Knife Throwing: Addictive and Contagious Pursuit Taking Hold

In 2013, Adam Čeladin was a successful internet movie producer in the Czech Republic. He had amassed a large following on stream.cz, the country’s version of YouTube. He had no idea his life was about to change. “One day I invited a knife thrower onto my show. He was 64-years old but my mind was blown by his skills,” says Čeladin. “That was 3 years ago and I have practiced everyday since.”

With all that experience Čeladin has developed some serious skills of his own. The 28 year old is not only deadly accurate (see YouTube video above) but can hit a target with lightning speed. He is preparing to officially set a world speed record in the Czech Republic on June 11th – 6 blades in under 2 seconds – a feat he has already accomplished on video (see YouTube clip below).

“When you make your first knife stick, it becomes a highly addictive hobby,” says Čeladin. Knife throwing is not only habit-forming, but according to Čeladin it’s contagious too and the disease is being transmitted by social media. “There are lot of channels on YouTube that spread the word about knife throwing and we are uniting as a community on Facebook,” he says.


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Čeladin also points to passionate advocates like Colette Stevens for fueling a lot of the growth. The head turning, knife throwing YouTuber has been at it for almost 5 years and has attracted over 55,000 subscribers and 5.7 million views over that time. “She is so positive and has become like an Ambassador for our community,” Čeladin says.

Contributing to a world wide knife throwing phenomenon is the appeal to a broad demographic. “To get started you just need some throwing knives and a target,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun and its an activity that you can enjoy even when you’re 100 years old.”

But Čeladin warns that knife throwing isn’t legal everywhere and you should get on Google to learn about your local laws before setting up targets in a public place – no matter how remote the area. The good news is indoor knife throwing locations, like the TKTO established in late 2015 in Toronto, are becoming more prevalent. There are also blades taking flight at knife throwing tournaments happening all over the world. For instance, Devin Debow of Texas just took down the No Spin Competition at the US Nationals, held in Las Vegas this weekend.

Knife throwing has become more than a pastime for Čeladin. As the founder of Sharp Blades, he has turned his deep interest into a career and is betting big on knife throwing as a business. The company manufactures and distributes a variety of hand made throwing knives. Working with 3 blacksmiths, Čeladin tests out his products and continuously improves on the designs as he learns what works best.


Knives featured in image: Sharp Blades White Shark Throwing Set