES!" reflexes you can think of in one's lizard brain. It's fun nontheless, even if it's only to show you demonstrably where one can and can not use a throwing knife to your advantage.
I like what you said about it sticking in the wall. I throw knives myself and am skilled at it. The only way the knife could stick the wall behind you with any likelihood is to throw it without spin. This is possible by brushing the handle with your forefinger as you release (when throwing by the handle). Possible, but not likely. It takes a lot of skill to execute such a throw. I cannot do it.
@yerk3 You are referring to the Bo shuriken. Fun fact: Miyamoto Musashi was actually a master at throwing them and instructed others in how to use them. On the video itself, I think it does bear mentioning that if you are sufficiently trained, it's not THAT difficult to make the knife reach its target point first. Assuming a static target anyways. Although I have been led to believe that in the rare instances knives WERE thrown, no-spin throws would have been favored to avoid that.
As I agree with your points, I believe I saw a video of a middle aged russian (maybe spec ops) showing off throwing knives via hammer grip. Well, actually he was throwing many things, one after another at a target arount 10-15 meters away. He could use everything, garden scissors, kitchen knives and knives of all sorts, hitting every time. So throwing any knife at enemy might be a useful skill for people who sometimes have to kill with whatever means they can acquire.
I will politely point out that in some Asian cultures, the purpose of a throwing weapon (Shuriken in Japan, a category encompassing throwing knives, needles and stars) was in fact not to kill or injure but to make the opponent start, cover their face, or otherwise flinch and give the thrower extra time (to grab a sword, or just run out the door or something).
Now, you would probably argue that you can achieve the same effect with a stone and it will be less expensive. It's also a motion that takes much more time and energy. If I want to hit you in the face with a rock hard enough that it would make a difference, I have to twist my body and put all of my mass behind that throw. With a throwing needle or star it only takes a flick of a wrist or upper arm, and so is quicker and takes less energy.
I'd think that a Ninja, especially when found out and outnumbered, would throw whatever he could at the assembled guards so the throw would not have be very accurate. And of course while everyone reacts to the thrown things (knives, shuriken, stones, whatever), the Ninja would try to get away.
AudieHolland Yeah, but the point was that if you want to get away you had better not spend a lot of time throwing a heavy rock.
I mean, the thing you throw has to be some threat to your pursuers or else they really won't care. For that purpose any sensible person would pick a light, sharp/pointy item, not a pebble. If you pick something overly heavy you will just slow yourself down throwing it.
OwariNeko Knives, shuriken, stones, whatever. Who said it had to be a heavy stone? Whatever, a handful of sand, some pebbles whatever. I never said it had to be heavy. Just something to distract the enemy, make them react defensively. Is a stone by definition a heavy object?
exactly
So throw a *card*. You can carry lots of those easily, they're cheap, they're light, throw great with a flick, and are also unlikely to kill or injure, but can still make them start and cover their face.
Thus throwing knives (or stars or whatever) are still silly.
Big Trouble in Little China: What's his face(forget his name) throws his knife at Lopan. Hits the wall, clutters to the floor. Total embarrassment.
I Love this movie!!!
+TheTriforceofRubiks Good knife Mr. Burton!
+Ynffy All in the reflexes.
CapnHolic :D
+TheTriforceofRubiks First thing I thought of. Thank you.
"It's all in the reflexes."
"Ya know what ol' Jack Burton says?"
"WHO'S THROWING HANDLES!" After failed knife throwing attempt in Kungfu Hustle.
Love that movie
LindyBeige, one film that I know of does indeed display other results of throwing knives, and that film is Kung Fu Hustle. Admittedly it is a comedy, but it does display far more reasonable results of throwing knives than most other hollywood movies. If you find yourself in need of a laugh I highly suggest it.
I'm not arguing for the effectiveness of throwing knives on a battlefield here, but as to your second point I felt an urge to mention that there are methods of "no-spin" knife throwing that make the one or two foot difference between you and the wall a non-factor in determining which side of the knife will hit. Someone would struggle to throw a knife more than 20 feet like that, but within a certain range it seems to me that there's nothing inherently inaccurate about a thrown knife hitting a wall close behind the hero point-first. Not until they include a slow-motion shot of the knife twirling through the air, or have a novice throw a kitchen knife like that.
Just would like to point out that the intended use of japanese shurikens is disturbing or distracting the opponent. Basically you throw a handful of pointy things in the face of the enemy and attack (or run away) while he is occupied with the ducking or bleeding.
***** isnt glaive a type of pole arm? How do you throw that?
***** Hmm I was searching for "throwing glaive" on the internet but the only hits I found were out of fantasy books and games. Is there any historical reference that such thing exists?
***** fantasy/video games are not really glavies a glavie is a polearm
***** yes but not a throwing polearm. i dunno where did you get this "throwing glaive" idea in the first place, but I'm maybe happier if I didn't know :D
Adam Koncz i know that the ninjas were not averse to using poison so im sure a shuriken could have been dipped in that to make it alot more lethal
Pommels are much more handy throwing weapons than knifes ;)
+ScienceDiscoverer also, what's the point in ending an enemy if you can't end him rightly?
+ScienceDiscoverer Have I detected a random Skallagrim fan ;) :D
Stefano Morandi
Yea, better to heal your enemy and then have new fight to end him rightly!
if only he knew he had given birth to such a monster with that video.
Thomas Fejdasz he knows
Because of you i will now make a movie where the main protagonist throws his only knife at the main antagonist and either misses and it bounces off the wall or just flat out hits the antagonist handle first...
+JerbearTheCarebear i would pay to see that
+JerbearTheCarebear That happens in Big Trouble in Little China. One of the funniest scenes in the film. I highly recommend it.
+JerbearTheCarebear
(Throw)
_Clunk!_
"Ow!"
Jonathan Hughes yep thats gonna be the script lol
+Leo Steiner
It's all in the reflexes!
In a battle you have a moving target most of the time, which makes judging the spin a matter of chance as well as judgement.
In theory
Lindy, you missed the main purpose of a throwing knife: pinning someone's clothing to a wall. If movies are to be believed, this happened very often in the past.
I'll just add that It's very possible to throw a knife without spin, very forcefully. But all other points i agree with.
actually, there are multiple methods of throwing knives. the spinning method is not meant for combat. there is a method where its thrown blade first, doesnt spin at all, and this method allows you to put a great deal of power into the throw. using the proper combat technique, i myself have thrown my knives through a piece of 3/4" plywood. i threw is so hard, the tip of the blade stuck out about half an inch on the back of the plywood target. i've also sunk my blades at least 1 1/2" - 2" deep into living oak trees. i concede there are other more effective ranged weapons, but i just feel like this video does not do throwing knives justice. they can be incredibly deadly in the right hands. but thats kinda the whole point. its not something anyone can just use, its more of an obtained special skill you have to go out of your way to be competent at. its not a sword where anyone can just use it
I agree avout the knife.
But a sword requires as much training as any weapon, if you intend on being effective with it.
well any weapon requires training to use effectively. but a random person on the street will have a better chance picking up a sword and using it than a specialized weapon like throwing knives.
what have you got against plywood and trees, you monster?
Jamie Chevalier 3/4in penetration isnt deadly
ppxoon what did he get wrong? everything he said is correct no matter how good you are with them
I think that it should be noted that there was an exceptional use of a throwing knife in The Princess Bride, in which Count Ruegen pulls one from his boot (he's still got a sword, btw) and throws it at Inigo, who is wearing nothing but cloth. The knife must be quite sharp, because it sticks into his stomach and causes him to bleed quite a bit, which hinders him during the proceeding swordfight between the two of them. Here it is used as a last-ditch effort to wound someone and cause them pain and bleeding to make them weaker so that you can kill them easier with your main weapon, in this case, the rapier. It should be noted that Inigo takes a couple more light wounds to the arm and shoulder, pulls the knife out, and actually walks away from the fight after dispatching Ruegen. All in all, the knife was not super effective, but it did stick in the target.
It should also be noted that Ruegen was being chased, and lead Inigo to a space of his choosing, and lined up his shot and waited at a specific distance at a doorway at the bottom of a staircase where he knew Inigo would be coming. He had every opportunity to line up his shot from the appropriate distance to ensure that if he hit, it would land point first. A very long stretch of extenuating circumstances in which the throwing dagger ultimately proved to be at least a little effective, but to a realistic degree.
Throwing a knife only makes sense in context. The typical "shurikan" was a sharpened bit of scrap/broken metal that "ninja" used as a dirty fighting trick to distract while fencing. Why not a rock? #1 you can hold a stack of them in your hand while fencing, then surprise them with a bit of sharpened metal, more than once or to more than one person. #2 As silly as it is humans are more afraid of a sharpened bit of metal, even though the stone could potentially cause more damage, thus making a flinch reaction more probable to occur.
@DasFork Not sure who the 'you' is in this. I was criticising films in which such weapons are depicted as the preferred choice for an assassination - the weapons that actually do the deed. If they were for softening up an enemy, dramatically reducing his combat ability, then they would have been very common battlefield weapons.
Someone who I once met who threw "trick shot' knife throws, showed me a throwing still, where you essentially 'palm' the knife and 'sling' it in such a way, it never goes spinning through the air, but rather - it carries more like a dart. They were weighted different than a regular knife too.
In films, they like to show them wildly spinning which is flawed for obvious reasons. But I'm tempted to watch now on TH-cam, some throwing trick shots to see whether they spin them, or not. Again - they might still, because it looks 'cool'. But I guess my point is this - you *can* absolutely throw a knife, with reasonable force, without having it spin wildly through the air. I myself got good enough to easily hit a mark like a big tree 10 yards away.
I'm by no means arguing their use in battle, or any such thing. Just mentioning that you can definitely throw them in a non-spinning fashion.
Well you have to understand that before the development of firearms (especially small, rapid fire ones), being able to strike an enemy at a distance, even if it was only to wound, represented a significant advantage. And yes, bows were already in existence and were extremely effective, but bows were typically large, nonconcealable, and slower to fire than a small blade kept handy.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't weapons like the Shuriken designed to be thrown at an enemy to distract them, while you got closer for an actual attack?
I mean, if someone throws a sharp piece of metal at your face, you either dodge it, block it with your shield or let it hit you. I think most people would chose one of the first two.
Correct. they where mostly used to distract the enemy. So you could either get a better chanse to attack them or flee. they where not really made for or used for killing someone
Reddokk Fheg
Though a cut to the hands from one could give you an advantage.
That's one thing naruto got right lol.
It's also used to deter people from pursuing you during an escape.
*****
I know lol.
But shuriken never actually kill anyone in the show,they're used to distract or force the enemy to move somewhere.
@link0099 There are techniques that make for very slow spins, yes, but no evidence that these were used in battle, or for assassinations, or hunting, so what does that leave? Mucking around in the back garden?
As an amateur knife thrower, I would have to say that yes, throwing knives were never meant to be used as weapons in real battle. They are fun for target practice, but if I really needed a weapon that served that purpose in real battle, I would use some kind of dart, not a knife.
I could MAYBE see knives being an effective weapon for someone who for some reason practiced half a lifetime in the use of this weapon, until judging distance and rotation of their throw was second nature, but then why would they not spend all that time practicing with a weapon more suited, like a dart?
Last of all, I once heard of a friend of my friend... yeah... who practiced a lot with knives. He would keep them stuck in the walls around his room and had practiced throwing them at the door enough that he once went to sleep, and woke up to find that he had thrown them all into the door in his sleep.
I suppose for him, in a situation where an intruder was coming in through the door, something sharp to throw would be quite effective, but yeah, that's kind of situational, and something he probably did for the heck of it that required more trouble and time commitment than most people would want to invest.
Actually, correction, I CAN see a reason someone might practice throwing knives instead of something more suited. In a society where EVERYONE and their grandmother is likely to have some kind of knife on them, the ability to consistently stick a pointy object into a remote target could actually be quite useful, whereas I doubt there EVER was a society where you could regularly count on a dart, or other such specialized tool, being handy.
So again, MAYBE, there might have been a practitioner, somewhere. But that would have to have been the exception. Not the norm.
Perrin Larson why a dart? that would do even less damage and have even less stopping power
Perrin Larson and if you hit an intruder who doesnt want a fight with a throwing knife, yes it may be effective. but the video is discussing enemy combatants. as in "I need to incapacitate or kill him or I die". a throwing knife's chances of doing either of those is very very slim. the area of damage is too small snd the force is not there. not to mention the pain from a super sharp knife stabbing is not that bad if your adrenaline is going. youd be far better off with a dull knife. only problem is then it wouldnt penetrate
@@perrinlarson3842 i take it you have looked at no spin throwing ... and if you adjust i have seen people no spin throw over 12/15 feet with enough control and power to kill or atlest do nasty nasty damage ... enough to stop them lol ... it comes down to stopping power and distance really ... and how good the thrower is lol ...
@@deewing6439 Interesting. I had never heard of "no-spin" throwing. So I looked it up. And there is no such thing. So called "no-spin" throwing is absolutely no different than spin throwing. The knife still spins. Distance must still be judged to get the spin right. "No-spin" throwers are simply throwing with enough speed and at a short enough range that the knife doesn't have time to spin more than half a turn. I've done this plenty myself, of course. This is of course far easier than throwing at a target far enough that the knife must spin a full rotation or more, but it still takes a great deal of practice for it to become second nature.
Big Trouble in Little China: Hero throws a knife at main bad-guy. He misses and the knife bounces off a gong handle first and lands on the ground. Of course that is offset by the fact that bad-guy picks up knife and throws it back at the hero, who has a special reflex ability to catch things flying at his head...seriously they set that up in the opening shot of the movie, catches the knife in mid-air and throws it back at bad-guy right into the skull. Well they ALMOST had a realistic knife throw.
This video can already be considered as history
@AcdcStoner Do you have an historical example of an assassination carried out by throwing knife?
True, but rare. For one thing it requires an amount of dexterity greater than that of most actors.
Big trouble in little China. Lead character throws a knife and it bounces off the dong bell behind the villian.
+Anonymous surfer he asked for an example :P Plus its the movies, they make anything happen....people ripping hearts out with their bare hands ...
+Anonymous surfer
the knife didn't stick into the bell it hit the thing side ways and bunched off. that movie roasted the hell out of a lot of overplayed tropes. Like the part where the main character fired a gun at the ceiling to get everyone's attention, and a support beam falls on his head.
Saw them. That's pretty much the way I tried. It's a slow spin technique - the blade has to pivot 90 degrees before impact, and the method of release reduces your power. Interesting to see that when the bearded guy goes through the method, he uses a weak throwing arm position off to his right, but in some of the shots of him showing off he uses a much more powerful long-arm technique that I wouldn't want to be hit by. Either way, if you wanted to kill, you'd choose another weapon.
You made a pertinent point there...about how they fall dead and quiet. Fighting that injures or kills always leads to a great deal of screaming. No human alive goes out in silence unless terrified of discovery, and even then it is tough to do. Anyone who has experienced tremendous pain knows it is hard not to scream.
@aztecas91 So you are seriously suggesting that you'd choose a throwing knife over a bow or javelin?
@Octavius0 Next vid is on a weapon! (Then back to Herrang, probably).
In the circus act I saw, the knives seemed pretty useless. The target was a stationary woman who stood in full view against a board just a few yards away. The 'master' didn't manage to hit her even once.
Realistically, If someone got hit in the head with a knife, they'd freak out and would get ambushed while panicking about whether or not to leave it in.
+CaptainTinTyrant Realistically, there's almost no way a knife could get stuck in the head if that's what you're implying. So no, no panic about whether or not to leave it "in"
@BloodfromtheAshes A dart will hit point-first every time, and is rear _stabilised_, so possibly might be what you are looking for. Darts, unlike throwing knives, were used in battle.
You just have to make sure your knife has a pommel, so that if it doesn't hit them with the blade you can end them rightly instead.
I've had the unfortunate experience of being hit, point first, by a pair of heavy, iron, sewing scissors, and I can confirm that you're unlikely going to die, but it does hurt a lot and it completely winded me.
i think it comes down to the blade not just a "pointy thing" ... and how much force ... lol
The advantage is that the knife throwing protagonist can withdraw the aforementioned knife from the dead guy and make some kind of smug remark, berfore walking away casually or dealing with everything else in the battlefield.
Throwing a stone is cheaper for a start. In mock battles, death is a matter of personal style.
@EmperorMossy Distraction, yes. A thrown anything, even air, is a distraction. Poisoning a shuriken would be a very bad idea. The chances of nicking yourself greatly out-weigh the chances of poisoning someone else, and unless you have extraordinarily fast-acting poison, the target will cut you down before he succumbs.
@9123flash If they are heavy enough to kill no matter which part hits the target, then (a) they are VERY heavy and not a convenient load, and (2) why not just throw a brick or perhaps a tree trunk?
@NateStei I don't recall where exactly he was hit, but it is possible to fight on for a while with a couple of arrows in you. A lot of arrow wounds would have been mortal, but few would have been instantly fatal. Through the heart or brain would quickly end you, but other places might take hours to kill you.
Lindy didn't know that 3 years after making this video, the greatest game "Skyrim" will be released.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but just that it would not be the killing weapon of choice. If you want to _kill_ someone rather than hamper or distract him, then your first choice would be something considerably more lethal.
@Tarantio1983 Black powder is for fireworks - big noisy things. The notion that one might use something that draws attention to you in an assassination might not be appealing. Grenades need lighting, and they haven't invented matches yet, so that's awkward when on a stealth mission, and once lit they go off after a fixed and unalterable time, and primitive ones either go off in your hand or too late. It might take a lot of development and persuasion to get people to use one in war.
@Tarantio1983 Throwing weapons are quick to use at short range, and good for use immediately prior to melee.
Have to say, i really like this guy. Learning a good amount of "olden days" weaponry information.
No, I don't think so. A stab could be far more powerful with the weight of the stabber behind it, and is far more likely to be well-placed.
Wow - I didn't know that this point was quite as important as it now seems. What are the other two? I'm guessing #1 Learn that "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same thing, and #3 in bear country, always travel with a slower runner than you.
Perhaps, in an emergency, yes, although you can throw anything to have this effect - even miming throwing nothing can work. I was dealing with the way throwing knives are commonly presented in films; as a primary means of killing.
Think about it: a shuriken is sharp all the way round, and is kept in small bundles where it is quick to access. It is grabbed in a hurry in the dark with the hands, to be thrown. Do you think that makes it a good choice of weapon to poison? Do you have any actual evidence that they were ever poisoned?
I know the knives you mean. They certainly were not designed for convenience of carrying nor whittling efficiency.
@chickenmadness1 Yes, it's almost as though the target never moves away or towards them, and they themselves stay on the spot, keeping the distance between them perfectly predictable and constant.
@Dragdamar I think their main use was against unarmoured horses.
@EmperorMossy If you can come up with an example of a medieval poison that could kill quickly if introduced via a cut, and which had an effective antidote that could be administered even faster, then you'd have a good argument.
It is next to impossible to throw a knife with _no_ rotation, but there are those who throws them with a rotation so slow that the knife can land point-first without having made one spin. If this is your goal, though, why not use darts?
@martindhw Late Romans, yes. They could carry a few of these clipped to the inside of the shield.
I think I've genuinely laughed out loud at some point of each video of yours that I've watched, your use of humor to make your point(s) is spot on.
Wat. You can throw a knife at someone and as long as it hits them in the head or in the back they will die silently and instantly. This I learned from Far Cry games. Angle shmangle.
@ProFF77 In battle? If it was a good idea, wouldn't everyone have always done it? Hunters in the tropics sometimes use it with blowpipes.
Have you ever tried to throw a knife without spinning it? Even a tip-heavy one? I find it very difficult, and detrimental to the power and accuracy of the throw.
@Cstrife234 They should throw darts, as some did: better accuracy, range and penetration, and guaranteed to hit point-first.
"Have you ever seen a film where the throwing knife goes past the guy, and hits the wall NOT point first?"
Big Trouble in Little china - Jack Burton's K-bar flies past Lo Pan and butts the gong; everyone in the room looks at Jack like he's a moron. Lo Pan then picks up the knife, throws it back... where jack snatches it out of the air and hurls it through Lo Pan's forehead. So... STILL silly (though to be fair, Lo Pan is over a thousand years old, one imagines maybe his bones aren't that strong?)
@KeyboredNinja I am pointing out things that they get wrong in the movies.
@Beriorn Late Roman infantry had a few darts clipped to the insides of their shields.
@scrap222666 And if your enemy were at the wrong distance, you'd politely ask him to move?
On the matter of the viability in throwing knives and shurikens:
Many times they had a venomous coating on them. As for why not an envenomed arrow? Bows are much bigger than a throwing knife or shuriken which can be concealed in a pocket.
By no means are they viable in warfare. But they were not war weapons either. And as for "well why not walk up to the guy and assassinate him?" Easy: Between you and the target might be the LoS of another patrol. A knife going through the air will get less attention than a person running, they might not even notice the movement of something that small in the dark.
what about poisoned knifes and shurikens?
Well then you'd have to carry a load of poisoned blades around, each one just waiting for a chance to ruin your day.
lol
darkblood626 That makes sense, but modern chemistry has allowed poisoned weapons to be safer for the user and deadlier for the enemy. Powdered toxins avoid the risks inherent with liquid toxins and are now deadlier then ever. Placed inside grooves near the edges of small throwing weapons, weapons meant for harassing can now be as deadly as their melee counterparts.
As if knives and shurikens are the only weapons you can poison....
Aside from that, any sensible assassin who relies on poison has an antidote on them in case they accidentally poison themselves (though they might poison themselves purpousfully when they give their victims poisoned beverages, and then it's really necessary to have a supply of antidote)
I saw a program where they were talking about the actual Iga ninja, and the shuriken they showed weren't of the star variety, but more of a long straight spike, like a weaponized lawn dart. They showed them being thrown underhand, with startling frequency, at a range of about 15 feet, and embedding them pretty well into a heavy wooden plank.
@RadicalRiteous Knives are VERY effective weapons if you don't throw them.
like a stone but more expensive...love this guy...please never stop making vids
Yes. That would increase the chance of killing your target by 25%, and the chance of killing yourself by 1872%.
Big Trouble In Little China - Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) threw a knife that missed his target and clanged hilt first into a wall. Kudos to Director John Carpenter.
@CapriciousStoic2 Not Sikh quoits or Ngbaka knives?
Thank you, this is a great video on why throwing knives were not thrown as the primary method of killing (they were experimented with, such as the Russian Special forces, and still used to my knowledge), in all but last resort situations. The ninjas sometimes poisoned their throwing weapons (with rust, or bacteria from the ground, etc.) for just the reasons expressed here, very rarely are they a fatal one hit, instant kill. Great video, look forwards to more.
@10dmcghee Better to use a dart. You wouldn't get a full-power throw with the knife, and it would still spin a bit.
Chosenninja demonstrated knife throwing at good distance and accuracy but he used an underhand throw to prevent spin and the knife had a tail for stability like an arrow's fletching. I absolutely agree though that insta-kill is complete fantasy.
"...out of politeness..." Lines like that are why I subscribe!
I would like to bring up the Spetsnaz train heavily on throwing knives, and even entrenching tools. I would say it's certainly not a primary battle implement, but they do train extensively in employing thrown weapons. I believe the reasons are in part that the force delivered on impact is quite high on a thrown weapon versus stabbing them by hand.
Throwing knives do actually hit surprisingly hard, you will be surprised if you practise it, you'll find that throwing a knife into a wooden plank will go significantly deeper than just sticking it in by hand(as hard as you can). But indeed not a weapon for on the battlefield. But my point is that a throwing knife will probably kill you fast, its like getting stabbed by a knife but harder.
You obviously don't stab very hard... Most people (non-wimps) could stab someone with a Fairbairn & Sykes fighting knife down to the hilt, I very much doubt anyone could achieve the same by throw it.
Knife throwing is little more than a circus trick... Filipino knife fighting is a fine example of a real knife fighting form. Why would you throw away your weapon?
dude, I throw knives, I'm not a whimp, only in your dreams you can stab harder than my throwing.
***** The constant applying of force does indeed help stabbing flesh because the energy is great enough for the knife to penetrate. Whereas stabbing wood you can simply not deliver enough constant energy to push through. But throwing the knife gives it more acceleration which does help the penetration capability. So at that point you are partially right. Except that we are in fact limited by our strength when stabbing. I know because I am not at all afraid of stabbing with the same knife that I throw, because I don't use a throwing knive but a survival knife with a sturdy cross guard so there's no chance of cutting myself. maybe that's also where the confusion might be, I'm actually talking about throwing with a normal knife an not a 'throwing knife'.( which is in fact the concept of the video 'You've got a knife and you throw it' 0:35 .
I don't know about you, but my smallest weakest finger is my pink, and if any finger is safe while stabbing it would be my pink , except offcourse the fingers of my left hand, or when I would stab holding the knife pointed downwards. If that is what you mean then I'm more concerned about the side of my hand. Which would just be a minor factor in the penetration of the knife. But you're right, you can stab very hard with a knife, maybe almost as hard as throwing a knife, but while throwing you're not applying much force at all and still it penetrates very deep, deeper than your hardest stab. And a knife with an arm attached to it is easier to block and offcourse you do have the element of surprise thowing the knife. But I am in fact not on the side who claims throwing knives are very useful at all. I can not think of many situations where such a thing would be effective, because throwing knives requires a lot of skill and numerous other reasons. I was just pointing out how surprisingly hard they hit for the energy used. And I am courious to see one hit ballistic gelatin too.
***** I'd say penetration capability is an overall factor, not something that differs as much between targets (offcourse with the exception of the resistance of the material itself). but like I said before but which you seem to have completely forgotten already (and which also validates your statement almost completely) quote: 'The constant applying of force does indeed help stabbing flesh because the energy is great enough for the knife to penetrate. Whereas stabbing wood you can simply not deliver enough constant energy to push through.'
@ProFF77 Do you really want to grab a poisoned shuriken in a hurry?
good point. However, you shouldn't disregard it altogether: a throwing knife is front heavy, it straightens up during its course towards the opponent like a dart. If it's not a throwing knife you avoid throwing it at all costs(though there are some exceptions to this as well)
Thing about throwing knives (and axes to some degree) is that they hit targets based upon known distances. In a battlefield scenario, unless you knew the exact distance of yourself to your target, it is almost impossible to hit them, and if they're moving targets forget it. Told this by a professional knife thrower and expedition shooter. Men have successfully thrown knives (Jim Bowie), but it's from a defensive position at a known, fixed point with a very wide, fat blade and it rarely killed.
@amorphusensanity I don't think Kung Fu Hustle was a Hollywood film.
@BrenmadsMinecraft I had always considered the sai as mainly a melee weapon. A really good throwing weapon for short distances is half a brick - and it's really cheap!
Big Trouble In Little China has the throwing knife scene you seek. And really, anything and everything cool is in that film.
Or the sense to pick a more effective weapon?
Yes, a video on that one coming soon.
@TheChannelofChibiX3 There are some amazing throwing knives from Africa. Quite different objects.
Actually, you made a real good impression of "ouch! Who throws a SHOE!?!?!?"
Throwing knives, there is a reason Paul Veerhoven included them in the training regime of the Mobile Infantry in the anti-war film Starship Troopers.
Throwing knives were used as diversionary weapons - to force an enemy to protect their face from the risk of impairment to vision and thus creating an opening for an incapacitating strike - poisons would be counter conducive to this purpose because they would require careful handling by the wielder, detracting vital seconds from actually throwing
Shuriken might be portrait as a star, but they came in lots of different forms. One usual form of shrunken was a 10" iron spike. + they were many times used as distractions.
Shuriken were actually more commonly used as a utility tool/close combat weapon. For the first purpose the square hole in the middle could be used to pry nails out. Held in the hand (which was possible because usually only the last half of each point was sharpened on Japanese shuriken) they worked as effectively pointy, multi-directional brass knuckles. They would be very hard to see, especially in poor light so the wielder may appear unarmed.
One thing that makes throwing knifes a bit more useful is preventing it from sniping, the Russians have a trick for throwing knifes in such a way, basically you throw the knife normally but just as it leaves your hand you are supposed to apply a bit of for on the opposite direction of the knife spin. If done right you stop the knife from spinning, making it so that you don't need to calculate distance. (of course this requires a lot of practice)
Now, I'm not saying that makes it a perfect battle tactic, but if you have two knifes and somebody is running at you with a musket it might be useful to hit them with the first one to stop their momentum, rather than fighting him head on with your lack of reach.
Just something I tough would be nice to mention.
Well said :D
***** I agree that with you that it can be used as an improvised projectile if needs be, but I agree with Lindybeige that knives are either an inferior choice or an expensive choice.
Also you mention that it takes training to wield a throwing knife effectively. I infer you already know that this isn't ideal; why not train using other weapons or defensive tools that avoid the need for small range projectiles. Or save time and money and go back to using rocks!
I am interested to see this Russian knife throwing thing. Are there any videos I should look at for a good demo?
We did reply to this video and use quarter spin or no-spin which is basically the Same a Russian and I throw one throw at the end in that style :D
th-cam.com/video/J22AN_AAWTE/w-d-xo.html
Yes, you should. It's a classic, one of the all time greats. But, a sense of humor and love for 'serious but silly, yet so cool'.
There isn't enough rotational force to cause it to do so. There is a reason it's called the "no spin throw" and not the "so close it can't spin more than once" throw. Watching the video shows the throw having the same effect at multiple ranges, and it appears to be the "knuckleball" of knife throws.
I believe I heard somewhere that the elite Roman legions way late in Roman history started using heavy darts and throwing knifes instead of pilas.
We do knife throwing demos with my sword school regularly. Everyone from trained throwers to hobbyists to people who've never held a knife in their lives has tried, and the same results always happen - no consistency in hitting blade-in, very little good aim, and putting force behind it will sometimes rarely result in a knife bouncing off the striking surface and arcing back towards the crowd.
We have two people with shields on the sides of the line, on-guard and ready to dive in the way of a thrown knife to deflect it. I've been one of those people, and had to deflect a knife once, and it does provoke all the "OHCRAPBITOFMETALCOMINGFORMYEYES!" reflexes you can think of in one's lizard brain. It's fun nontheless, even if it's only to show you demonstrably where one can and can not use a throwing knife to your advantage.
I like what you said about it sticking in the wall. I throw knives myself and am skilled at it. The only way the knife could stick the wall behind you with any likelihood is to throw it without spin. This is possible by brushing the handle with your forefinger as you release (when throwing by the handle).
Possible, but not likely. It takes a lot of skill to execute such a throw. I cannot do it.
@yerk3 You are referring to the Bo shuriken. Fun fact: Miyamoto Musashi was actually a master at throwing them and instructed others in how to use them.
On the video itself, I think it does bear mentioning that if you are sufficiently trained, it's not THAT difficult to make the knife reach its target point first. Assuming a static target anyways. Although I have been led to believe that in the rare instances knives WERE thrown, no-spin throws would have been favored to avoid that.
As I agree with your points, I believe I saw a video of a middle aged russian (maybe spec ops) showing off throwing knives via hammer grip. Well, actually he was throwing many things, one after another at a target arount 10-15 meters away. He could use everything, garden scissors, kitchen knives and knives of all sorts, hitting every time. So throwing any knife at enemy might be a useful skill for people who sometimes have to kill with whatever means they can acquire.
Big Trouble in Little China. The hero muffs the knife throw at the bad guy and it bounces off a gong.