Tiny Axe Thrower Interview: Marcus Artis (Throwdo Baggins)

I think the first time I met Marcus was at Clutch Shot for a marathon league. He was quiet and very, very good. But he was also hella friendly and had one of the best stickers I'd seen in the sport. I had the chance to catch up with him at Choptober this year, and the net result is this tiny axe thrower interview:

Badger: How long have you been throwing?

Throwdo: Just about six years now. I started at Mazhu Axes, which was in Philly, then I transitioned over to Choppers and Clutch Shot, which are both in New Jersey.

Six years is a long time in this sport. What have you seen change in that amount of time, either with how venues work or players?

Everyone's just getting really good. When I first got into this, you had maybe four or five people that used to just kind of win everything. And now you go to these tournaments and those throwers are still around, but it's a lot more competitive.

There's a lot more really good throwers out there, as opposed to early on when there was a small concentration of really good players, but now you can walk into any venue, you can do a league, anywhere, a tournament, anywhere, and there's just a lot of talent.

So you've probably seen, I mean, I know you've seen a lot of venues close in your time. Do you get worried by that or have you seen it so much that you're just thinking it's part of the landscape?

I mean, unfortunately it is part of the landscape. My first venue, Mazhu Axes in Philly, they closed. I jumped over to Jersey. I met Clutch and Choppers. Choppers is relocating, which is nice. We're worried about that for a bit.

I think part of the issue is when axe throwing started to boom, people were still getting locked into cheaper leases. A lot of those leases are starting to run out, and the renegotiations are just not realistic.

What's something you've done that you're proudest of or top 10 or whatever, just so there's not a pressure point to find the perfect thing?

Honestly, it's probably winning the Big Axe tournament yesterday. I've got some league wins under my belt and some decent showings. But winning the big axe tourney was the first actual tournament win that I've gotten under my belt, so that was super exciting.

What's some advice that you would have for newer throwers, either around tournaments or just around axe throwing in general?

The short answer is breathe and believe. Just make sure that you let that inhale, exhale, and then just have confidence that your throw's going to stick. It goes so much further than people realize. So, I mean, that's my short answer.

Anyone you'd like to give a shout out too?

I just want to shout out my Clutch Shot crew. I want to shout out Goose from 81 Axes. He's actually the person that got me into the sport. And just everyone at Choppers. Best of luck with the move over to Philly. I'll see you there!