There’s something about humans, find a task, and someone will do it faster and turn it into a competition.  Take Pheidippides for example who was a courier who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to deliver the message of the Greek victory over Persia and then dropped dead. Today people still run 42.2km, trying to do it faster than others (some do it for fun), and try really hard not to re-enact the run too accurately, by not dying at the finish line.

Take the Rubik’s Cube, not quite a dramatic story here. Unintentionally invented as a puzzle by Hungarian sculptor and architect Erno Rubik, who was trying to make a mechanism where the sides all slid past each other independently of the others. Made from wooden blocks and rubber bands, he didn’t realise he’d invented a puzzle until he scrambled it for the first time and it took him month to solve. Enter human nature, the need to get faster at something, turn it into a competition and now speed cubing is a sport and the world record is 3.13 seconds (and no dropping dead here either, which would be overly dramatic for this sport).  Apparently, there are 43 quintillion possibilities to solve the cube.

In October 2023, my son took up cubing. We were holidaying with friends, and their son taught him the basics. I’m out of my depth here, so enter YouTube and influencers (there are far worse people in the world to influence your child) who teach algorithms for solving the cube.  Initially a 2x2x2 cube, moving on to the traditional 3x3x3, then a pyramid shaped thing (pyramix) and other weird twisty contraptions. He then tells me he wants to enter a competition.

The first event was the Summer Nationals. He registers with the World Cube Association, competing and getting official times.  I’m sitting here writing this at his second comp, the Australian Nationals.  People have flown in from all over Australia, and there are also international competitors too, and we’ve just got to meet his favourite influencer from Youtube. It’s a really slickly run event. Believe me I’ve been to some shocking events in my time, this is not one of them. It’s super well organised and it is running really smoothly.  Hundreds of competitors, and the event relies heavily on volunteers.

The youngest competitor today is 6 years old, and the oldest – well I didn’t ask her age.  She took up cubing to keep her brain agile and prevent dementia in aging. And I just witnessed the most incredible thing – a beautiful mind solving a 4x4x4 cube, blindfolded in 3 minutes and 50 seconds.  Click click click – an average of 2 moves per second, over 4 minutes, some 230 moves, all from memory.  This skill and gift makes kicking a ball through upright posts from 50 metres feel somewhat achievable to the average Joe..

I came prepared to “be busy” and brush up on some professional development, rather than sitting in a chair for the day.  BUT, they needed volunteer judges and runners.  SO I sit at a table first with first timers here for fun, experience and tribe. Then moving on to more experienced competitors.  Seven News are here, because someone is here to have a crack at the World Record.  I’ve clocked over 10,000 steps so far running cubes from the scramble desk to competitors, and returning cubes back to be scrambled.

Click click click, slip slip slip.  Entry level cubes make a particular sound, speed cubes (the budget is endless) with “Maglev technology”, ball cores and corner cutting barely whisper as the nimble fingers spin the layers with speed and accuracy.

There’s something that I truly believe, and that is there is an activity for everyone out there. Find it, participate for fun, find your tribe (the people who understand your passion), move in to an amateur level or go for broke.  When it comes to cubing, when I try to solve, all I get is frustrated and a headache – that’s not just a skill but a talent and ability that others have.  But you might be interested.  Whether you want a passion or an obsession, speed cubing just might be for you.

Back at the desk now, stop watch in hand. I have to tell a 10 year old that his solve is a DNF and he takes it like a champ.  Next competitor – a 1.5 second solve on a 2x2x2.  Then I’m caught out for day dreaming.  Ooopsy my brain was tired, and its time for a rest.

So how did HE go, you know, my son.  Knocked 5 seconds off his best time for one of the puzzles (an improvement of 45%), and 4 seconds off his harder puzzle – a 10% improvement.  A long way off the world record holder, and miles ahead of Erno Rubik. He’s had the time of his life.  Tribe.

This isn’t JUST a children’s toy, and I think the history proves otherwise anyway.  It’s an activity and a sport that requires the ability to think in multiple dimensions, to think several steps ahead, and understand patterns and sequences. It requires dexterity and agility. And where learning (like any other skill) requires patience and practice and a healthy dose of competition.

To the World Cubing Association and Speed Cubing Australia – good on you guys for a fabulous community, a sensational event, your leadership and volunteering. And importantly, to ensure that people have an opportunity to explore their passion, get good at it, and come together in celebration.

David

Husband | Father | Massage Guy