This is a video of an arithmetic challenge that took place in China in 2015. It is China against Japan, and the title is called the best brain of China. I shared a video on arithmetic previously, and a student mentioned that this only possible after years of training. So here is some kids showing us how math is done!

As you observe from the video, the participants are really young, as young as 9 years old! And the mental arithmetic skills exhibited here is truly insane. I shared this video to show students how “cool” is it to be able to do mental calculations really fast. At the same time, I hope to motivate students to brush up on their arithmetic skills.

From my experience, students with strong arithmetic backgrounds, are able to be more meticulous with their work. They can check their own work efficiently. Furthermore, it removes over-reliance on calculator. It pains me to see students do $2-6$ with calculator. Just a few days back, one students got a question wrong and realised she calculated it correctly but keyed in wrongly in calculator. She trusted the calculator and went ahead. This is really a waste, and I notice this in many students.

If I do have kids, I will hope to train their arithmetic skills up. And that will begin by putting the calculator away.