Man Swallows Rocket-Powered Sword

(April 4) -- For most of us, the idea of swallowing a sword sounds dangerous and downright crazy. For performer Scott Nelson, it wasn't dangerous or crazy enough. So he attached a rocket motor to the hilt of his sword and shot it straight down his throat.

The fiery rocket drives the 26-inch blade down Nelson's esophagus and into his stomach with 5 to 8 pounds of pressure. It takes about a second. "It goes fast," he emphasized. "I stop it with my teeth and my throat before it goes any further. It's completely insane, I must admit."

Nelson, who uses the stage name Murrugun the Mystic, will debut the stunt in public on April 10 at San Diego's Seaport Village Spring Busker Festival -- and shortly before the big day, he demonstrated the act for AOL News contributor David Moye.

"Murrugun" is derived from the Hindu God of War, Murugan, who was often depicted with a sword.

So how did this 45-year-old sword swallower practice a stunt like this and live to perfect it? He started with a small rocket and worked his way up, of course. "I had to find the right amount of Newtons to drive it," he said. "I started low, then you boost it up a little, boost it up a little." Eventually he found just enough force to entertain without ending up in the hospital.

The idea was inspired by a late 19th-century sword swallower, Delno Fritz, who would swallow a bayonet attached to a rifle. When fired, the recoil propelled the blade down his gullet.

"That's just a kick off of an explosion, so I thought, what if it was a constant drive, a constant pressure?" Nelson said. "Why don't I take a sword and put a rocket motor down there?"

Other sword swallowers have taken notice. "Scott has taken that [recoil] concept to a whole new level," said Dan Meyer, president of Sword Swallowers Association International. "Swallowing a single sword is extremely difficult and dangerous enough as it is, and there are very few people in the world who can do it. But I've never seen anyone do anything like this before. It's original, it's contemporary, and it's extremely dangerous."

For Nelson, the feat is a culmination of his life's passions and talents. Since he was a child, he was fascinated with Ripley's Believe It Or Not! books and the 1932 Tod Browning film "Freaks," which starred real human oddities. When he was 12, he saw Gene Simmons of Kiss blow fire from his mouth and decided he could do the same. And he did.

As he immersed himself in life's bizarre side, his grandmother, a reverend of metaphysics, was teaching him transcendental meditation. "She thought it would calm me down at school," Nelson said. "Later on I figured out I could use that training for what I'm doing now."

Eventually he applied his relaxation techniques to various sideshow stunts. He regularly walks on hot coals, pierces thin steel rods through his flesh and performs other seemingly tortuous acts with San Diego's neo-vaudeville/circus group Zirk Ubu and the Venice Beach Freakshow.

The rocket sword, however, required much more than meditation. Aside from intense focus, he had two other things: a background in machining and a brother who was a professional pyrotechnician. His brother died four years ago (not work related) and left him a box of "just crazy stuff."

Inside was a rocket motor. And everything came together.

After the Busker Festival, Nelson will repeat the stunt for Ripley's, which will film the event at its Hollywood location next month.

As for any other performers who may wish to imitate the stunt, Nelson simply says, "Don't do it." But not because of the danger. "It's patent pending. I'm keeping this one to myself."

Also: So You Want to Be a Sword Swallower