“Give me 30 random numbers,” Erwin Balines, award-winning memory athlete and coach and founder of NeuronConnect Learning Hub, confidently asked a volunteer among his students. Blindfolded, he did an on-the-spot demonstration to kick off the memory enhancement workshop he conducted over a video call a month ago.
What I witnessed next was mind-blowing. Coach Erwin accurately enumerated each number (The series of numbers was placed on the chat box for reference) and also recited everything in reverse. As if that was not impressive enough, the memory master also pointed out that the enumerated items totaled 32 and had extra numbers.
While he quickly impressed the class composed of incoming graduate, medical, and law school students, board and bar exam takers, regular professionals, and plain enthusiasts, Coach Erwin was quick to downplay what seemed like a daunting task.
Like a magician unveiling his magic tricks, the Filipino Grandmaster of Memory encouraged his students by humbly revealing that he studied techniques as a memory sports champion. True enough, barely an hour into the class, his tricks of the trade were proven effective. He quizzed us after making us memorize around 25 pairs of random and unrelated items on a list under a time limit. Almost a hundred percent of the participants gained instant mastery of the technique.
To say the class was impressive is an understatement. I can say it was worth every peso I invested and is one of the best and most useful workshops I have ever attended. As Coach Erwin said, enhancing one’s memory brings about these benefits – academic excellence, productivity, professional growth, self-discipline, rapid skill development, improved focus, and stress reduction.
“Memory sport is a tournament in which competitors attempt to memorize and recall the most information they can in a limited time,” Coach Erwin explained his field of expertise. “It has ten events where competitors will be required to memorize random cards, numbers, names, images, dates, and words.”
Our first and only Filipino Asian Master of Memory takes pride in memorizing 25 decks of playing cards (1,300 cards) in an hour. I later discovered that on record, only a few people are skilled enough to memorize at least 20 decks in a competition.
“It helped me to improve my performance at work,” Coach Erwin told Random Talk about how being a memory athlete helped him in his career. “I can easily remember names, presentations, procedures, processes, tasks, schedules, new skills, and others.”
In 2019, from being a software engineer, he began coaching individuals interested in improving their memory. Coach Erwin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Manila in 2009.
For someone who describes himself as an average student back in school, our featured coach won several quiz contests in the metro and nationwide, graced numerous TV programs and broadsheets, and is a sought-after keynote speaker later in life. Coach Erwin also brought pride to the country, as previously mentioned. After making history as the first and six-time Philippine memory champion, he has also won 92 medals in international memory competitions. His long list of awards and titles is carefully laid out on his website erwinbalines.com.
Who would have thought Coach Erwin’s string of successes just snowballed when he saw an advertisement for the Philippine Memory Team’s training? He enrolled, and the rest is history. He shared, “I started in 2011 at age 23. My first international competition is the World Memory Championship 2011 in Guangzhou, China.”
According to news reports, the Philippine Memory team scored second in the competition. For his contribution, Coach Erwin memorized a 1,340-digit number in an hour and memorized a deck of cards (52 playing cards) in one minute and 19 seconds.
As he repeatedly emphasizes, it may not take a genius to do what Coach Erwin does, but it still takes some unique qualities to earn the distinctions. He advises aspiring memory athletes to “have the desire and determination to train hard, especially if you want to compete internationally, be able to push yourself to the limit, and have a winning mindset and belief in one’s abilities.” Anyone who aims to take care of their memory needs to avoid stress as much as possible, sleep well, and stay mentally active.
“There is no such thing as a poor memory, only an untrained one,” says a line in Coach Erwin’s official website. He is proof that what has been given can be developed by putting in the work. And that one can reach the top, stay grounded, and never let success get in the head.