(4 Jun 2017) LEADIN:
Urban axe-throwing has arrived in the UK with city slickers flinging heavy axes at targets.
Whistle Punks in east London has taken the outdoor Canadian sport and placed it in the middle of the city.
STORYLINE:
Axe marks the spot in this cutting-edge sport.
Urban axe throwing has arrived in London and it's proving the perfect venue for work colleagues to bury the hatchet.
The sport is simple - axes are thrown at a target and the closer to the centre you hit, the higher the points you score.
This is Whistle Punks in Whitechapel, east London.
The trendy venue looks like an underground warehouse rave with its low lighting and loud music.
But over the sounds of the speakers is the whistle and thunk of the axes... not to mention the cheers of the contestants.
Jools Whitehorn is the founder of Whistle Punks.
He is sharpening up a blunted axe so it's ready to throw.
The former technology journalist got the idea of axe throwing from Canada and decided to bring the sport into the city.
His idea quickly caught on and has proven especially popular with work team-building groups, couples on a first date and stag-dos.
"It's an unusual thing to do on a night out, it's a visceral, physical experience that's also highly competitive and really social and people just can't get enough of it."
Axe throwing is open to everybody except for pregnant women and (perhaps unsurprisingly) drunk people.
So stag and hen-dos can play, but any consumption of alcohol must be done after the competition.
The axes are heavy and sharp but the sport is safe with an instructor supervising every lane to prevent axe-idents (accidents).
In fact, the biggest dangers are from wood splinters on the floor and for this reason flip-flops are banned from the lanes,
Whitehorn says axe-throwing is no more dangerous than archery but there's something about hurling heavy axes that feels forbidden.
"It feels naughty though - that's the real key I think. We make it safe but it still feels like something you shouldn't be allowed to do."
Whistle Punks has already expanded to Manchester and is opening a third venue in Birmingham shortly.
Lorcan Fahey is operations director at Whistle Punks.
His job includes instructing first time axe throwers on the best technique.
He likens the sport to ten-pin bowling - in the sense that it's a target sport which is simple to learn.
He also thinks scoring a direct hit with an axe has the same level of satisfaction as knocking down the pins for a strike :
"Generally the first thing we get them to do, small manageable tasks, see if you can hit the target, don't worry about getting it in, just get the axe on the wood and from there it's easy to change your throw to make the axe go in. Small little changes, baby steps and eventually they get a success. I give them a big high five, enjoy the moment, take the axe out and you move on from there."
The axes are simple, with top-heavy steel heads weighing 1.25lbs and set on a hickory handle.
Fahey explains the relatively easy technique for throwing a perfect axe throw:
"So for a normal throw you raise the axe and shift your body weight from your back foot to your front foot, making sure to take a step forward as your axe goes forward and when it's in front of you you release it and it'll do the spin for you and should hopefully go in the target. That's all there is to it."
Gina Lovering is here with a group of colleagues from Lloyds banking.
Some people quickly get the hang of throwing axes and Gina is one of them.
Salma Mohamed from Dubai is part of a team-bonding group from Google.
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