here in the outdoors,

which I've heard a lot about.

But first...

my shoe is untied.

So we need to fix that.

Now, most people would mess around doing some kind of complicated knot,

not me - I'm a mathematician.

I've got maths to do.

Grab the two sides, pass 'em over, boom! There's your knot.

Again, in slo-mo!

I'd heard about it, you know, on the maths circuit.

People would discuss the way that you tie your shoes, right?

And so – I know it's been around for a long time, I know it's been passed down

from mathematician to mathematician.

But I'm not familiar with the earliest case, and I have heard names assigned to it,

but I've not come across any one that particularly sticks.

I just call it "that brilliant way to tie your shoes."

(Brady) Be honest with me, is that how you do your shoes?

I do genuinely tie my shoes that way

I know I'm always talking about it

I literally tie my shoes that way.

Up to once a day.

Once it's done, it looks exactly the same, right?

So then people won't go, "That's an unusual knot," right?

But if they actually see it happening

It's like they've seen a magic trick, right?

It just blows their mind

They can't comprehend how a knot can happen so quickly.

But, I'm not startled; I'm a mathematician!

I know what I'm doing.

Okay, you go from completely undone, it starts the same way as a normal knot

You do your little foundation thing

Which in maths is called a trefoil

It has a minimum of three crossings in that particular knot

Now to tie the actual bow

You get one shoelace that's coming out the back

You fold it forward and you hold it on its way down

So it goes up over the loop and then down

This one curls back in the opposite direction

And again you hold it on the way down.

And then all you do is you take this one on the way down and put it under that loop

At the same time as taking this one and putting it under that loop

And then you swap them over to the other hands

And then you pull them tight, and that is your knot!

And with a little bit of practice,

Once you tighten it, hold them on the way down,

cross, pull, knot.

So the one that comes out the back, you fold it forward into a loop

And then you hold it on the way down

So it goes up and then on the way down you're grasping it

Same with this one except it goes back

So it starts at the front, curls back, hold it on the way down

Now you're gonna take this lace, put it under that loop

at the same time as taking this lace and putting it under that loop

So they go past each other

They swap hands, you pull it tight

And there's your knot.

People tie their shoelaces, they get one and they loop the other one around

and they pull it through, which is the normal way.

Although I've noticed, of course, Brady wears slip-ons.

(Brady) Why? What's wrong with them?

For those of us who have entered adulthood

We do it a long, complicated way.

But, the thing is, you end up with a knot that holds your shoe on.

That's the goal here

My shoelaces

Formed with what ordinary people would think is a knot

Now, nothing of this is a mathematical knot

Because it has loose ends

If it has loose ends, you can, in principle, untie it

And you can form a different knot.