This supposedly a response from the guy on the video, I found on another website. I don't know if it is real or not.
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Hey Everyone,
So the owner of speedcubing.com showed me this site after it received
an inordinate number of hits from here. I'm the guy in the video and I
thought I might as well put in my own two cents.
Yeah, so it's not so bad here, but my blindfold video got posted on
some similar sites in The Netherlands. Just to clarify, I'm not a
"Chinese-cube master trained since infancy." I learned how to solve
the Rubik's Cube 2 years ago.
As for this, I really didn't cheat. I couldn't see the blindfold, and
my taping on the pieces was a way of recalling what I had memorized
earlier. There was no brail on the stickers or anything.
First of all, solving a Rubik's Cube is possible for anyone. There are
many solutions on the internet. I have written on myself and you can
find it at http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~tmao/SolveTheCube.doc . If
you have any questions about that solution manual, feel free to send me
an e-mail and I'll do my best to help you out. There are also many
other solutions on the internet.
Second of all, solving the cube blindfolded is also possible for
anyone. Memory is not innate. Instead, it is practiced and learned.
I sucked really bad when I started out and I improved considerably as I
practiced more and more. I have a blindfold manual up but it's not
completely finished and I need to revise it. If you're so inclined,
you may access it at http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~tmao/blindfold.doc .
So once more, it wasn't staged. I didn't look at the cube at all
before I started looking at it in the video. I don't really get beat
up at school either. Who would waste their time? Also, I filmed that
video in my office so I did it at a time when my co-workers weren't
around so it wouldn't be too distracting. My father didn't beat me
either.
As for the "when I'm not cubing I get to do", the video was never
intended for massive public release like this. I was at my office and
I was working on the geographical surface mapping of Mars so that
colored maps is a map of Mars.
The world champion you saw on the Discovery Channel was Shotaro
Makisumi. You'll see me in that video clip announcing the 'start' of
the tournament.
And yeah, there are many non-'skinny Asian' kids who can do this too.
Blindfolding a Rubik's Cube doesn't take any special powers or immense
brain capacity. It's something that can be learned by anyone if you
have the desire and patience.
I better get back to work. My cubical mates are telling me to cube
battle now, thanks to your comment. BATTLE!
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