Midwest Knife Axe Throwers

About Us

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Jonathan Winski

FOUNDER, CLUB MANAGER

Joined: 2005 Founding Member

TEACHES: Knife, axe, shuriken and spike/nail throwing

DAY JOB:
– Davey & Danny’s Daddy
– Chaplain
– WI State Representative for
International Knife Throwers Hall
of Fame

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Jon and Kirsten’s children, Davey & Danny, hold this Daddy’s attention more than anything!!!! HUGE Star Wars fan, loves Admirals hockey, martial arts, writing and absolutely loves teaching!

Jonathan is married to his high school sweetheart, Kirsten. They love hockey and playing catch. But you will also find them stick-fighting in their yard as both are avid martial artists. His favorite demo is sticking a business card with a throwing knife. His Dad started him out when he was just 6 years old.

Jonathan proudly serves the Dane County EMS Honor Guard as Chaplain and serves in crisis ministry.

“If you hit the bull’s-eye, it shows you can. If you hit it again, it proves you meant to.” ~ Jonathan Winski

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David Winski

Performer-in-training

Joined: 2018

TOOLS: Tomahawks

DAY JOB: Student, Big Brother, Road Trip Navigator

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Captivating Daddy and Mommy on a minute to minute basis!

Like Daddy, David is a big Star Wars fan! Like Momma, David loves all expressions of art – painting, drawing, coloring, all of it!
Martial arts runs deep in the family and David is truly exceptional with both sword and staff.

David stuck his first tomahawks at 5 years old and is greatly looking forward to joining Daddy and Mommy at upcoming shows! He is our newest Performer-in-training!
With one demonstration under his belt by performing tomahawk throws during an interview in 2018, he looks forward to joining Daddy and Momma at a couple events on the road this year in 2020. He is honing his hawk throwing skills and has begun knife throwing.

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David Sparks

CO-FOUNDER

Joined: 2005, Founding Member

TEACHES: Axe, knife, shuriken and spike throwing

DAY JOB: Electrician, Firefighter

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Wisconsin Scottish, hockey fan, bowling

David has two beautiful children, Elise and Jonathan. David puts on quite a demo with very powerful throws; it’s not uncommon for Dave to send chunks of 7 – 8 inch thick tree rounds flying off with a single throw!

When not working as an electrician, he serves as a Firefighter specializing in chemical fires with great pride! David also evaluates and buys all our axes.

Hint: Just ask and Dave is happy to move back to about 60 or more feet for a triple or quadruple rotation throw into a 22 inch target!!!

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Kirsten Winski

INSTRUCTOR

JOINED: 2005, Founding Member

TEACHES: Axe and knife throwing

DAY JOB: ABO certified optician

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Kirsten and Jon’s world definitely holds a new focus in their life: Davey & Danny. Their first child, Davey, was born in 2012 with their second son, Danny, kicking off 2016. Though Kirsten still teaches now and then her primary focus is their lovely boys. Hobbies include: Hockey, loves studying architecture, playing catch, stick fighting, though recently her new piano has been calling to her more than her axes.

Kirsten graduated with a double degree in pyschology and communications. Kirsten loves recruiting and training professionals as well as networking and bringing the right people together. She has also been a guest lecturer at a local college.


During events, Kirsten enjoys “working the crowd” and jumping in to instruct those who are especially apprehensive. She has a very special gift for instruction; everyone Kirsten teaches is hitting the target in minutes. Kirsten is also known for playing on Jon and Dave’s egos for impromptu competitions. It doesn’t take a lot to get those two to compete but Kirsten really comes up with some challenging shots that she knows they haven’t tried before or practiced.

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Matthew Peterson

INSTRUCTOR

JOINED: 2009

TEACHES: Knife, Tomahawk

DAY JOB: Owner of The Ground Axe Miniatures, Computer Sciences


HOBBIES / INTERESTS: Crafting mini swords, axes, and armor suits; painting gaming figures; listening to metal, reading comedy and sci-fi; collecting “battle-ready” blades. The battle-ready blades come to play as Matthew is also avidly studying European sword fighting with two-handed swords.


High school art class can be a very boring time for many students, but that’s where Matthew discovered his inner love of miniatures, medieval ones to be specific. Since then he’s crafted over 100 weapons and 15 suits of armor, all of which he is very proud of.

Matthew is always on the lookout for supplies for miniatures armory creations but…. a new love has expanded his heart…. Now Matthew has begun studying forging knives. Hammer forging takes great focus, commitment, patience, control and creativity – All things Matthew excels at.

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Brynna Wiser

INSTRUCTOR-IN-TRAINING

JOINED: 2017

TEACHES: Knife, Tomahawk

DAY JOB: Student

HOBBIES / FAVORITES:

Brynna has visited and trained with us for many years at the Janesville Renaissance Fair – winning a clamore sword during a contest!

Brynna’s enthusiasm and willingness to step up are defining characteristics of this instructor!

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Jenny Schoenfeldt

INSTRUCTOR

Joined: 2010

DAY JOB:

HOBBIES/FAVORITES:


Jenny offers an enthusiasm that is rivaled by few. We look forward to having her represent us at our tables and interacting with all our wonderful guests as she gets them ready for their lessons.
However, Jenny has already asked when her training starts to learn to teach!

Do you know how hard it is to say nice and cool things about yourself? Well, I love the idea of being involved in a group that was founded by my High School Friends. Especially when you understand they are big part of your foundation as a person. I am an Administrative Assistant for a local Petroleum Products company with a flair for software. Having recently implemented a new maintenance program….so don’t mistake me for the “dumb blonde” 🙂 Needless to say of an axe thrower 🙂

I am a rabid Packer fan, a writer at heart, and a fun getter. What I mean by that is, I do my best to have fun at whatever i do. I had a friend once tell me that I could have fun at an insurance seminar! The picture may show me in a halo, but really question what is holding it up? You can find out if you try to argue with me on who the greatest Quarterback of all time is……FARVE!!

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Carrie Yanko

INSTRUCTOR

JOINED: 2009

DAY JOB: Teacher

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Admirals hockey

Carrie takes the world for the great adventure it is!!! She always spots the awesome and inspiring them celebrates it!! – just one of her many inspiring qualities. Stop by and say “Hi!” and I promise you will get so caught up in her zest for life you won’t be able to help but pick up a bit of it!

Carrie enjoys Admirals hockey and leads the Ads to victory with much glass pounding!!!

Carrie looks forward to meeting the hundreds of guests we meet at each event and helping get them prepare for their lesson or answering questions about our appearances. Carrie’s personality is perfect to welcome new throwers and turn their excitement to attentiveness as they prepare for their first lesson.

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Laura Schade

INSTRUCTOR

JOINED: 2012

DAY JOB: Interior Design Expert

HOBBIES / INTERESTES: Laura has exceptional skills in design. She is bilingual and enjoys belly dancing.

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Elise Sparks

INSTRUCTOR

STARTED: 2014

STUDENT

Elise has been throwing since she was just 5 years old! Daughter of Instructor Dave Sparks, she has been around and practiced more knife and axe throwing than most!
Elise is very quick to win over the respect of kids and adults alike when she teaches! When Elise isn’t instructing, she loves to sing and has begun to take a bit of instruction in a martial art called escrima.
Last year Elise was a guest on Brodie Smith’s extreme sports show, showing Brodie how to put the tomahawk through the air and in the bull’s-eye!

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Robyn Miller

INSTRUCTOR / AMBASSADOR

JOINED: 2005, Founding Member

TEACHES: knife and shuriken throwing

DAY JOB: Board Certified Optician

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Loves fairies and art, especially drawing

Robyn is very outgoing and is a fantastic instructor. Robyn is usually the first instructor you meet at our events as she loves to interact with the crowd. Very attuned to fine detail, Robyn is honing the finer points of evaluating technique.

In her free time, Robyn writes poetry and loves fairies and fairy lore. An easy fit into any Renaissance Faire, this blade throwing maiden will keep any squire on his toes!

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Bonnie Baker

INSTRUCTOR-IN-TRAINING

JOINED: 2010

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Visiting zoos and museums in her free time with her family.

Bonnie is a stay at home mom to three beautiful children. She appreciates the gift of being able to spend time with her two sons and daughter; watching them grow – something every parent wishes they could do more.

Who knows… maybe in time we will have a little league knife and axe team..???? Just sayin’. MKAT= Mini Knife & Axe Throwers!

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Jason Miller (ret.)

INSTRUCTOR / WEBMASTER

JOINED: 2005, Founding Member

TEACHES: Knife and axe throwing

DAY JOB: Graphic Artist

HOBBIES/FAVORITES: Creates phenomenal movie prop replicas, movie production

Jason is honing in on his favorite knife to throw – a serious endeavor as a thrower develops great skill when paired with the right knife. He has progressed rapidly over a very short time but his focus has developed his skill quickly! Jason easily earned the respect of the entire team of instructors a long time ago.

Even though he is soft spoken, it takes a great deal of skill and confidence to call on your talent spontaneously. Jason is our “sleeper” instructor; he is quiet and almost shy but always attentive, encouraging and successful.

Jason is also a film maker. We just hope his first block-buster involves a small group of knife and axe throwers… hint, hint. He also always has the best men’s costume at our events!

We LOVE our site and if you do too, contact Jason through our “contact” tab and find out what KD Interactive can do for you.

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