a long time ago I set out to teach people how to flow with any tool they happened to have in hand. I spent a long time crafting a space where people could bring their tools and learn how to use them, how to think about how to use them, and how to play with them for their own enjoyment. (get your mind out of the gutter)
But one thing I didn't want to teach was the Fire Dancing.
Why? because it's really tough to do fire dancing safely. It's a lot of work taking care of all the details needed to be fairly confident of the safety of the the people around you, the space around you and if you can get the time, yourself. I myself, find I short cut some aspects when I am with a small crew of people I trust. unfortunately I know this all too well. I know it can be done but in my experience, only in two ways. Way one is a small group of people who really make things safe for themselves. each person in the group knows and will call one another out when the y see a shortcut being taken. Way two is if a small group take on all the safety roles and enforce them rigidly for anyone else involved. the fuel dump, the safeties, all the safety factors are covered by dedicated personal.
having learned, sometimes through the hard way, how tough it is to do fire safety right, I found that the only time I can have fun with fire is via the first way. and yet, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking, planning, working to provide the second way out at our big events.
This brings me to last Monday night. I was amazed and happy to see my friends continuing to expand and grow beyond needing me to do what they want to do.
BUT
you all did it at my place, without me, without asking me, unsafely, with lots of people I don't know, with lots of people who don't understand fire safety.
All of this that is just about the last thing I want. Just to understand, I am not mad or anger with what happened, I can see why it happened. I can see however that what I want and why I do Monday nights is not there. The night as lost it's focus, grown in a direction I can't support or even condone.
So what does this mean for Monday night classes. First of all, Class will still be occurring. from 6pm till dark we will be working on tool manipulation and flow. Monday nights class was never ever supposed to be about the fire, as a result, I am not going to be participating in any after class fire for a good while. It's the only thing I can think to do right now to end the expectation that fire play will be the outcome of monday nights. It might be for others, but I think it's a bad bad BAD idea right now.
Love
Taz
But one thing I didn't want to teach was the Fire Dancing.
Why? because it's really tough to do fire dancing safely. It's a lot of work taking care of all the details needed to be fairly confident of the safety of the the people around you, the space around you and if you can get the time, yourself. I myself, find I short cut some aspects when I am with a small crew of people I trust. unfortunately I know this all too well. I know it can be done but in my experience, only in two ways. Way one is a small group of people who really make things safe for themselves. each person in the group knows and will call one another out when the y see a shortcut being taken. Way two is if a small group take on all the safety roles and enforce them rigidly for anyone else involved. the fuel dump, the safeties, all the safety factors are covered by dedicated personal.
having learned, sometimes through the hard way, how tough it is to do fire safety right, I found that the only time I can have fun with fire is via the first way. and yet, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking, planning, working to provide the second way out at our big events.
This brings me to last Monday night. I was amazed and happy to see my friends continuing to expand and grow beyond needing me to do what they want to do.
BUT
you all did it at my place, without me, without asking me, unsafely, with lots of people I don't know, with lots of people who don't understand fire safety.
All of this that is just about the last thing I want. Just to understand, I am not mad or anger with what happened, I can see why it happened. I can see however that what I want and why I do Monday nights is not there. The night as lost it's focus, grown in a direction I can't support or even condone.
So what does this mean for Monday night classes. First of all, Class will still be occurring. from 6pm till dark we will be working on tool manipulation and flow. Monday nights class was never ever supposed to be about the fire, as a result, I am not going to be participating in any after class fire for a good while. It's the only thing I can think to do right now to end the expectation that fire play will be the outcome of monday nights. It might be for others, but I think it's a bad bad BAD idea right now.
Love
Taz
posted by:
|
San Diego
|
