Learning the Art of Fire Spinning

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

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….Fire Spinning!

This post was originally published in 2009. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content. 

fire spinning in Australia

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’t have much interest in it myself.

It wasn’t 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’t as difficult as it initially appeared.

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.

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 β€œhaving a burn,” 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.

β€œHere, have a go,” said a mate as they relatively unceremoniously tossed me a half-lit staff. β€œThe other side didn’t get fueled up by accident, so you’re stuck with one,” he said.

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Ah well, β€œone’s better than none,” 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 β€œlearn before you burn”. So I felt prepared for this, my first time spinning fire.

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

That is, until I smacked myself in the eye with the unlit end of the staff.

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.

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!

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β€œYikes,” I thought to myself. β€œIt would hurt a lot more if I poked myself in the eye with fire,” I pondered as I swallowed hard and attempted to track the whereabouts of not one but two balls of fire revolving around my body.

Turns out it’s much easier to spin staffs with both ends lit than one…they’re easier to see!

Since then, I’ve 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. 

Fire spinning is a beautiful rhythmic flow art dance that requires skill, courage, and practice. I’m so glad I’ve 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.

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.

That being said, the fire props I mentioned aren’t 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: 

  • Fire Poi: two balls affixed to lengths of rope with handles. They are manipulated through the air to create beautiful shapes.
  • Staff and Double Staves: there are various styles all over the world and are unique in their way.

There are various tools that professional fire artists use such as juggling clubs, fire fans, rope darts, juggling balls, fire swords and knives, and plenty more. They maneuver these to make the beautiful fire art you see!

Take some fire dance classes from a professional or practice with some friends until you finally know how to spin in your free time. It’s fun! Always exercise fire safety and avoid executing this without a guide to prevent any kind of injury or cause any harm.

The Best Poi for Travel

Traveling with fire toys isn’t easy or space-savvy. Since my initial fire spinning days, I got a set of glow poi, which uses colorful lights instead of fire. They’re super popular at parties! Everybody wants a go, and because there’s no fire it’s totally safe for anybody to play with. 

If you’re looking for the perfect glow poi, choose something that is USB rechargeable (eliminating the need to carry batteries) and lightweight. These ones would be my first choice; they’re great for beginners and pack up easily.Β Β Β Β Β 

All the pictures above are of me, just in case you were wondering. Here are some pictures of various friends of mine fire spinning:

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learning the art of fire spinning

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24 thoughts on “Learning the Art of Fire Spinning”

  1. Thanks, guys! Just as much as actually spinning fire, I enjoy taking photos of it. I’ve had a few all-out photo sessions, and have dozens of awesome shots, including UV spinning toys too!

  2. Thanks Dave & Deb! It was, of course, your post that inspired me to write about my own fire spinning. Since you’re headed to Asia soon, you may indeed find all the fire spinning toys (and even instruction) you want! If not, then pop by Oz to visit me and I’ll give you the crash course!

    • Tee-Hee – Thanks Matt! It’s pretty addictive – therapeutic at times, almost trance-like. Who knows – maybe you’ll spot me at one of Thailand’s full-moon parties sometime, giving a show!

  3. OH my goodness!!! You always amaze me!

    This is so cool and something I could totally see myself doing this to some Deadmau5, Tiesto, Paul van Dyk or AVB(Armin van Buuren) playing in the background. Or perhaps a mash up of all them.

    Thanks for giving me something new to add to my list of things to try!

    You are too down!

  4. Thanks, Kim! The music really helps, and indeed electronic is my preference for spinning. It really gets me moving – which helps when you’re playing with fire!!!
    Do try it….just remember….learn before you burn! (smiles)

  5. @Backpacker – Indeed, try it! A great way to start is to get a pair of long socks, stick a tennis ball in the end of each, and whamo – you have a set of practice poi! Have at ‘er…

  6. Cool! I love the photos. You got those photos like a Pro. Perfect. I wish I could do fire-spinning also. Will try one of these days. Heading to Phuket next year, have heard some cool fire-spinning activities there, hmm I am excited to try them!!

  7. And oh, I just updated my torch dancing article with a link to this article of yours under the “Related Posts by Others” section. It’s my new program to include related post by others section in my posts.

  8. Wow! I’m jealous πŸ™‚ Next time I see these fire spinners, I will ask them where I can learn it! Have you gotten any burn by it? I sit dangerous? Any burn case you know and how bad?

    It must be very awesome to see a half dozen fire spinners in the same time! In one of the picture up there, a girl is having 3 fire staffs in each hands? Wow!

  9. @Dina – The best way to learn is from friends, or to take a course or buy a video. No I haven’t gotten burned, but it IS very dangerous, and I have friends with bad burns from it. I practiced for many months before I ever worked with fire…as the phrase goes: “Learn before you burn”!

    The 3 fire staffs are actually fire poi, with three wicks on each poi. It works the same as regular poi – just more fire!

  10. @Dina – Thanks for the link! I like the “related posts by others” concept…good stuff!

    @Nancie – Photographing fire spinning is oh so much fun…playing with settings, shutter speeds & exposures, lighting conditions….it’s a blast! Almost as much fun as spinning itself….

  11. I am a professional hobo lol… I guess. I have made fire dancing into my job and passion at the same time. Its awesome when the line begins to blur. Check out my baby at
    Bless-INS!!!

    • Hi Adam,
      Wow – great site! Glad you’re able to turn fire dancing into a career. Just make sure you don’t lose your passion for the art, while working the business side of it (which can happen).
      Where is your next performance?

  12. Hello, i was online searching if fire spinning would be a good hobby, quite a bunch of my close friends do it, and thinking about taking up fan spinning. I don’t think it helps my boyfriend will spin anything on fire :L and is amazing at it. I’m just afraid il get bored of it. do you think there is any chance il get bored? P.s i remember the first time i was handed a lit staff its defo a nice buzz

    • Kitten,
      You’ll never know if you get bored unless you try it! Besides which, sometimes we love doing something, and then we get bored after we’ve done it for a while. But I would never not start something because I was afraid I’d eventually get bored with it….

  13. Hi! I know this post is super old but I came across it in searching for places in SEAsia to learn to fire dance. It looks so freaking cool! Do you have any suggestions? I really want to learn and I’m on a long term trip so I have the time. Would appreciate any info, thank you! πŸ™‚

    • Hi Kaleena,
      I don’t know of any formal places to learn to fire dance – it’s best to befriend a spinner and go from there (that’s what I did). And of course you’ll need to “learn before your burn” so as to be safe.
      You could start by getting some glow poi (or just daytime use poi – you can even make practice poi by putting tennis balls in the toe of knee socks).
      Youtube is also a good place to find some tutorials I would suspect.
      Also, when you see somebody spinning, just approach them and ask for advice – that’s how I’d start. Happy spinning! πŸ™‚

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