Over the past four years I have been updating my personal biography . This journey of remembrance has been filled with realizations about pivotal years that changed the direction of my ambitions. Often a combination of conscious choice and unforeseen circumstances these years are always a wild ride. They tend to be a crash course in learning new things about the world and my place in it. 2024 was one of those years. Allow me to recap, hang on tight! One year can be a very long time in a busy life so I wrote this summary with article links included that allow people to read further if they desire to do so. The links open up a separate page so you won't lose your place. Winter - This was my first winter back after living in Florida for the past 15 years. The cold and dark reminded me of why I left. Battling Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) while also grappling with the demons of my recent martial separation was not an easy task. Luckily I had three things to distract me - Martial A...

 

  On a visit to Long Island your author Alex and his daring partner Irisrose visited NY Axe. NY Axe is a chain of throwing venues spread across the Island but this location was at 325 Main Street in Huntington. This beautiful town in the north central part of the Island has a very popular nightlife and it showed with a thriving crowd of enthusiastic customers. Almost every lane was full including a bachelor party who was enjoying food and drinks at the bar. Upon entering we were greeted by Danny Simone, one of the owners who was thrilled to meet throwers who were more than "Casual." Wearing my Longhouse Axe shirt and carrying a backpack of Axes he was fascinated to hear about our experiences in throwing competitions and our participation in the World Axe Throwing League. We were more than happy to indulge and gave as much information as he wanted. NY Axe has weekly recreational leagues but they are definitely interested in joining the larger world of competitive throwing....

For 25 years I was an adventure writer who constantly dipped his heels in controversy. From one sport to the next I succeeded in making modest positive changes through activist outreach but failed in making the upper levels of any sport. After my father died in 2017, I no longer felt the need to prove myself and retired as a writer. The chip was off my shoulder or so I thought. When I entered the sport of Axe Throwing I thought that this is my chance to make that upper level. I'm working diligently to get there. However, old habits die hard. That resilient spark of non-conformity drove me back into controversy with my article about "League Loopholes." While the discussion that followed did teach me a great deal about the rules of sport, it also made me realize that I had gone off course, again. I DO NOT want to be an activist. Been there, done that. I want to be an Elite Axe Thrower. From now on that is where I will be focusing my energy. I might still write articles goin...

  Axe throwing is still a relatively new sport but appears to be evolving at a rapid pace. What started as hatchets outside a bar room now includes hundreds of venues that cater to duals, knives and big axes. There are many directions that the sport can expand into including age groups, skill levels, state championships or perhaps team competitions. In this article I hope to explore some of those possibilities. Age Groups -  There are several participation sports that break their competitors down into age groups for the sake of fairness. In many cases you don't want to pit a 50 year old athlete against a 25 year old, this could be very one sided in sports like Crossfit or god forbid MMA. Having said that, Axe Throwing is a different animal. It is less athletic and more psychological relying on accuracy, precision and tactics. After all, I'm a 51 year old man who has no problem beating people half my age. In some ways age can be a benefit to throwers in that it requires the pat...

Iris & Emma battle at the Longhouse boards   After facing 200+ starts in competitions across 11 different sports, I was not nervous when I entered my first season of Axe throwing. I just felt ready. I was at peace with whatever happened, at least until I started doing well. Then I thought, I could be good at this. That's when the nerves slowly kicked in. We have all experienced that weird sensation of trying something brand new and just being good at it for no reason. At that moment you can't help but wonder, what if I can be great? As an adventure writer I've had many opportunities to step into the breach. There were many beginning moments that filled my imagination with wonder but something would always come up short. I might have looked like a professional at times but the skills never quite matched the uniform. Alex & Paige representing Peterson's Bike Team As a mountain biker I had strong technical skills but weak lungs. As a BMX racer I had explosive leg p...