How does a shaman dance on top of two sharp blades?

[joohang]

Any ideas?

I am referring to Korean shamans, more specifically.

I personally haven't seen a shaman ritual, but my professor has. He was only a couple of meters away from her.

So according to him, a family asked a shaman to hold a ritual in a boat. The boat was obviously shaky and they setup two sharp blades. The shaman became "possessed", stood on those blades and danced. The "dance" involves a lot of jumping. The shaman was perfectly in balance in a shaky boat and finished the ritual without a single scratch in her feet.

Now, I've seen some scientifc explanations of some "superhumans" walking on eggs and pulling an airplane.. but how could this be explained scientifically? Or is it not possible with our current understanding of science?

 

[CSoup]

maybe the person has very thick skin on his/her feet?

 

[joohang]

<< maybe the person has very thick skin on his/her feet? >>


Maybe.

 

[yoda291]

Don't you know? It's on page 133 of Earthling's guide to bein korean silly. hehe. Actually, I'd imagine it'd have something to do with having feet that kinda wrap around the blade, making for a larger surface area to support oneself.

 

[joohang]

How does "wrapping" around the blade increase the surface area?

Not to mention that this shaman JUMPED up and down in this blade while maintaining perfect balance in a shaky boat.

 

[N8Magic]

Consider this:

When peeling vegetables, you can press a knife against your skin and it won't cut your finger. It WILL cut your finger if you slide it along your finger. (even a bit)

The shaman likely uses a similar method. Jumping straight up and down on a knife blade would not cut your foot, but if you were to move the wrong way just a bit and the blade was to slide along your skin (even a bit), it would cut it. He/she has probably practiced this many times before and has it down to a science.

 

[joohang]

That's an interesting response.

But then.. on a shaky boat..

 

[Sluggo]

<< Consider this:

When peeling vegetables, you can press a knife against your skin and it won't cut your finger. It WILL cut your finger if you slide it along your finger. (even a bit)

The shaman likely uses a similar method. Jumping straight up and down on a knife blade would not cut your foot, but if you were to move the wrong way just a bit and the blade was to slide along your skin (even a bit), it would cut it. He/she has probably practiced this many times before and has it down to a science. >>



I'll go for that, even a guillotine has to have a slanted blade enabling it to slide/slice not just plunk down and break the neck.

Even when I worked at a print shop years ago, the huge machine that cut 2 foot thick stacks of paper, had a slicing motion to it. It wouldnt work just pressing down on the paper, even though it was a 8 foot blade sharp as a razor, it had to have the across motion for it to work.

 

[yakko]

Also those blades are not as sharp as you think.

 

[joohang]

Bump

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Anyone can dance on blades. They key is not to get cut.

Nik