When I started this journey nearly 12 months ago, people would often ask me, “so, what is an adventure anyway?” I would always tell them “I don’t know. Something I have never done before. Like Axe Throwing!”
Cutting Edge Stamford
So as we near the conclusion to this year of excellent adventures, it is fitting that Sherry assembled a small group of friends for our first trip to Cutting Edge Axe Throwing in Stamford Connecticut. Getting there is a bit of an adventure in itself. It is located in the warehouse district and we felt like we were headed into one of those dark and dangerous scenes from “Narcos”, about to participate in a drug bust gone wrong.
Once you ignore the neighborhood, Cutting Edge has about a dozen lanes and is home to two leagues, WATL (World Axe Throwing League) and WKTL (World Knife Throwing League). It also has a pool table, giant Jenga and some other games to play while you are waiting your turn. Of course they also serve beer (but I suspect it is advisable to wait until after you’re done throwing to have a drink).
Sherry and I were joined by good friends Steven, Carol and Victor. We met our instructor Payton, who went over suggested form, stance and safety tips before we started. The girls opted for a two handed approach, the men, just one hand. We liked the wooden safety boxes to store the axes in between shots (don’t want to accidentally hand off the wrong end!)
We all struggled a little at first to get the right amount of forward trajectory (you don’t need much because the axe head is heavy) and a single, full rotation to the target. With a little practice we could all hit the board pretty consistently. Sherry gets high marks for getting points on almost every throw she made. Victor gets kudos, well just for being a lefty (and being fun).
After we got the hang of it, Payton came back and taught us how to keep score. The target is made of wooden boards with a ring of concentric circles. He explained they take abuse and need to change the center board about once per month. Embedding the axe at the outermost part of the ring is one point. A “thrower” gets five points in the center, and six for a bullseye. There are also tiny “Killshots” that you can declare before a throw for extra points. We played in teams, and since we had an odd number of people, I got to be on both teams (that was A LOT of throwing!) Each group would try to score exactly 21 points. Going over caused us to lose 10 (and this happened often!) We also broke into girls vs guys (guys won) and Thalers vs everyone else (Thalers won, um, naturally). Then we tried throwing with our non-dominant hand. That was hysterical!
Distance seemed to matter, A LOT – we could all hit reliably from the 12 foot line, but 15 feet seemed to be the wrong distance for the amount of rotation needed. I found the experience was a lot like darts, requiring a quiet upper body, focus on the target and slow breath. As we were leaving I hit four 5 pointers in a row followed by a bullseye (with my right hand). I think I got the knack of it!
It was a fun experience and I’d be happy to come back. Great team activity and enjoyed spending the afternoon with everyone.
Bury The Hatchet, Paramus NJ
I had no sooner typed the words above, when I received a text from my buddy Rich. “Don’t know if you are free Tuesday night… the guys are going to Bury The Hatchet.” I did not need to think long in response, I love these guys. This is the same group of friends who we went to Cape May with together this summer. So instead of being someone who never threw an axe in his life, I was becoming someone who has done it twice in one week!
Unlike our Stamford adventures, Bury the Hatchet was located in an area with lots of other fun things to do, Monster mini golf, a dance studio, bowling alley, laser mazes and batting cages were nearby. The differences didn’t stop there. Cutting Edge was focused on league players, finding consistency and technique. Bury the Hatchet was more of a party, which was perfect for this group of guys. As soon as we arrived, our host Nicole showed us techniques to use with their axes (a bit heavier than in Stamford, requiring two hands), but then proceeded to bring forth an entire battle cache of weapons, some of which we had never seen before, and all of which could stick in the target with the right technique (which we displayed only on occasion).
It was a great time and we played a match with axes, then she brought forward a giant Connect Four board. Each of the scores on the wooden target corresponded to one or more slots on top of the board, and we attempted to get four consecutive discs. It was harder than it looks. Rich and I were leading for most of the game, but could not seem to get a #2 when we needed it, so Lou, Stu and Dana took home the prize.
