Axe-throwing is now in vogue on the dating circuit, spawning several bars and a world championship contest in Chicago

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

It’s a test of nerve. Of accuracy. And of guile. And, apparently, hurling a sharpened axe around is now in vogue as a first date.

Axe-throwing, once the preserve of action film protagonists and YouTube idiots, is becoming an increasingly popular pastime in New York City.

“I’ve had three first dates,” says Joe, an “axe-master” at Bury the Hatchet, one of the city’s newest axe-throwing bars.

“One of them, the woman was really nervous.”

It says something for the normalizing of axe-throwing that meeting up with an axe-wielding man is not quite the folly it once would have been. Axe-throwing has quietly built a crowd of enthusiasts across the US over the past year – to the extent that December’s World Championship will take place in Chicago and be shown on ESPN.

The interest has been matched by the number of bars now offering the opportunity to lob an axe about, as long as it is aimed at a wooden target. And as long as the participants aren’t drunk – a common question people have about the wisdom of combining a sharp object with alcohol consumption.

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“It’s an hour-and-a-half session … and it’s only beer and wine,” says Christine Meehan-Berg, general manager of Bury the Hatchet’s Brooklyn location.

“I don’t know how many people can get that intoxicated in an hour and a half.”

Should someone achieve intoxication in the 90-minute period, however, precautions are set in place. Staff are “Tips trained”, Meehan-Berg said – a common training for bar staff, which enables them to recognize the signs of drunkenness. If there is any excess swaying, slurring or swilling then people will not be allowed to toss an axe.

On Wednesday, Meehan-Berg was on hand to offer me some axe-throwing tips at her bar – after I had passed the Tips test.

“Respect the axe. Don’t swing it everywhere. Don’t just throw it around all willy-nilly,” Meehan-Berg said, as I waggled the axe about.

“You have to respect the axe. But don’t be afraid of the axe. Because you are in essence throwing it away from you.”

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Form is key to a successful axe-throw. The tosser should grasp the shaft with two hands, holding the axe at eye level before bringing it back over the head and whipping the axe towards the target while lunging forward.

Anyone familiar with YouTube fail videos will be aware of the perils of throwing a sharp object at a stationary target. If the axe, or knife, or sword, hits the target with its handle there is a chance it can bounce back towards the thrower.

“That’s why we say don’t throw it as hard as you can because then it’ll bounce back harder,” Meehan-Berg said.

It turns out it’s quite a thrill to throw an axe. It feels a bit naughty. A bit dangerous. You have to enter a cage, and the wooden target – which has numbered rings and a bullseye painted on, a bit like archery – is designed so the axe can penetrate it, lessening the danger. But the whole endeavor still seems to fly in the face of all accepted axe-handling wisdom.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reporter Adam Gabbatt tries his hand at axe-throwing at Bury the Hatchet in Brooklyn, New York. Photograph: The Guardian

I gingerly lobbed the first axe towards the target. It was too low, and quite slow. Meehan-Berg suggested I put a bit more welly into it. I reminded myself that while I should respect the axe, I mustn’t be afraid of the axe, and basically threw it as hard as I could. It thudded into the wood with a pleasing “thwack” sound. It wasn’t in the rings or anything, but it felt good.

So proceeded 20 minutes of me hurling the axe, over and over again, into a wooden board. I rolled up my sleeves. I mopped sweat from my brow. I challenged – and defeated – Meehan-Berg in a best-of-10 throws game.

It was fun. And best of all, the axe didn’t bounce back and embed itself in my flesh. Not even once.

Maybe axe-throwing will continue growing as a first date activity. In the future it might be de rigueur to turn up at the designated meeting point clutching a hatchet.

Until then just remember to be safe, and to respect the axe.