Why is Tolly Burkan called the founding father of the firewalking movement?
A. Up until the time that Tolly first firewalked in 1977, the ritual had never been used as a personal growth technique, nor taught as a self-improvement class for the public. Over the next seven years, Tolly was the only person in the world teaching firewalking classes. During that time, by making many mistakes, he learned how NOT to walk on fire and how NOT to build the coal bed. In 1984, when others who learned from Tolly started teaching firewalking themselves, they all benefited from his mistakes and his many years of experience. It took tremendous courage to be the first person promoting firewalking to the public. Tolly literally created a new paradigm, and later instructors merely had to follow in his footsteps. Also, virtually everyone used, and still uses, Tolly’s format of employing the firewalk as a personal growth technique.
