Article by Paul Sidelinger
Sometimes when you are learning the aspects of knife fighting you are given the challenge of learning how to successfully throw your fighting knife. You can learn to be accurate when throwing your knife, but is this style of knife fighting really practical when you are faced with a real life life-or-death situation? What do you do if you were to throw your knife and your attacker ducks? You suddenly find yourself without your knife and your attacker still armed. Which leads us to the question of, is it worth throwing your fighting knife at an attacker or is this a knife fighting skill that is really not practical?
Knife fighting by throwing your knife can be effective in certain circumstances, but you need to remember some of the following hints and tips to ensure that every time you throw your fighting knife you are not losing any edge you may have gained or any advantage.
1.Never count on throwing your knife to work and never be afraid of losing your knife. If you are, then your knife is a crutch. You should be able to fight just as well with your hands empty as you do holding your blade.
2.If you see some tactical advantage of giving up your knife during your knife fighting, do it. You never want to be reliant on that knife.
3.As soon as you make the decision to throw your knife and release it, attack your opponent. They will not expect a follow up attack that quickly.
4.Disrupt your attacker's natural fighting rhythm by punching or kicking them once the throw has been made or throwing objects at hand at your attacker. They won't know what exactly to think and that hesitation is enough time to move in and get the upper hand.
5.Once you have moved in after distracting your attacker continue to attack until you can successfully engage in a hold and disable them. If you are facing multiple attackers, use the attacker in your arms as a shield.