My Cousin!
Jul. 15th, 2006 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forgottenbennet(putting this here because the place where I got this from the links never last too long. And I want to keep it!)
Local Man Teaches Combat Knife-Throwing
Photo by Joni Kenyon, Special to the Sun
Eric Thornburg’s unusual style enables him to do things rarely seen in traditional knife-throwing. Shown above is just one of the knife-throwing variations Thornburg has developed. By MICHAEL MALONE/Staff Intern
Source: The Greeneville Sun
07-15-2006
As you see Eric Thornburg spin while throwing knives, swords, garden shears, railroad spikes and machine files, the only feeling your left with is awe.
Thornburg, a part-time reporter for this newspaper, doesn’t look like he would jaywalk, let alone hurl a blade at someone.
Yet, he has written a book about combat knife-throwing and made a DVD that features his unique style.
“I’d put my reputation out there and say he’s probably one of the best knife-throwers in the world,” said Bobby Branton of South Carolina, president of the American Knife Throwers Alliance (ATKA).
Thornburg stresses that his knife-fighting and knife-throwing techniques are for self-defense only.
Growing up in the country, far from basketball courts and baseball fields, influenced Thornburg’s knife-throwing, he said.
Through trial and error, Thornburg produced a rare style perhaps unseen by the knife-throwing world: a spin-less throw.
Thornburg bears the scars suffered during years of practice.
“Knife-throwing doesn’t have to be as dangerous as I used to make it, 15 years and as many pounds ago, when I was quicker and felt invulnerable,” Thornburg, 35, said, looking at his hands.
Thornburg, whose pen name is Ralph Thorn, wrote “Combat Knife-Throwing” in 2002, and Paladin Press published it.
The book mixes lively anecdotes with illustrations.
“There are many other books on these subjects, but my approach is so different that really the book creates its own sub-genre,” Thornburg said.
Accompanied By DVD
The DVD, “Martial Arts Knife-Throwing,” was a necessary step, Thornburg said.
“Seeing is believing,” Thornburg said. “The videos help people decide for themselves how much truth there is to my claims about what my style makes possible.
“One advantage of my style is the ability to throw a lot of different types and sizes of knifes. I can throw from any distance, which is unlike traditional western knife-throwing. My maximum range is about 70 feet.”
Dalmo Mariano, a circus knife-thrower and a teacher of competition knife-throwing in Brazil, met Thornburg via the Internet.
“Mr. Thorn [Thornburg] kindly sent me a DVD showing his style,” Mariano said by e-mail. “I became so impressed that I immediately started to learn it, and now it is part of my daily practice.”
Through his book and DVD, Thornburg wants to revolutionize the way knife-throwing is perceived and dispel the idea that knife-throwing cannot be used as self-defense.
“The majority of the Western world considers knife-throwing a carnival side show,” Thornburg said.
“I wonder how many potential converts to knife-throwing are lost every day to these and similar myths.”
One person Thornburg convinced is Branton, ATKA president.
“It’s just something that you look at and go, ‘wow,’” Branton said. “He’s turned a lot of heads.”
Branton was so impressed that he made Thornburg’s book available on his Web site, combatknifethrowing.com.
“I help him promote his style because it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen,” said Branton.
Branton has more than 30 years invested in knife-throwing, including working in Hollywood as a teacher to Salma Hayek.
Thornburg’s book costs $15 and is available at www.combatknifethrowing.com.
He has not set a price for the DVD, but those interested can contact Thornburg at eralphthorn@yahoo.com.
“I am convinced that if there is anything that has a chance at bringing knife-throwing to a wider audience, it is this style,” he said.
Local Man Teaches Combat Knife-Throwing
Photo by Joni Kenyon, Special to the Sun
Eric Thornburg’s unusual style enables him to do things rarely seen in traditional knife-throwing. Shown above is just one of the knife-throwing variations Thornburg has developed. By MICHAEL MALONE/Staff Intern
Source: The Greeneville Sun
07-15-2006
As you see Eric Thornburg spin while throwing knives, swords, garden shears, railroad spikes and machine files, the only feeling your left with is awe.
Thornburg, a part-time reporter for this newspaper, doesn’t look like he would jaywalk, let alone hurl a blade at someone.
Yet, he has written a book about combat knife-throwing and made a DVD that features his unique style.
“I’d put my reputation out there and say he’s probably one of the best knife-throwers in the world,” said Bobby Branton of South Carolina, president of the American Knife Throwers Alliance (ATKA).
Thornburg stresses that his knife-fighting and knife-throwing techniques are for self-defense only.
Growing up in the country, far from basketball courts and baseball fields, influenced Thornburg’s knife-throwing, he said.
Through trial and error, Thornburg produced a rare style perhaps unseen by the knife-throwing world: a spin-less throw.
Thornburg bears the scars suffered during years of practice.
“Knife-throwing doesn’t have to be as dangerous as I used to make it, 15 years and as many pounds ago, when I was quicker and felt invulnerable,” Thornburg, 35, said, looking at his hands.
Thornburg, whose pen name is Ralph Thorn, wrote “Combat Knife-Throwing” in 2002, and Paladin Press published it.
The book mixes lively anecdotes with illustrations.
“There are many other books on these subjects, but my approach is so different that really the book creates its own sub-genre,” Thornburg said.
Accompanied By DVD
The DVD, “Martial Arts Knife-Throwing,” was a necessary step, Thornburg said.
“Seeing is believing,” Thornburg said. “The videos help people decide for themselves how much truth there is to my claims about what my style makes possible.
“One advantage of my style is the ability to throw a lot of different types and sizes of knifes. I can throw from any distance, which is unlike traditional western knife-throwing. My maximum range is about 70 feet.”
Dalmo Mariano, a circus knife-thrower and a teacher of competition knife-throwing in Brazil, met Thornburg via the Internet.
“Mr. Thorn [Thornburg] kindly sent me a DVD showing his style,” Mariano said by e-mail. “I became so impressed that I immediately started to learn it, and now it is part of my daily practice.”
Through his book and DVD, Thornburg wants to revolutionize the way knife-throwing is perceived and dispel the idea that knife-throwing cannot be used as self-defense.
“The majority of the Western world considers knife-throwing a carnival side show,” Thornburg said.
“I wonder how many potential converts to knife-throwing are lost every day to these and similar myths.”
One person Thornburg convinced is Branton, ATKA president.
“It’s just something that you look at and go, ‘wow,’” Branton said. “He’s turned a lot of heads.”
Branton was so impressed that he made Thornburg’s book available on his Web site, combatknifethrowing.com.
“I help him promote his style because it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen,” said Branton.
Branton has more than 30 years invested in knife-throwing, including working in Hollywood as a teacher to Salma Hayek.
Thornburg’s book costs $15 and is available at www.combatknifethrowing.com.
He has not set a price for the DVD, but those interested can contact Thornburg at eralphthorn@yahoo.com.
“I am convinced that if there is anything that has a chance at bringing knife-throwing to a wider audience, it is this style,” he said.
