Its a proof of faith. An ago old tradition and practice of mental strength.
These rednecks in that pictures are nuts.
Its a spirtual experience, and its disrespectful to call them "nuts" Their are alot of factors that come into play. Like that fact that your foot will cool the a coal amber faster than it can heat up your foot. Ohh trust me it burns. but its not like standing on your stove with the burners own. OUCH! If anything outher that coal is in the coal walking pit, their is a high chance of serious burns.
Real. I've walked on coals. I did get one tiny burn where a little piece of coal got stuck between my toes, but that is it. Another guy that was doing it also burned his ankle a bit when the frayed cuff of his jeans caught fire. Everybody else (maybe 6 people) made it through unscathed.
It has a lot more to do with physics than faith or mental preparedness. The main factor at work is that while the coals are very hot, they have a low specific heat. Like Fishingout said, your foot (high specific heat) cools the coal (low specific heat) much more than the coal heats your foot. Also, the ash coating the outside of the nearly spent coals acts as an insulator.
What gets me is you can find all kinds of pics of people walking on hot coals, but no pics of the bottom of their feet after wards? Same with walking on broken glass! No bloody and blistered feet pics?
