Ancient Samoan gestures of victory with the nifo oti, or the deadly tooth, can be seen in modern fireknife dancing. Traditionally, boar tusks or shark teeth were attached to the nifo oti, but over time the weapon/prop has changed into a knife. Flames were added in the 1940s, according to the World Fireknife Championships website.
When I started to learn how to fireknife, I luckily didn’t start with a nifo oti. Instead, I was given a PVC pipe wrapped in masking tape that can sting when it smacks you in the head. My teacher was David Galeai, winner of the World Fireknife Championships for three years, in 1999, 2000, and 2003. He has been teaching his kids and other young children the art. I learned basic moves, such as spinning the fireknife, while the 6, 7, and 8-year-olds threw theirs into the air, caught them and spun them around their body.
Despite being intimidated, I was determined to learn how to do fireknife dance. I learned the first basic move, where I held my ‘fireknife’ underhand so I could see my fingers, spun it over the back of my hand, and passed it to my other hand to do the exact same trick. This simple motion quickly became my favorite trick.
The second move I learned was to hold it in my right hand overhand, and roll it over my hand into a spin above my head and catch it with my left hand. Although it was broken down considerably for me, the trick would eventually look like a circle of flames, one of the most photographed tricks of fireknife dancers.
Other moves I learned were to spin the fireknife around my arm, which eventually turned into me throwing it high in the air and catching it. This led to one of the most important things to learn: timing. If you do not catch the nifo oti at the right time, you will drop it. Though timing can be coached, it is not easily taught.
Galeai said consistent practice and learning can make your timing better and better.
When you compete, you have to show your warrior spirit, said Galeai. I could not get into that mindset yet, so I asked my teacher how to get there. He told me, “There’s a switch you can turn on and off. You’ve got to practice hard until you get to that point. For me, I could be really tired before the show, and right before I go on, ‘Boom!’ I switch. When it’s time to go to business, you go to business.”
Learning how to do fireknife tricks became really fun for me. It was rewarding every time I caught the fireknife. I would try my best to catch it in the air, because I didn’t like to constantly pick it up.
As I began to learn more moves, past moves became more and more essential because they influenced everything I learned going forward. I was all the more impressed with the talented performers, because they put in so much effort to get to the point of where they can perform so effortlessly. Despite cuts and burns that might happen along the way, they are all so talented.