A Retrospective Review of
The World Mind Mapping Championships
This article aims to look back on how the World Mind Mapping Championships was born in the last century, paying high tribute to the great thinkers who have contributed to the human civilizations!
Mr. Tony Buzan invented the mind mapping techniques in the 1960s. BBC then broadcasted his Use Your Head series and spread his ideas widely, helping people explore the potentials of the human brain.
Mr. Tony Buzan has got a number of achievements in a variety of fields, whose personal influence has already outweighed that of his works. He makes speeches around the world and has been hired as consultants with some World’s Top 500 enterprises, offering suggestions on education policies for government offices from more than ten countries. His ideas has been quickly accepted and become one part of our existent educational knowledge, which is enough to explain the importance of his work. He has inspired the lives of millions of people and helped them to achieve the extraordinary, which is enough to prove his profound impact on this world.
As the inventor of the mind mapping and the initiator of the World Memory Championships, Mr. Tony Buzan has devoted himself to bring out the gifted abilities of the ordinary and the humble, just like you and me, studying how a person can unlock the hidden mysteries of the human cognition through hard work and accomplish remarkable achievements. Mr. Buzan determined to prove that a person, even not one from the privileged or an art family, can claim the greatest successes in the exploration of the human brain.
His core idea is emancipation, releasing every person’s latent capacity and launching a revolution on personal talent show. If every person is given the correct tools and is taught to learn how to use his or her brain, his or her talent can reach full bloom.
Mr. Tony Buzan’s Chronology
(Also a retrospect on the developments of the memory championships which originated in the 20th century)
June 2nd, 1942 Mr. Tony Buzan was born in London.
1968 Mr. Tony Buzan invented the mind mapping for the purpose of improving memory and learning ability.
1973-1974 BBC’s ten-episode TV series Use Your Brain made its debut along with the publication of the book.
1974 Use Your Brain was first published and made a great impact on the society.Mr. Tony Buzan refined mind mapping theory, making it more and more specific.The feature documentary Magic Loom, which focused on the future developments of education and the human brain, was aired in prime time.
1984 World Speed Reading Championships was founded.Mr. Tony Buzan was awarded Honorary Citizen of London
1989 The Brain Trust Charity (No.1001012) was founded.A global magazine Synapsia (a quarterly issued by the World Brain Club) began its publication and he was invited as editor-in-chief.
1991 Garry Kasparov, the World Chess Champion, was awarded the Brain Trust Charity’s Best Brain Person of the Year.At Temple of Athena Nike Club, along with Mr. Raymond Keene, he launched World Memory Championships. This year witnessed the germination of many projects.
1992 Mr. Tony Buzan celebrated his 50th birthday.
1993 The 2nd World Memory Championships was held in London.Mr. Tony Buzan wrote and published Mind Mapping in collaboration with Professor Barry Buzan from College of International Studies, University of Warwick and Project Supervisor of Center for Peace and Conflict Studies in Copenhagen.Mr. Buzan’s works had been published in 50 countries and translated into more than 30 languages.The world-wide sales of Use Your Brain exceeded 1 million.
1994 The 3rd World Memory Championships was held in London Comprehensive Training for Brain Olympic Games, co-authored by Mr. Buzan and Sir Raymond Keene, was published.
1995 Under the auspices of the Prince of the Principality of Liechtenstein, An event was held at Hanbury Manor Hotel, where International Grandmaster of Memory (IGM) titles was set up to honor those deserving ones.
Mr Buzan received the title of International Brain World Record Arbiter from the royal family.
The 4th World Memory Championships took place in London.
The first International Thinking Festival was launched in collaboration with Mr. Raymond Keene, which concentrated on the comprehensive display of five thinking competitions, including memory, speed reading, mind mapping, creativity and intelligence. This first festival attracted more than 3,000 candidates from 50 countries and since then, more than 30,000 candidates from at least 74 countries attended the subsequent four festivals.
Brain Competitions and International Thinking Festivals have brought brain knowledge to an amazingly new upsurge.
1996 The 5th World Memory Championships was held in London.
The first Annual Mind Mapping Competition with London Brain Club was held.
1997 The 6th World Memory Championships was held in London.
The first World Brain Olympic Games was held in Royal Festival Hall, London, which included the 2nd Annual Mind Mapping Competition with London Brain Club.
Brain World Records, which Mr. Buzan co-authored with Mr. Raymond Keene, went into publication.
1998 The 7th World Memory Championships was held in London.
The 2nd World Brain Olympic Games took place in Hammersmith, London.
The 1st World Mind Mapping Championships came into being.
1999 The 8th World Memory Championships was held in London. The 3rd World Brain Olympic Games was held in Olympia.
The World Brain Championships, which was so-sponsored by Mr. Tony Buzan, the inventor of mind mapping and Sir Raymond Keene, the International Chess Grandmaster, originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It includes various colorful intelligence test items, such as World Memory Championships (until 2018, it had already been held 27 times), the World Mind Mapping Championships (2018 saw its holding for the 10th time), the World Speed Reading Championships, Creativity Championships, etc. With profound historical culture and extensive foundation for internalization, it has started an active expansion campaign into over 37 countries. More and more brain stars born out of the above competitions have become media figures, best-selling authors and idols.
Looking back on history, let’s salute to our predecessors.
We hope that every person in this world could respect the great masters in literature, culture, sciences and human thought and extend thanks to them, contributing to the protection of property rights.