So many theories............
Firewalking is explained by physics.
There’s nothing magical or mystical about firewalking.
If a fire lane is prepared correctly, the walkers walk at the correct
pace and are supervised with every step. There should never be a need to treat
burns injuries.
There are many theories but when these theories are tested, scientists
soon find out, painfully, that their theory is incorrect.
Too many firewalking instructors will attempt to apportion blame for
injuries onto the participants claiming that they weren’t mentally prepared or
hadn’t set the correct intention.
I’ve heard one person claim that if someone even thinks the word ‘burn’ then
they will burn on the firewalk!!
Others bring out a foot chart and tell walkers that the burned area on
their foot relates to another part of their body that needs attention!!
The reality is that these instructors don’t have the knowledge or
awareness of the physics of firewalking or don’t have the knowledge and
experience to correctly prepare a safe fire lane.
Claim: They’ve done 200 firewalks.
Reality: When Blaze talk about doing 200 firewalks, we are talking about
200 separate firewalking events at different locations at different times of
the year.
When others talk about having done 200 firewalks they usually mean how
many times they have walked on a firewalking event i.e. they could firewalk 200
times on one single firewalking event and state they have firewalked 200 times
giving the impression that they have done many firewalking events when they’ve
actually only had experience of one.
Claim: They are one of Britain’s top firewalk trainers.
Reality: I read this on someone’s bio and checked them out. They have only done 3
firewalks in the last 2 years. There are so many outrageous claims like this.
Check them out thoroughly, Speak to people who have taken part in their
events.
Claim: UK’s No.1 Accredited Firewalking Company
Reality: I asked them who was the accrediting body and what was their
criteria. They awarded it to themselves, there was no independent accrediting
organisation.
Claim: Certified Firewalking Instructor
Reality: They’ve paid up to approximately £2000 to take a 4 day course that
no-one ever fails. There is no assessment of abilities, no assessment of
suitability, no follow up and no quality control.
They collectively build and
walk on 3 firewalks during these 4 days. The rest of the time is spent doing
other activities such as rebar-bending, arrow breaking, board breaking, trust
falls and a glasswalk – it is a ‘See one, Do one, Teach one’ approach. Scary stuff!
Myth: Daytime firewalks are safe
Truth: Daylight makes the embers look black/grey giving the participants
the impression that it is not hot. This can tempt a participant to walk slowly,
increasing the time they are in contact with the embers resulting in burns
injuries. Also it is impossible to tell if the embers have been evenly raked
without hotspots.
Myth: Firewalkers walk on hot coals
Truth: Coals are a denser material, the denser the material, the hotter
it burns. Wood is burned down to its carbon state - charcoal embers.
Myth: The participant was not mentally prepared and/or firewalked too
soon.
Truth: I have had participants firewalk with no preparation.
Television shows are notorious for promising allocated time for briefing the presenters before the
firewalk then running over with the previous filming segment, giving us only a
few minutes with the TV Hosts. The when filming is complete the crew line up
for their turn to firewalk. All firewalked without injury.
Bill Nye, has a series on Netflix "Bill Nye Saves the World".
In episode 11(scroll towards the end). Bill claims that the meat of the foot
absorbs the heat from the firewalk, but he forgets that we have skin. The
dermis and epidermis will burn and blister. He holds a piece of paper above a
candle, it burns within 4 seconds. He then wraps another piece of paper round
an empty drinks can then holds it above the candle flame. The paper doesnt burn
and the aluminium can heats up. Our skin is not paper. If he replaced the paper
with his hand, he would soon, painfully, disprove that theory.
And oh dear, the firewalk that they did, both burned! Watch their body
language you will see Bill Nye taking a huge step to get off the firelane then
shout at Donald Faison to walk faster. Poor Donald gets very nippy burned toes.
They dont mention it, but you can see that they are both in pain.
Just who was the muppet who prepared that firewalk - the guy in white
who tried to get into every shot!
Myth: A layer of ash acts as a barrier to protect walkers’ feet.
Truth: This theory comes from the days when we didnt have fridges to keep food cool. Double skinned boxes were packed with ash that was compacted to create a very thick layer of ash. There are countries who still use ash as cavity wall insulation.
Blaze firewalks have minimal ash as we rake over fresh embers every
6-8 walkers. The embers are fragile and will break down with the pressure and
weight of each footstep. After 6-8 walkers the fire lane is needs us to replenish the firelane with new
embers so that every participant has the same experience. If no
rake overs are carried out, the participants are only walking on cold, sooty
turf. A soot walk is not a fire walk!
This explains why some people claim they can stand on a fire lane for
many minutes without injury; they are standing on cold soot. (There’s also never
any video footage to back up their claim) Therefore no magical, spiritual
element is required.
Myth: We can only concentrate for 20 minutes
Truth: If this were
true then all theatre plays, operas, films, television shows, sports events,
lessons in schools/colleges/universities and concerts would only be 20 minutes
long. If it were true then I wouldn’t spend a rainy afternoon lost in my
favourite book or binge watch an entire season of Sons of Anarchy on Netflix.
Only if something doesn’t grab our attention or is completely boring do we
start fidgeting and our minds wander.
Myth: People walked on a red hot metal grate.
Reality: Tolly Burkan claims that he heated up a metal grate until it was red hot and glowing. He then claimed that people walked on this metal grate without injury and that he still has the grate and that the entire walk was captured on film.
Bernard Leikind, scientist was present at this event. He says that the metal grate was barely hot.
If this was true and footage was available, why hasnt it been published for everyone to see.
Where is the metal grate?
Myth: A beach is a perfect location for a firewalk
Truth: Visually it is a beautiful setting but it is very dangerous.
Beaches are windy and can blow the embers from the fire lane and blow sand onto
the fire lane.
Sand is an excellent conductor of heat which is why it is challenging
walking barefoot on a beach when it is sunny. Sand will stick to sweaty nervous
feet and it doesn’t matter how many times you wipe your feet the sand will
still be between toes and on the soles of feet. This combined with any sand
blown onto the fire during the burn down and during the firewalk means that the
chances of participants burning their feet is very high.
