{"id":1050,"date":"2009-11-19T23:57:09","date_gmt":"2009-11-19T12:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/?p=1050"},"modified":"2024-06-19T07:41:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T11:41:24","slug":"fire-spinning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/fire-spinning\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning the Art of Fire Spinning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a fellow travel blogger recently wrote about fire spinning in Thailand<\/a>, I realized while I was reading it that I have been amiss with you, dear readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, I have blatantly (and unintentionally) kept you in the dark about a new part of my own life; a hobby that is both relaxing and actively playful\u2026.Fire Spinning!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post was originally published in 2009. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content. <\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"fire<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It all started with friends of mine who spin. When I first saw them spinning balls of fire on chains (called poi) and twirling fire staffs with the ends ablaze, I thought it looked neat but didn\u2019t have much interest in it myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until I picked up a staff one day to try and imitate a move I had seen that I began to think of fire spinning as something I could get into. The staff felt smooth, was a perfect weight, and I realized with a few tips that it wasn\u2019t as difficult as it initially appeared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning new moves felt great, and perfecting the art form of making spinning look good tapped into my love of dance and performance in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Months and months after I first picked up a fire poi or fire staff, I was at an outdoor music festival where some friends were \u201chaving a burn,\u201d as they say. There were 200 people gathered around a stage about 50 meters away, and on this little patch of grass to the side, about half a dozen people were fire spinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere, have a go,\u201d said a mate as they relatively unceremoniously tossed me a half-lit staff. \u201cThe other side didn\u2019t get fueled up by accident, so you\u2019re stuck with one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"IMG_3213_1_1\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ah well, \u201cone\u2019s better than none,\u201d I thought, and started spinning the staff, surprised at the heat and size of the one fireball up close. My friends had been careful to teach me about fire spinning safety, our credo being \u201clearn before you burn\u201d. So I felt prepared for this, my first time spinning fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And man, was I on fire (pardon the blatant pun). I had that staff spinning as it had never been spun before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is, until I smacked myself in the eye with the unlit end of the staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convinced that I would be toting a black eye for the next week, I glanced up to see who saw my blunder. As luck would have it, if anybody had seen my spinning debacle, they had the good grace to pretend not to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I kept spinning and got back to having fun. Mere minutes later when I was handed a fully lit staff to play with instead, I became confident that nobody saw my eye-poking antics!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"IMG_3215_1_1\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYikes,\u201d I thought to myself. \u201cIt would hurt a lot more if I poked myself in the eye with fire,\u201d I pondered as I swallowed hard and attempted to track the whereabouts of not one but two balls of fire revolving around my body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out it\u2019s much easier to spin staffs with both ends lit than one\u2026they\u2019re easier to see!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, I\u2019ve had a few chances to have fun with fire spinning and watch fire performers who are much better than I, have a go at it too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire spinning is a beautiful rhythmic flow art dance that requires skill, courage, and practice. I\u2019m so glad I\u2019ve had a chance to try my own hands at it and I highly recommend that you at least give yourself the pleasure of experiencing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you find the beautiful art of fire dance or spinning interesting, then go for it! You never know if it will become your next favorite hobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, the fire props I mentioned aren\u2019t the only ones that are being utilized in fire spinning. The pieces of fire spinning equipment that I am familiar with and have used along with some friends are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n