  We studied properties of the strange axial mesons in the relativized quark
model. We calculated the $K_1$ decay constant in the quark model and showed how
it can be used to extract the $K_1 (^3P_1) - K_1 (^1P_1)$ mixing angle
($\theta_K$) from the weak decay $\tau \to K_1 \nu_\tau$. The ratio $BR(\tau
\to \nu_\tau K_1 (1270))/BR(\tau\to \nu_\tau K_1(1400))$ is the most sensitive
measurement and also the most reliable since the largest of the theoretical
uncertainties factor out. However the current bounds extracted from the
TPC/Two-Gamma collaboration measurements are rather weak: we typically obtain
$-30^o \lesssim \theta_K \lesssim 50^o$ at 68\% C.L. We also calculated the
strong OZI-allowed decays in the pseudoscalar emission model and the flux-tube
breaking model and extracted a $^3P_1 - ^1P_1$ mixing angle of $\theta_K \simeq
45^o$. Our analysis also indicates that the heavy quark limit does not give a
good description of the strange mesons.
