Firstly, Labyrinth Training is an unusual "sport" starting to be played by groups all around the world, as a part of a global part-online/part-real-world interactive-story/game which has been financed by the Olympic Committee. I know that sounds overly complicated, so let's simplify...
Put simply and visually, it is played something like this:
(you can skip the 30 second intro)
First you draw a Labyrinth pattern on the ground - which is different to maze, because there is only one single path which winds around itself from the centre outwards. Then one person starts in the centre blindfolded, and with their arms crossed. The other people form human "walls" along the lines of the labyrinth, and as the blindfolded "runner" approaches they begin to hum - guiding the runner. Once the runner has gone past a member of the wall, that person stops humming, and runs along to join the other end of the "wall" - ensuring that the walls are always ahead of the runner - which we fail to do somewhat in the video above.
There are three different Labyrinth Sizes, 3-Circuit, 5-Circuit (as in the photo above) and 7-Circuit. Our Wellington team currently holds the female runner international record for the 3-Circuit size. Our aim is to build a sizable group of players who can hold our own against the other teams rising up all around the world - everywhere from South America, to Canada, to Spain and Japan. You can find videos from a few other places (including our first session) here, as a part of the blog of the overall game's designer.
To have all the "walls" of a 7-Circuit labyrinth filled with people from the start, it takes a group of 150 people, and one of our goals is to arrange (in a couple of months) a huge "family fun day" in Waitangi Park with that number, which can be filmed from multiple angles and uploaded to the net for the world to see. Just because it would be awesome.
As such, we're hoping to get as many people as we can to start coming along to the training sessions they can make it to. We'd like to hang onto our record time, and start setting a bunch more.
Basically, Labyrinth Training is a really fun team "sport" we've been playing outdoors with a good sense of humour, tea, coffee and biscuits. As the wider game gains an increasingly global profile, it's also a chance to put little old Wellington New Zealand on the map. Why not?
For upcoming training sessions, check out our blog at http://www.thelostsport.co.nz.
For more information on the "Lost Sport" and the wider game, check out our FAQ.