I saw that there was an axe-throwing range. It cost an additional $10 ticket for a half-hour class. I hurried to one of the ticket shops and asked for one.
“At what time?”
“As soon as possible,” I replied.
“That would be 10:30. Oh, but no one else is signed up for that one. You’d be the only one. Is that okay?”
“Yes. Yes, that is okay. That is most definitely okay.”
My private axe-throwing class started with a brief history of this kind of axe (worn by British troops as a tool) and how there is no record of one ever being thrown in combat.
“Like, have you ever seen the movie The Patriot?”
“Yes. Yes, I have. I have seen the movie The Patriot.”
“Yeah, it’s not like that.”
I started with my left hand. Overshot the first throw. Undershot the second throw. Didn’t miss another throw with my left after that. The instructor challenged me to switch hands. (“I’m not left handed!”) Missed the first throw and didn’t miss another throw after that.
The instructors & I started chit-chatting while I kept throwing. They told me that there are “axe-throwing bars” in the South where they throw axes instead of darts.
I asked one instructor how often they sharpened the axes. He told me they aren’t sharp at all. I ran my hand over the edge easily. Apparently the wood of the target is so soft that the weight and velocity of the axe does all the work.