I used to like playing with
knives. Actually, I should rephrase that; I like playing with knives - throwing
them, sticking them in things, but my favorite activity is flipping and
catching them. Any kind of knife will do, but the bigger the better. It’s more
spectacular. I know, it’s dangerous - I’ve been told that since I was a little kid.
I’ve even been accused of not being all that sharp!
I used to practice for hours,
learning the differences that distance and weight of the knife would make when
trying various stunts. And, since I’ve always handled the knives by the blade,
learning how to keep my fingers intact - especially while catching them!
Despite the concern of nearly everyone who watches, it’s really not that
dangerous. It’s even a little exhilarating standing under a spinning knife!
Only one time have I ended up bleeding. And I do still have all my fingers.
This is not the story of how I
cut myself but one day at school - back before the insanity of zero tolerance
that would have gotten me arrested - I was playing around with a butcher knife.
I was showing off, seeing how many flips I could get and still catch it. One of
my classmates said he’d give me twenty dollars if I could get fourteen flips.
So, of course I had to try. I started with one flip, then two, and then three
and so on. The step by step approach was for two reasons; first, it helped me
to get into a rhythm, but also it allowed anyone observing to count with me
because when the knife makes more than about seven or eight flips in the air,
it’s easy to lose track.
When I got to twelve, the kid,
seeing I was getting close to taking his twenty dollars, started to backtrack.
I didn’t pay any attention as I was intent on getting to fourteen just to show
him I could do it. It wasn’t really about the money and I would have been
content to let him off. But, my teacher had been there the whole time,
listening and watching, and he wasn’t so lenient.
When I caught the blade on the
final flip, the teacher told the kid to pay me. Of course, this was met with
much protest. But, the teacher said he’d made a deal and had to stick to it. He
did give the guy a chance to get out of it though. If he could duplicate the
stunt, he didn’t have to pay. I guess the kid didn’t like his chances with that
because I got my money.
Oh, one last thing, in case
anyone is wondering how I received my one and only cut. It wasn’t from trying
some crazy number of knife flips or anything. In fact, I wasn’t doing a thing
with the knife - except picking it up off the ground - right after telling my
son how to always watch what you’re doing when handling knives!
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