They call him memory man. Ronnie White, a 36-year-old mental athlete, from Fort Worth Texas—the current U.S. Memory Champion.
[Ronnie White, U.S. Memory Champion]:
“Anybody can do it, anybody can improve their memory. Don’t think ‘this guy is the national memory champion, so he must be a genius, or he must have a higher IQ. I got kicked out of college, okay…”
And just what can Ronnie do? He can memorize an entire deck of cards in under two minutes, then recall them back in the correct order.
Ronnie White, U.S. Memory Champion:
“My friends think it’s the funniest thing in the world that I’m the memory champion. I’m a guy who learned a system and practiced. Anybody, whether they’re 10 years old or 50 years old can learn this and practice it.”
Ronnie retains his title from last year as the U.S Champ. And that takes a calm under pressure. So just how does he do it?
Ron White, U.S. Memory Champion:
“I have hired a navy seal. Navy seals are the coolest guys under pressure. People are shooting bullets at them and their heart rate is not going up. So I hired a navy seal to… how do I handle pressure, how do I remain calm. So that’s what he coached me on. And it worked.”
Ronnie’s training has included memorizing a deck of cards using only one breath of air in a swimming pool.
In August, Ronnie represents the U.S. at the World Memory Champs in China’s Guangzhou province.
NTD News, New York.
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_na/2010-03-08/487315384918.html