Understand Fire Breathing
Fire breathing. A beautiful art that can cause death from a rough breeze. Fire breathers are artists - their blood, sweat, and tears go into making every performance their best, or they could literally go up in flames from one mistake. Fire breathing is incredibly dangerous even for seasoned professionals - an unexpected shift in the wind during breathing can lead to permanent facial scars, and even a flawless fire breathing performance carries health risks as mouth-borne fuel can seep into your lungs or bloodstream, causing chemical pneumonia or death. Precautions may be taken to mitigate these risks, but attempting to breathe fire yourself without in-person professional training first should never to be attempted under any circumstances, no matter how many articles you've read or how knowledgeable you feel you are. We recommend searching for classes in your area. The Home of Poi forums and NAFAA.org are good places to start.
Contents
Steps
- Understand exactly what fire breathing is. Fire breathing is when a fire breather takes a mouthful of fuel and spits out a mist of fuel and air onto a flame. There are many factors to consider The angle from your chest, for instance, is crucial- too low, and you can burn your clothes. Too high, and burning gas is in your face. The trick is getting it just right to produce a steady, quick flame that shoots away from your body and not on it.
- Note the details of fire breathing. When you watch a fire breathing routine, you will usually see a very precise order of events take place:
- The fire breather, off to the side. Fuels used are kept secret to avoid amateurs hurting themselves. For more information on what fuels to use, set up an in person lesson with a professional fire breather. Do NOT attempt this on our own.
- He/she holds a pre-lit torch mere feet from the face. This torch is made of a rod with Kevlar or Cotton wicking, soaked in the appropriate fuel. Most use a metal rod with a fuel-soaked wick end for the right burn. Note that, whatever they use, it is normally not flammable,
- The fire breather positions the angle to avoid getting burnt or burning others.
- They spit. It's not a very precise term, but that is what happens. Using about the same lip set as when playing a trumpet, the fire breather spits out fuel in a fine mist, trying to get the fuel to go out as far as possible. Too heavy of a stream and the fuel will not go out far enough, and blowback will happen almost every time.
- The fuel ignites. The fire breather will try to keep the flame going as long as possible unless the technique calls for something different. The breather must ensure that no fuel remains in their mouth, since all fuels are poison to some degree.
- Know the different types of fire breathing. There are many ways to breathe fire. If you watch a fire breather's act, you will notice a few different kinds, but probably not all. A short list of techniques is below, but, please note that these are only a few of the many unique techniques used by fire breathers. Techniques vary from person to person.
- Forty-five degree fire blast. This is the basic technique- the breather holds their head at a good, basic angle from their body, and spits out fuel into the torch flame held a couple of feet from their face.
- Campfire. This is when the fire breather angles the head downwards, sending the blast to the ground. This should only be attempted when the ground is a non-flammable surface.
- Hell fire. This is done when the fire breather squats down on the ground, the flame angled down. As flames rise, the breather starts to stand, giving the appearance he/she is coming up from the pits of hell, with flames all around. As flames are all over the breather, a non-flammable outfit covers the whole body.
- Repeating blasts. Three or more quick, choppy bursts of flame without getting more fuel. This creates a "fireball" like effect, and is good for shock effect.
- The Circus Tent. This is a group trick- four or more stand in a circle, a good distance from each other, and breathe fire at a forty five degree angle upwards. If done correctly, the flames meet at a central point, making a tent of flames.
- Biggest Blast Ever. Two regular forty-five degree blasts are done, making a very large flame above the fire breathers' heads.
- The Dragon. This is where the breather will ignite the flame at a 45 degree angle, after doing so the breather will remove their torch and continue to breathe out for 2-4 seconds so they appear to be breathing fire like a dragon.
- Twin Trails. In this move the breather will use their free hand to block part of the fuel spray to create two separate breaths next to each other
- Know the dangers. Fire breathers have many things to watch out for- many not surfacing until years after their act has ended. A brief list of the dangers and explanations are shown below.
- Blowback. The flame, in a way, blows back at the fire breather, following the trail of fuel to the fire breather's mouth and burning their face.
- Wind changes. The slightest breeze can have flames whip around into the opposite direction, spewing onto the body, possibly causing serious burns/death. Even smaller breezes can maim/kill bystanders, since they are normally off to one side, it only takes a slight angle change to burn them.
- Hydrocarbon pneumonitis, also called "fire eaters pneumonia" or "chemical pneumonia", this is caused by the fire breather inhaling fuel over long periods of time.
- Other health issues, including, but not limited to, skin irritation, dry mouth, gum diseases, stomach ulcers, poisoning, acute respiratory distress, and even cancers, since many fuels contain carcinogens.
- Effects from the fuels, such as overly-volatile fuel, poisonous gasses, and even drunkenness when working with ethyl alcohol.
- Asbestos poisoning. Surprisingly enough, many wicks contain asbestos. While banned in many countries, it still surfaces every so often among fire breathers, causing serious damage to the lungs.
- Legal problems. People going around breathing huge flames around other people are going to have conflicts with the law. If bystanders are harmed or if fires are set, the fire breather is often sued for reckless endangerment or arson.
- Understand your limits. If this sounds like fun to you despite the dangers, find a professional and take lessons. Do not even consider a wadded up newspaper and mouthful of gasoline. It's dangerous, deadly and reckless to others. It's incredibly ignorant to do, and consider if it's worth a burned face for life. Fire breathing is the most dangerous of the fire arts, and even many professional fire handlers refrain from doing it.
Tips
- Even with years and years of professional training, fire breathers will inevitably have at least one big mistake in their career.
- Do research on the history of fire breathing, the legends around it, and try to see if there are any fire breathers in your area. You'd be surprised about the rich heritage and cultural significance of fire breathing throughout the years.
- If you want to know more, talk to a professional. Find someone to train you to breathe fire safely.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY:- DO NOT try this at home on your own without proper safety and technical training! YOU WILL GET HURT!
Warnings
- Fire breathing is the most deadly fire art, and should never be attempted without professional training and someone watching, first aid kit, Duvetyne fire retardant blankets, wet towel, fire extinguisher and most importantly, someone who knows what to do with those things if you do mess up.
