MIKE DIPASQUALE HITS THE BULLSEYE AT AXE HABITS
Steve Shapiro: “You know, we’re always in search of offbeat sports going on in our area to tell you about, and this will definitely qualify as that. Mike’s here with more.”
Mike Dipasquale: “And here’s a hint. This is an axe. And did you know, you no longer have to go to the cities known for logging to feel like a lumberjack?”
Steve Shapiro: “Keep that over there.”
Mike Dipasquale: “Don’t be surprised, because anything goes in South Florida.”
Throwing an axe for sport dates back to the medieval days. Now you can throw a two-pound axe at a wooden target in competition.
Quincy Bey, Miami Operations Manager: “You’re taking all of your stress, all of your day, all your momentum and you’re actually propelling an axe into a target, smashing at the hardwood, everything that comes along with it. It’s a feeling that is incomparable.”
Axe Habits of Hollywood is one of two South Florida locations sanctioned by the World Axe Throwing League. Last month, the world championship was shown on national television.
Here are the rules. You get 10 throws at a 36-inch wide target, 12 feet away. There are five rings per point. Blue dot is the kill shot worth 10 points on your last throw. As far as technique…
Jennifer Nesselhaus, Hollywood Operations Manager: “You wanna treat right here on the axe as the sights of your gun. Wherever you wanna aim and land your axe on the board is essentially where you’re going to try and let go.”
The Hollywood-Miami locations isn’t just for those who want to enter competitions. People from all walks of life are getting into throwing an axe.
Mike Dipasquale: “What was it like when you first had your axe in hands?”
Quincy Bey: “Well, it makes you feel powerful. For those who have come through the door, they may not have ever thrown before, but instantly, they know what to do. Entertainers, judges, lawyers, doctors.”
And yes, even a sports guy who’s never thrown an axe at a target can do it.
Jennifer Nesselhaus: “We have a lot of city guys that come in here and you put an axe in their hand and it’s a totally new world for them. And once they land it on the board, there’s nothing more exhilarating than the sound and the feel of the crash.”
Mike Dipasquale: “Axe Habits locations in Hollywood and Miami, right across the street from the AAA, are open seven days a week. You could throw for fun or enter the eight-week tournament that starts January 14th. The South Florida winner moves on to the national/regional competition.”
Steve Shapiro: “It looks like a hatchet to me, not an axe.”
Mike Dipasquale: “This is an axe.”
Steve Shapiro: “I think of an axe as being a lot bigger than that. Looks like a hatchet.”
Mike Dipasquale: “No, you throw it just like this. Wing it like this. Twelve feet away, it’ll stick…”
Steve Shapiro: “We have to have human targets.
Mike Dipasquale: “everybody.”
Featured on:
Channel 7 Miami
Mike DiPasquale
https://wsvn.com/
