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This is a reprint/rewrite of an article I wrote for the TBA Newsletter.
We are going to start at the beginning, the same as every student at the Buddhai Sawan (except for most Americans who were too lazy to get up at 6 a.m.), with the mai-son, or knife. From 6:30 a.m. until 8 a.m. is knife throwing practice. Now anyone who has been to the Oregon Thai Camp has seen Master Chai throw the knife, seemingly to never miss his intended target. And like everything he does, with a power that is simply phenomenal.
I have seen him sink a "Kabar" knife to the hilt in a 3/4" piece of plywood. I have also witnessed Master Chai catch two thrown knives at once, turn and throw them both in one motion into a 2x4. So naturally I asked Master Chai how I could learn to throw like him, and this is his method, plus the story of how he honed it to perfection.
When he was a boy, Master Chai was seen as the future of Muay Thai, and was taken by his teacher, Ajarn Suwan, to the best specialists in the four aspects of Thai Boxing: kicking, kneeing, punching and elbowing. Likewise when it came time for him to throw the mai-son he was taken to a famous Russian circus knife thrower.
The first 8 hours he sat in a straight-backed chair and threw the knife into the ground between his feet. That's right, 8 hours, holding the mai-son by the handle. End of Day One. The next day he had to hold the knife point down, balanced as close as possible on the tips of his fingers, letting it fall with a full spin so it would stick in the ground, for another 8 hours. End of Day Two. Master Chai is very adamant about this time span. At the 17th hour he stood a full step away from a tree and threw the knife by the handle to stick into the trunk.
Once he could consistently stick the mai-son 40-50-100 times in a row, he was allowed to move two paces away from the tree and start over. At times when he would miss he had to start over again at one pace from the tree. This method not only made him consistent in his throwing motion, but supremely confident in his abilities. And although to us this seems like it would take forever, to Master Chai this was just the first phase.
For most of us this could be all of the ability we would ever need, enough to win pretty much every knife throwing contest we may ever enter. But for the martial artist concerned with self-defense or knife fighting the distance from the opponent is always changing, the foe coming closer in for their attack or moving away in retreat. So the knife doesn't always have the possibility of rotating 2-3, or however many times.
Phase Two means now learning to throw by holding the knife by the blade, constantly changing your hand position in relation to the mai-son's center of spin, closer to the spin for a faster rotation, (necessary when the opponent is closing), farther from the center for a slower spin, (necessary when the opponent is fading or moving away).
Don't be afraid to experiment, moving your body just like a major league fastball pitcher. Have patience and commit; try to have several mai-son for practice of different size and type. Learn to get a feel for the moment and, this being very important, remember that in the krabi-krabong way of thinking, if you have time or distance enough to pull your knife then you have time and distance to throw it. Most krabi-krabong practitioners carry at least two knives just for that situation.
If you have a friend, get them to play with you. They should stand to the side of the target and watch the blade; if the blade point is up then you are too close or holding too far from the center of rotation. Point down and you have an overrotation, meaning that you are too far away or have too fast of a spin. Like all things martial and Thai, it is really simple; that doesn't mean it is easy. But as Master Chai always says, "If I can do it, then you can do it."
We are going to start at the beginning, the same as every student at the Buddhai Sawan (except for most Americans who were too lazy to get up at 6 a.m.), with the mai-son, or knife. From 6:30 a.m. until 8 a.m. is knife throwing practice. Now anyone who has been to the Oregon Thai Camp has seen Master Chai throw the knife, seemingly to never miss his intended target. And like everything he does, with a power that is simply phenomenal.
I have seen him sink a "Kabar" knife to the hilt in a 3/4" piece of plywood. I have also witnessed Master Chai catch two thrown knives at once, turn and throw them both in one motion into a 2x4. So naturally I asked Master Chai how I could learn to throw like him, and this is his method, plus the story of how he honed it to perfection.
When he was a boy, Master Chai was seen as the future of Muay Thai, and was taken by his teacher, Ajarn Suwan, to the best specialists in the four aspects of Thai Boxing: kicking, kneeing, punching and elbowing. Likewise when it came time for him to throw the mai-son he was taken to a famous Russian circus knife thrower.
The first 8 hours he sat in a straight-backed chair and threw the knife into the ground between his feet. That's right, 8 hours, holding the mai-son by the handle. End of Day One. The next day he had to hold the knife point down, balanced as close as possible on the tips of his fingers, letting it fall with a full spin so it would stick in the ground, for another 8 hours. End of Day Two. Master Chai is very adamant about this time span. At the 17th hour he stood a full step away from a tree and threw the knife by the handle to stick into the trunk.
Once he could consistently stick the mai-son 40-50-100 times in a row, he was allowed to move two paces away from the tree and start over. At times when he would miss he had to start over again at one pace from the tree. This method not only made him consistent in his throwing motion, but supremely confident in his abilities. And although to us this seems like it would take forever, to Master Chai this was just the first phase.
For most of us this could be all of the ability we would ever need, enough to win pretty much every knife throwing contest we may ever enter. But for the martial artist concerned with self-defense or knife fighting the distance from the opponent is always changing, the foe coming closer in for their attack or moving away in retreat. So the knife doesn't always have the possibility of rotating 2-3, or however many times.
Phase Two means now learning to throw by holding the knife by the blade, constantly changing your hand position in relation to the mai-son's center of spin, closer to the spin for a faster rotation, (necessary when the opponent is closing), farther from the center for a slower spin, (necessary when the opponent is fading or moving away).
Don't be afraid to experiment, moving your body just like a major league fastball pitcher. Have patience and commit; try to have several mai-son for practice of different size and type. Learn to get a feel for the moment and, this being very important, remember that in the krabi-krabong way of thinking, if you have time or distance enough to pull your knife then you have time and distance to throw it. Most krabi-krabong practitioners carry at least two knives just for that situation.
If you have a friend, get them to play with you. They should stand to the side of the target and watch the blade; if the blade point is up then you are too close or holding too far from the center of rotation. Point down and you have an overrotation, meaning that you are too far away or have too fast of a spin. Like all things martial and Thai, it is really simple; that doesn't mean it is easy. But as Master Chai always says, "If I can do it, then you can do it."
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