Post-axe throwing grins, all limbs intact!
A few weeks ago, Mark and I went out with our very lovely friends Bri and Ken. Per usual, our evening was filled with much hilarity. We started our night at the back bar at Patsy’s. (I’m going to take a moment here to point out that we LOVE the Great American Restaurants. If you want consistently good food and the best customer service, you cannot go wrong with any of their restaurants.) We eat, drink, recount completely inappropriate stories, practice our ASL (only midly inappropriate) and discuss Outlander at length. At some point, harissa becomes a recurring theme. The bartenders laugh with at us.
But I digress. You are here because you need to be convinced to go to one of these axe-throwing places popping up all over the place. Maybe you overheard some coworkers talking about it. Maybe it keeps showing up on your social feeds. Maybe you saw Jason Momoa and his beer-frothy ‘stache doing it and were inspired.
Whatever it is that brought you here, welcome.
Bri, Ken, Mark, and I visited Bad Axe Throwing in Fairfax, VA. It occupies a space that was once a gym, so there are showers in the bathroom. It’s odd, but there you are. Should you happen to work up a vicious sweat, there are facilities for you to freshen up.
Mark and I had heard about Bad Axe Throwing through another family in our daughter’s class who went, so when Bri said she wanted to go because it had been a stressful week, we were all in. Turns out we had all had a rough week and needed to let off some steam, and that brings me to the 4 reasons you should try axe throwing at least once in your life.
What’s this? Yet another bullseye, Ken? (photo by Bri)
Release Stress
There’s something to be said about throwing things when you’ve got a lot of pent up frustration. The physical act of throwing something at a target can be pretty satisfying. I know people who go to a target range and shoot guns. While I have no experience with guns, I have been known to nock an arrow or two in my daughter’s compound bow and let loose on a cardboard target. But when you have to use two hands to hurl a sharp projectile so that the edge lodges itself into wood—there’s quite a bit of exertion that takes place… and I’m severely out of shape.
Compete with Friends
We went late enough in the evening that we were able to use two targets side-by-side. Bri and I were on one side, Ken and Mark on the other. That way we could compete with our spouses. That said, I was some pretty lame competition. Ken had previous axe throwing experience. Bri is the type of person who excels at everything she does. Once she had the right axe and got in the groove, she was hitting the target every single time. Mark…well, Mark is from the mountains of Roanoke. I’m pretty sure knives and axes are heirlooms in his family. Haha…I have jokes. Anyway, the three of them started aiming for the little blue dot in the corners. I was just trying to get the axe to stick.
Team Building
You can book larger groups and have a coach and your own private lanes to throw for 2 hours. Then, you can form little groups and compete against or work with each other. You can finally be in an environment where you don’t have to worry about the next deliverable and actually get to know more about your co-workers while playing games. Maybe you’ll synergize and pick up some teamwork skills, rocketing your team’s efficiency to the next level! Or maybe you’ll realize why you ended up at a job where you’re sitting behind a computer.
Note: This team building event may not be suitable for the weird guy in your office who’s obsessed with people borrowing his red stapler.
Learn a new skill
I think we can all agree that the best reason to throw axes is to learn a new and useful skill, aka prepare for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. My only problem with this reason is I think you’re going to want to hang on to your axe instead of throw it.
All joking aside, though, I found it extremely useful research for my writing. Actually experiencing how it feels to handle and throw an axe really helps flesh out the ideas in my head, so when I have one of my characters do this, I hope the writing comes easier, and the descriptions are more accurate.
But mostly, one must be ready for the zombie apocalypse.
Mercer carrying an axe to deal with the zombies…as one does.
Kick Axe Tips
So you’ve decided you want to do this thing. Great! As someone who’s only ever done this once in her life, here are some tips for you!
Check for times
I really did hit the target! (photo by Bri)
Bad Axe Throwing has a calendar on their website where you can see what times are available if you just want to walk-in and try it out. Check during the day you plan on going. We had planned to go on a Saturday night, and a quick check of the website said walk-ins were only available between 9 pm - 11 pm and not when we were hoping to go at 7 pm. If you have a big group, you can book that in advance.
Wear Closed-toed shoes
There are a lot of FAQs on the website, including how much it costs per person, and each site differs. I recommend doing a quick read through so you can see if the place only takes plastic, if you’re allowed to bring food/drink, how old you have to be, etc. My big takeaway from the FAQs was that everyone who throws must wear closed-toed shoes. I know that seems like it makes sense because you definitely don’t want to drop an axe on your foot, but also…
Axes bounce
I did not know this, but if you’re terrible at throwing like I am, and the axe doesn’t embed itself into the target, sometimes the axe bounces. Now, you get a little training ahead of time, so you learn not to go anywhere near the targets until the axes settle, but you never know when the axe will feel like coming back to you as if it used to be a boomerang in a previous life.
This is a beautiful Viking Axe made by Allenson Armory. My plants were getting nervous.
BYOA
That’s right, Bring Your Own Axe. If you’re concerned about the strange axe that wants to be a boomerang, you can bring your own trusty one from home, provided it’s in good condition. Ken and Mark talked to one of the coaches about their own axes and their own throwing styles. You’d think they had Canadian or Hillbilly blood. Hahaha! Oh, wait…
Wear plaid
You don’t have to wear plaid. I just think axes and plaid go together. You can wear a lumberjack shirt or a kilt or a picnic blanket. If I throw axes again, I’m definitely wearing plaid. It might help with my throwing skills.