After being practiced for more than 4,000 years, it’s safe to say sword swallowing is one of the oldest forms of entertainment.

It’s also one of the least understood, according to Dan Meyer, president of Sword Swallowers Association International and one of a few dozen people in the world who practice the art.

Meyer has shoved thousands of various ― and often sharp ― objects down his gullet for 25 years but says people still think it’s fake.

“I was doing a show in Muncie, Indiana, and I had an esophageal surgeon on stage and he still didn’t think it was real,” Meyer told HuffPost.

Meyer also laments that the very real ways sword swallowers have helped non-object-ingesting humans have been ignored.

For instance, in 1868, a sword swallower helped German doctor Adolf Kussmaul develop the first rigid endoscope, and in 1906, a sword swallower underwent the world’s first esophageal electrocardiogram.

Meyer has done his own work in that capacity, by coauthoring the first comprehensive medical study on sword swallowing in 2006, earning the 2007 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine in the process.

Meyer and his fellow sword swallowers have been trying to sharpen the average person’s understanding of the art form by celebrating World Sword Swallowers Day on Saturday, Feb. 22.

The event has been going on since 2007 on the last Saturday of February, which just happens to be National Swallowing Disorders Month.

Sword swallowers all over the world celebrate the day at various places, including many Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Odditoriums around the world.

The day’s big moment comes with a global group sword gobble taking place at 2:22 and 25 seconds local time. Meyer will be swallowing at the Ripley’s location in Phoenix with two other sword swallowers.

Meyer is also using the day to promote his latest project, the sword-swallowing history book “To The Hilt: A Sword Swallower’s History Of Sword Swallowing,” which he cowrote with sideshow historian Marc Hartzman.

The book details how sword swallowing has evolved since it was first performed in India 4,000 years ago and includes bios on nearly 80 performers.

“I was afraid it would get repetitious, but each sword swallower had something different or unique from the others, whether it’s their performing style or their backstory,” Hartzman told HuffPost.

In working on the book with Meyer, Hartzman also learned just how much effort goes into the craft, which involves mentally adjusting the inner organs to allow the blade’s passage through the body.

“I would say, don’t try to become one,” Hartzman admitted. “Everyone who does it has a mentor, but everyone is different. Some people can learn it in months, but Dan needed 13,000 attempts before he could do it.”

Meyer puts that number at closer to 14,000 but says learning hypnosis techniques helped him finally achieve his gullet goal. He proudly adds, “I’ve never thrown up.”

It remains to be seen whether the world treats sword swallowing as the equal to other performing arts such as dance, music or drama, but Meyer is at least confident that his job is safe from being taken over by A.I.

“A computer won’t take my job,” Meyer said. “You can’t replicate it. That’s why people are shocked by [sword swallowing] ― because it’s real!”