So we used to do TV/Movie knife throwing clips regularly. I think this one is quite interesting: youtu.be/Vvur0W7pQiU -- I apologize for the bootleg movie theater style upload, but its the audio thats important here. This is one from the series LOST. I wont go into much detail explaining the show, but I just wanted to say there are some sci-fi elements to it. I find it interesting that John Lockes explanation is, for the most part, satisfactory for the type of throwing we discuss in this group. The clip makes me wonder if the scene was supposed to be blatant fiction or at least an attempt to add a layer of mysticism (for lack of a better term) to knife throwing. The actor actually learned to throw on the set. In reality, Terry OQuinns explanation is much different. Specific amounts of spin for specific distances: https://youtube/watch?v=RXmtB7FSVN8 Its also interesting that John Locke used the same term Roy has used to explain the psychological aspect of knife throwing. This quote is about a decade old: Ralph, you are the expert at that, I just mess around with it half-heartedly, but the only time I ever do a one spin, is overhand if my half spin range looks dodgy, and too far. I did one at Carls, showing off at about 40ft, but only one cause its harder to see the throw in the minds eye. Roy is suggesting that seeing the throw in his minds eye becomes a bit foggier when comparing an instinctive 1 spin throw to his instinctive half spin. It makes me wonder how far one could see with the minds eye. For me, there is surely a point (an amount of rotation) where its pitch black and I cant see how the knife needs to fly. This is because the visualization needs to be generated accurately at any distance from the target, and it becomes complicated to process when too much rotation is involved. Of course, this is only part of the problem at hand, but throwing from a specific distance can eliminate the need to do this altogether. I think the minds eye is a major bottleneck for what has been called instinctive spin throwing but the other aspects are no walk in the park. Houzan Suzuki put it like this: Shuriken-Jutsu is mysterious embracing both science and philosophy, isnt it? As I mentioned above, seeing the throw with the minds eye is only part of the problem. For example, I can easily visualize the flight path of a no spin throw well beyond the maximum distance Im able to throw. I just havent yet figured out the proper mechanics to perform with my body to make it happen. This is the part we cant teach to others, they can only be guided to help them figure it out and connect the dots themselves -- the part that can only be learned through experience. Now lets pretend we can use our minds eye to generate visualizations of the perfect flight path of long distance rotating throws up to 5 rotations. Weve already learned the appropriate style and rotation control techniques to accomplish this, but the throw depends on extremely precise control of the body to materialize what we see in our heads. Remember, we arent talking about set distance conventional throwing here. We are talking about any-distance spin throws involving minimal point-forward flight time and barely any room for error. The throws need to be spot on in an endless amount of circumstances. From a conventional standpoint, I think its certainly reasonable to say the correct distance can be found using the minds eye (judging the sweet spot by focusing on the flight of the knife rather than judging a specific distance). I certainly dont want to say it isnt used at all in that type of throwing. In this context, I think the difference between instinctive and conventional throwing is generating the visualization vs finding a memorized visualization. Likewise, the same applies to the use of the body... figuring out the proper mechanics (generating) vs using memorized mechanics for a specific distance. How far could the minds eye see and what could realistically be accomplished? I guess were still figuring this out, but what do you predict the future will bring?
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 08:23:43 +0000
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