Geo1

The most mentally strong athlete.

Totally off-topic, but I came across one of Mark Twain's quotes: The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. Yuzuru Hanyu is one of the very rare people who knows why he was born: "I was born to skate."

Yuzu and his mother returned to Japan shortly after the closure of the Cricket Club. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otm4RusESNU

Yuzu has returned to Japan.

Yuzu would be with his family in Sendai. Ice Rink Sendai is going to be closed to the public for two weeks from April 4 to April 19. Whether it opens again for the public on April 20 will be reconsidered at that time depending on the circumstances. Ice skating classes will not be affected by the public closure from April 4 to April 19. Given his stature and what he has done for Ice Rink Sendai, I would think that private arrangements would be made for Yuzu to practice on his own. Yuzu will make sure that Ice Rink Sendai remains financially viable.

Not nearly as good as an English subtitled video, but these are the English words that I transcribed from the subtitled video that I downloaded. I made some minor edits to the original subtitled English. The English title for the video is: 50 WAYS TO FAN YUZURU HANYU Here comes October again and I become a (new) fan of Hanyu I try to catch up with old fans (regarding information about Yuzu) How to fan Yuzuru Hanyu correctly? By lying down or standing up? Finally we should all kneel down and worship his highness Then it's time to join a fan group for resources Firstly watch all his competitions and news There are live shows, interviews and documentaries OH GOD! OH GOD! My face bursting into flames (nosebleed) I blame the sexy Yuzu from FaOI Searching around for FaOI brochure And buy all the magazines, photo books and Blue Flame OH GOD! OH GOD! Then scan all pics to my computer Those super fans release their photos again! There are no lyrics here – make something up yourself – so sorry! (Actual subtitles!) Translate news and articles Make your own (Yuzu) goods and paint Angel Yuzu Buy the same necklace as Yuzu So you can meet other Yuzu fans occasionally Group together and go crazy for Yuzu Bring photos and have dinner together Then kneel down together and worship his performance together (in front of TV) Exchange different experiences as Yuzu fans Those super fans have made him a song Or made him videos OH GOD! OH GOD! Let’s play the music he performed in the competition Listen to them on Yuzu earphones And when time flies You will find yourself sitting in the venues or watching the competitions sitting in front of your TV OH GOD! OH GOD! (I was) too focused watching Yuzu and my mobile dropped on my face! Calculating the score results NO LYRICS – how can this music be that long? (Actual subtitles!) IT'S YOU AGAIN! J5! JUDGE! Go to Sendai to change my mood Take as many photos as I can (I) want to meet coach Nanami and Mr. Yoshida Then (go to) pray for Yuzu at Yuzuru-Ha shrine Collect all music from the competitions Collect all the videos Its time to buy a new mobile with a larger drive Tons of NEWS! Thumbs up for GIF! Manage Photoshop Sign up for twi, weibo and Yuzuru Planet OH GOD! OH GOD! Mastered all kinds of skills Use self-made poster to promote him Hold up banner wishing he would see it OH GOD! OH GOD! Does he see it? (He does and he winks in the picture) Speechless for the excitement! With a crazy big laugh on my face (I) become crazy every time I think of him! OH GOD! OH GOD! In the greatest time of my life! I become a fan of Yuzuru Hanyu Today is another Happy Yuzu Day

I believe that Yuzu and his mother are back in Japan. If this is true, I would fully understand Yuzu’s reasons for doing so. Not only are his father and sister there, but also his elderly grandparents and other relatives as well. I am sure that he would rather be with them at this critical time. This pandemic is going to be with us for quite a while, months if not longer, and Yuzu knows it. Furthermore, he is better off in Sendai than he is in Toronto. The only reason why he was in Toronto was to practice at the Cricket Club. The Cricket Club is closed indefinitely. They have no close friends or relatives in Toronto. They really are isolated in that sense. Ontario currently has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada at 489 with British Columbia running neck and neck at 472. As I said earlier, Tohoku has no confirmed cases of the virus yet. (Knock on wood!) Yuzu and his mother have a greater chance of contracting the virus in Toronto than they do in Sendai, even if they are just going out to get groceries. If by chance one or both of them were to contract the virus in Toronto, they would really be in trouble. In Sendai, they are not emotionally isolated. They are surrounded by family, relatives and friends, all speaking Japanese and sharing a common culture. They have plenty of people to help them if the necessity arises. If I am right, I think that Yuzu is where he can be happy, healthy and best able to weather this storm. Although I am certainly not suggesting that Yuzu should or would go skating, I note that Ice Rink Sendai still appears to be open.

You’re right, @Fay. I’ve never seen this before. I’ve added it to my collection. Thanks!

I don’t think we want Yuzu popping the 4A or any other jumps! LOL! I am pretty confident that Yuzu will have two sparkling new mind-blowing programs next season. Praying, hoping, wishing and crossing fingers that the coronavirus will be gone, under control or on the wane and not interfere with next season’s competitions.

That’s the HATE-NAVI video in March 2014 showing Yuzu’s popularity and, amongst other things, visiting an animation school to demonstrate how Yuzu has the same proportions as anime characters, right? One of my favourite videos! Is it still around?

Québec has only 4 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the novo-coronavirus and no deaths. Canada as a whole has 74 confirmed cases and one death which occurred today in British Columbia – a man in his 80s. Therefore, it is unlikely that cases will increase exponentially in Canada and, particularly, in Québec over the next week or so. The risk in attending Worlds is the same risk that you run when you attend any event involving thousands of people in a concentrated area, especially since people are coming from all over the world – from countries that have a higher incidence of the coronavirus than Canada does. As far as I know, Canada does not restrict the entry of foreign nationals. The United States has close to 600 or more confirmed cases of the coronavirus with at least 21 deaths. At last count, 34 states have confirmed cases of the virus.

I know, OT and wrong thread, but what a great picture! I've never seen it before.

Thanks for the translation, @Fay!

Many people have commented on this already, but he has hardwired artistry and natural musicality. At 6:54 of the Yuzuru Hanyu FS 2012 Worlds Best Comments video, the commentator says: “He has an artistic feeling that comes from deep inside, that’s inborn.” My favourite comment: “Oh my God, that face!”

I knew what you were talking about before I started the video. I remember him starting Firebird in the crouched position.

ACI will be held September 17-19, 2020.

It may not be official, but the information is reliable. My source is a senior manager at Skate Canada. It will be held September 17-19, 2020. Ghislain Briand told me last year when I was speaking to him at ACI that this event would not be held in Oakville again because they are always two-year contracts. So I was surprised when I was told that it would be held in Oakville again.

I am informed that ACI is going to be held in the same venue – 16 Mile Sports Complex – in Oakville again (for the third time) this year. I was told that this has been made public, but I could not find the announcement anywhere. Hopefully, Yuzu will be competing at ACI again this year. Fingers crossed!

I am not going to Worlds, but I would like one sent to me. I would like the green Seimei without embellishment and, as you know, my name is George/Geo1. I believe you have my card with my address and contact information. If not, I can send it to you privately. Alternatively, you can hold onto it and give it to me at ACI if, hopefully, Yuzu is competing there this year. I am informed that ACI will be held in the same venue in Oakville again.

Remember how glossy his lips looked during the press conference following the 2018 Sendai Olympic victory parade? It didn't look that glossy during the parade, so that must be lip gloss applied during makeup for the TV press conference appearance. Sorry, I don't know the brand he uses. (Not that I would admit it even if I knew.)

I don't know whether it was "gloss". All Yuzu said was, "Lip". It was some kind of lip makeup.

At about 3:05 of this making of CM for Ghana chocolates, this exact point is being demonstrated. Yuzu is coming back to the makeup person and saying basically, “There’s no point, right? The wax has melted because of the sweat. (The makeup person interjects: “The foundation, too.”) Yes, the foundation, too. My lip (gloss) as well.”

No.

I don’t want to belabor the point @rockstaryuzu, but you specifically said that there’s no doubt that Yuzu has consulted a sports psychologist. I don’t think he has consulted with a sports psychologist. I have no doubt that Brian and others at TCC employ sports psychology in their training of the athletes, but that is different from Yuzu directly consulting a sports psychologist. I just wanted to clarify what I was talking about.

It looks like I opened a can of worms with my posting. I never said that strong people don’t need a therapist nor did I say that seeking help meant that a person is weak. I am not some kind of Neanderthal. I was looking at this purely from Yuzuru Hanyu’s perspective. I said that he was too strong and too self-reliant to seek a therapist. This is based on everything I’ve seen of and heard from Yuzu over the years. Perhaps I should have said that he was too strong-willed. I was a trial lawyer specializing in personal injury for over 35 years and I am fully aware of the benefits of psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists. In dealing with my clients’ cases, I would arrange for independent assessments by the appropriate experts, including those involving mental health. If the family physician of a particular client had not referred him or her for psychological counseling and the independent assessment I had arranged recommended it, I would send the independent assessment report to the family physician and request the appropriate referral. If I personally thought that the client would benefit from counseling, I would speak to his or her family physician and try to arrange for it. So I am not blind to the potential benefit of counseling of any kind, including me providing non-legal, supportive counseling to my clients. In my experience as a lawyer, I found that counseling was of benefit to some of my clients and not to others. There were many of my clients who did not require counseling even though they had suffered devastating injuries. I feel compelled to give a summarized version of my own life so that people know where I am coming from. I personally have had to deal with a life altering injury and a series of challenges. At the age of 27, a year and a half after I had become a lawyer, I lost control of my vehicle on a highway, went into a ditch, shot out like a ski jump, turned turtle in mid air and came down on the roof. I broke my neck and was rendered a quadriplegic. When I arrived at the acute spinal cord injury unit, I was paralyzed from the neck down. The orthopedic resident who first spoke to me in the Intensive Care Unit did not have much of a bedside manner. His first words to me were, “You’ve broken your neck and you’re paralyzed from the neck down. We have to put your neck in traction and in order to do that we have to attach a halo ring on your head with four screws using a torque wrench. To freeze the screw sites, we are going to inject them with anesthetic, and that’s going to hurt.” The thought that went through my mind when I heard that was, “I have no feeling from my neck down. Why the fuck do they have to stick needles into the only part of my body that has sensation?” They did a discectomy and I started to recover function. 4 ½ months later, I walked out of the spinal cord unit on elbow crutches. I spent 3 ½ months as an inpatient at a rehabilitation centre and at the end of it, I walked out without any aids. I spent another 3 months as an outpatient attending rehab 1 ½ days per week and working as a lawyer 3 ½ days a week. At the end of that, I returned to work full-time. I was considered the miracle of the spinal cord unit for recovering as much as I did. Prior to the injury, I was very physically active. I had my black belt in judo and competed at two Canadian national championships. I skied and participated in any pickup sports or physical activities. I was a good dancer and had natural musicality. I was also very artistic and had beautiful handwriting. As a result of the injury, I could no longer run or participate in any sports. I lost the dexterity in my hands so that I was no longer artistic nor did I have very good handwriting. I was incontinent with respect to both my bladder and bowel functions. I had to wear a leg bag for my urine and just had to be very careful about my bowel routine or else I would have accidents at the most inopportune times. If I had a malfunction with my condom drainage, I would end up with a big urine stain on my suit pants. And to add insult to injury, my first wife who I married when I was in my final year of law school, stopped coming to see me at the hospital one month after my injury. She apparently thought that I would never practice law again. Still, I was extremely grateful that I had recovered as much as I did. I maintained a very positive attitude about life, work and my future. About 6 ½ years after the spinal cord injury, it was discovered that I had syringomyelia – a syrinx in my cord and I underwent surgery to insert a shunt. I felt immediate improvement in my condition. Unfortunately, I was hit in five more car accidents through no fault of my own over the following 20 years, all of them causing major aggravation and deterioration of my condition. I also had two more spinal cord surgeries requiring post-surgical rehab. I also had a total left hip replacement because of the steroid antibiotics that had been used and this surgery also required rehabilitation treatments. All of these surgeries made my condition worse. In September 2011, we traveled to Germany for two weeks with another couple assisting us. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Yuzu was competing in another part of Germany in the Nebelhorn Trophy. I had developed open pressure ulcers in my butt prior to the trip and as a result of the long flights and extended time in my wheelchair, they became infected. By the time I returned to Canada, it had developed into osteomyelitis – bone infection. I was hospitalized for 3 ½ months on intravenous antibiotics. Even after my discharge, I had to continue with a special form of IV antibiotics at home for another month and a half. Before this trip to Germany, my wife and I were independent in the sense that I was able to stand up from the bed or wheelchair and get dressed with my wife’s assistance. We were able to go to my law practice every day and do things together without a third person assisting us. After Germany and my hospitalization and prolonged bed rest, I was no longer able to stand up at all even with assistance from my wife. Since then, we have had to rely on someone else to help us whenever I need to get out of bed. It became impossible to go to the office regularly and I closed my practice and retired as a lawyer 7 ½ years ago. I have now lost all use of my body below my neck. I have constant pain and stiffness in my neck. I have chronic pressure ulcers on my tailbone and right buttock. I have frequent urinary tract infections often requiring hospitalization and intravenous antibiotic treatment. Throughout all of this my mood has fluctuated and there were times when I experienced situational depression, so I think that I, better than most, understand what Yuzuru has gone through. I personally did not need or desire counseling or therapy of any kind. As expected, it was offered to me countless times because people expect you to be depressed or in need of counseling when you go through life-changing experiences like I have. Sometimes I was very irritated and felt intruded on by the attempts to almost force counseling on me when I didn’t need it and I had not exhibited anything which would signal the need for counseling. Sometimes I felt like I was caught in a Catch-22 because when I acted normal and well-balanced emotionally because I genuinely felt that way and they suspected that I was just masking my depression. I think that Yuzuru and I have a similar mindset. Of course, that is just speculation on my part because I am not him, but I am basing that assessment on what I have seen and heard regarding Yuzu and analyzing it from my experiences with my own challenges as well as having lived life for 69 years. So when I said that Yuzu is too strong and too self-reliant to ever need a therapist, I was not putting other people down for finding benefit in therapy. And unlike @rockstaryuzu, I do not believe that Yuzu has now or ever consulted with a sports therapist. Every elite athlete in Western society may consult one, but I do not think Yuzu does. Someone else suggested that The Cricket Club has sports therapists on call so that Yuzu would be able to consult with one if he wanted to. I do not think that any sports therapists that are available to skaters at The Cricket Club are fluent in Japanese. So I believe that is a non-starter, even if Yuzu had an interest in consulting with one, which I do not think he has. I am not saying that I am particularly strong because I have been able to deal with life and my challenges without the need for a therapist or counseling. And again, I am not suggesting that someone is weak because they seek therapy or counseling. All I can say about myself is that I have maintained a positive attitude towards life notwithstanding my circumstances and have enjoyed life despite my limitations. With quadriplegia, there is no “light at the end of the tunnel” and no comforting thoughts like, “It is darkest before the dawn.” There is no hope of physical recovery, so there is never going to be a dawn unless you make your own light and happiness.