Xen

I'm also learning to improve my hydroblade...why can't I get Hanyu sensei? Heck I even do the same side as that boy....

Well never mind him head banging with a student, he's going to be headbanging himself. Imagine competing against your coach. Yuzuru: well I'll never be shown up by a young one! Javi: Yuzu, that's your own student. Yuzuru: I am proud of him landing his 4A.... Javi: Yes, that's a good start Yuzuru:....but I think his exit could still use a couple twizzles.... Everyone else:

My mental theater is active again. It's actually trying to be funny. Scene: Video clip of the WC 2037, Coach Hanyu is backstage with student. An announcer says, solemnly, "Yuzuru Hanyu, 42 years old, former Olympic champion, world champion, grand prix final champion and Japanese national champion, is here with his student." Scene cuts to Yuzuru with his eyes closed, dancing intensly the movements of the Koi song. On the side, his student has earphones firmly on head, eyes closed and mouth open to mimick very passionate yelling. CBC announcer: "And there we have Yuzuru Hanyu and his student, XXX, relaxing backstage." Uncle Kurt: "Well every skater and coach have their own methods to relax and prepare themselves for competition. But man...that is some intensity. I wish there was a mic, would love to hear what he's saying." Scene: classes for beginner tots. Mother: Well sweetie, what did you learn in class today. Child: well I learned that my loops are suppose to go up with a Shuu and land with a Pa. Mother (totally lost): that's very cute... what else did you learn? Child: well, sensei encouraged me to describe what I think is a good axel, and I said it should go up with a graw, and land with a paaah~ Mother:...okay... Child: oh, and why does sensei still have a yellow pooh that's kept on the sideboards? Mother: sweetie, let's keep away from that okay?

I don't think the skating community (ie. coaches and tech panels and all judges) are blind or really endorse what is being done by Shoma in regards to jumps. And most coaches don't teach flips and lutzes like Shoma's anyway-other than it not being right, it might bring about injuries more easily, and isn't quite that natural for most skaters. It just hasn't reached tipping point yet. This season Nathan just debuted on the senior circuit- if he was already established then there might be a ruckus. China doesn't swing for single's skaters as much as pairs, so Boyang wasn't enough to raise it up. Now, if Patrick brings out the 4F, and Yuzu brings out the 4Lz, then you add in Nate in his second year and the US fed, it might be the tipping point, simply because there is no clearer contrast in technique and 2 big feds with guys on the line are involved.

@Yatagarasu@Joey I honestly have no idea how you guys can go there and argue. I'm checking that thread during lunch break and some of the responses are just The part that irks me a lot regarding Shoma and the men's edge calls is not just the example they set for future new skaters, but a general fairness issue. Let's look at it this way- in ladies, UR and edge calls are common enough. They've been lenient recently, but let's not kid ourselves, it still gets called. I'm not sure why guys, and maybe just certain guys, should get a pass just because it's a quad rather than a triple. And I think if the number of top ladies doing quads ever reaches the number of men doing quads now, the ladies would be scrutinized heavily. It just doesn't seem fair....

Coach Yuzu, aka Brian's Hair's revenge? Mental theater: On a bright sunny August morning, in a Sendai ice rink far far away, Coach Hanyu, age 42 is circling around the rink on pattern 99 revs while a young willowy japanese boy skates on center ice. There seems to be a disagreement about a jump. Skater: But I think I will need the quad Axel next season. Quad lutz isn't even unique anymore, everyone's doing them; quad axel though, there's just me and that one guy from Canada and spain training them. Coach Yuzu: Listen, you can't just jump jump jump. You must deliver the total package. Skater: Jumps are part of the total package. Besides, I want to win the Oly gold medal too. Coach Yuzu: But you must also look after your health, even if you don't do it this cycle, you're young enough for the next cycle. Skater: you didn't wait... Coach Yuzu: ....well no I didn't... Skater: *stares* Coach Yuzu: You don't need to be that intense.... Skater: uh huh....sure.... Hours later on the phone- Coach Yuzu: Javi, what is with kids these days?! Coach Javi:...yes, what happened? Coach Yuzu: I'm trying to tell him to be less intense and wound up, and he just stares at me! Coach Javi: ....well, you aren't really in a position to say much, considering how you were back then Coach Yuzu: ....*cricket chirp* Coach Javi: ...take a chill pill... Coach Yuzu:...how does one do that? Coach Yuzu: Brian, how do you deal with students who <insert 10 min diatribe> Brian:....he sounds like you.... Coach Yuzu: huh? Brian: you just deal with it. Welcome to hair loss world.

I'm open to the idea. If you're really worried, we could use PM. Glad to hear different opinions. =)

Call me shallow, but I think this season's top 6 men might be the best looking bunch we've had in a while. All have pretty nice skin, pretty nice looking faces, so my eyes are quite happy feasting on them. Of course, mister Memelord himself is leading the charge...

....well if all judging was fair and consistent across the board, my honest opinion of the quad boys are as follows: Nathan: I'm not sure why he's going for 7 quads. He has decent technique, some alignment issues, decent pcs possibilities. What he needs is time, which if he were to aim for 2022, he would get the time needed to develop all around. His issues are more easily corrected on technique and alignment. His current layout with 6-7 quads makes me wonder 2 things: a) he doesn't care too much about 2022 and just wants to bank on the possibility of his BV alone now, considering he's already had knee issues, it's a fair guess. 2) He is thinking of 2022, but getting his quads out of the system now, so the guys coming up are aware of the 6-7 quad bar being a possibility, and if he's lucky he might get a medal anyways, even if judges think he's inconsistent he's got 3 more seasons to fix that impression, so win-win. Boyang: of the quadsters, I like him the most. In a fair world, I think he should get the highest TES scores among him, Nate and Shoma. Of the 3, he has probably the best jumping technique, and his PCS is decent (they were a bit underscored at worlds IMO). PCS, skating skills are all things that time can fix, and he doesn't have a major flaw. I hope he continues to work with Lori Nichol, as his la strada even grew on me the more I watched, and with Zhao Hongbo at the helm of the chinese skating fed, I think artistry will get emphasized more, the coaching may even go more international. Of the 3, I think he enjoys skating the most. He's probably aiming for 2022, and before then he's working at his pace to get stuff done, and I think of the 3 he has the highest possibility to get +5 GOEs under the new system coming up. Shoma: He can definitely do well, his pcs is decent, but his alignment and jump technique is the worst of the 3 new guys. It might be possible that he corrects his technique in 3 seasons, but given his alignment issues I'm not sure that's fully possible. It might just be damage control. For those interested, go over to COP-ernicus section and check out the alignment issues threads. In a fair world, I think he might have the least shot of getting +5 GOEs under the next system. Taking Yuzu out of the equation, in terms of Nate, Boyang and Shoma, assuming they all go to 2022. Based on the guys who have the highest possibility of fixing their current existing issues, and the ease of fixing their main problem areas, and assuming that judging is fair and consistent, I would go Boyang, then Nathan and then Shoma in terms of ranking. I'm also looking forward to Cha Junhwa and Dennis. Of the Japanese boys coming up, I don't know....maybe Shimada since he's switched to Stephane now. I actually went to youtube and checked Shoma's novice comps- I think the flutz was already there. His left heel was lifting off the ice last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFWQW0u3Gkw So if it was already there, the issue might have gone down to his single lutz jumps. But considering how young he was when he did a single lutz, it may have been overlooked- kids can lift up into jumps because they are small, not necessarily because the technique was good. That is up to the coaches to correct. If he aims for a flat edge, it might be more doable than a +GOE edge.

Share if you find one. His voice is very relaxing.....

It is not so much if he wants to correct it, or if he used time and energy to correct his edge. It's a case of muscle memories. It took Yuzu how long to correct his Flip (2 seasons)? It might take Shoma that, or more to correct it. I think somewhere, someone said that Shoma's strength is that once he gets a jump, he can stabilize it fast, without thinking about it. That's a great advantage if you have good technique, and horrible disadvantage if you have bad technique-you might take longer to correct. I don't like to say that skaters are not aware of their shortfalls. I think they are aware-and considering how he jumps, his knees must be aware. If not for the points, he must correct it somewhat for the sake of his knees. My only question is, what is the state of his knees and hips, and can they last to 2022? I would really miss him in 2022, he showed potential at WC 2017, and I'm not sure who will take up the mantle for Japanese men after Yuzu either.

...you baited me into tiptoeing into GS, and watch in awe as you managed to not cause a mini explosion there. That sounds like a viable strategy, but for one thing- if he brings it out so late, he might not have enough time to practice it to pull it off in actual competition yet. I also think it's possible he MUST bring it out at GPF at least- why, because there are too many guys fighting for momentum spots before Olys. We are forgetting there is a Vincent Zhou in the US wings too, who also has a 4F. And at GPF, it is possible that Shoma might not get the edge call, but could get a ! and UR call. Both of which while not as severe, do set in motion the possibility of e call at Olympics. And both of which would hurt his BV versus Nate or Boyang.

There was no off-season this year, was there?

Wilson blades really need to update their website. Their hall of fame still only lists Yuzuru as the 2014 Olympic and World Champion. Okay, did 2017 WC just not happen? Same with 2016 WC since Medvedeva's title hasn't updated to include 2016 nor 2017 WC.

Well I think and say that, but guys like to prove me wrong so meh..... If it's called, yes it's a dumb decision, but then again sometimes you're so desperate that dumb decisions are considered rational. Though isn't Shoma going up against Patrick for Skate Canada, so who knows, it might get called there?

I would suggest pausing the video when you see the skater take off. A lutz, other than an edge difference with a flip, should have a very clear, clean takeoff. You can check the video from Tom Z above. For male skaters, there should be no pre-rotation possible if you are on the right edge. Unlike a flip, there is pretty much no pivoting on the right toepick involved (there is a little for the flip). Also on youtube, Tom Z also did a video where he shows the difference between the Flip and the Lutz, where he mentions that on a lutz, your toepicks are the last part of the blade to leave the ice. Whereas for a flip, Tom Z mentions that the left foot's heel is the last bit to leave the ice. If you look at Shoma's lutz versus Yuzu's, or Nate's or Boyang's, you'll notice that the last part of his left foot to leave the ice is the heel (his heel is pointed downwards), while the other guys clearly have their toes pointed downwards. In some ways, in Shoma's case in particular, the pre-rotation and the wrong edge come hand-in-hand. I don't recall where I heard this- but a cause of wrong edge in lutz is a skater waiting too long on the outside edge to jump. When it switches to the inside edge, your body would need to compensate for the balance and that would then lead to the pre-rotation (pivot) on the picking foot to get any momentum upwards and prevent the body from falling. This would then affect jump height, distance, in air axis, landing etc. Not sure if this is helpful or not? My question with regards to Shoma is, is his motivation to try to fix his jumps due to himself being aware? Or is his team pushing him regardless of his awareness? If it's just him alone, well good for him, and a giant headdesk for his team.

Considering that judges haven't been too hard on wrong edges usually, I think it's more reasonable to not count edge calls or UR when calculating out BV. And if politics does get involved, they might be harsher this season. And now that I think about it, it is nice to know that Yuzu's scores are not that impacted by judge/tech panel generosity ( lack thereof usually). I'm still a bit awed that even with a more conservative layout, Yuzu's scores are still that high. Can't wait to see Seimei....

Oh I know...I was just commenting that I didn't notice his leg unwrap as much before....

...maybe it's the angle, but why does the leg wrap and unwrap look funny to me? ...His timing is off, really off, that's not the optimal way to do a lutz. If I didn't watch the whole video , you could have fooled me into thinking that was a flip. The entry looks identical to his flip. Well, I hope he thinks more for Beijing and just waits on his 4Lz, he's just rushing...At this rate, nevermind Yuzu, he might get surpassed by Boyang and Nate. PCS is something that can be grown into, but jump technique is another beast. BTW, not sure if this is okay here, but I found a good ref for a lutz jump primer- Tom Z demonstrating the take off for lutz jumps:

Watching this discussion about autographs, I feel like by the end of the year, we'll manage to have every top 6 guy's autograph covered minus Yuzu's...cause we're all too chicken to approach him. Probably for the best, since it sounds like we'll sponatenously implode once we reach within a 2 meter radius of him. I should go get Boyang's, since we're in the same country and everything. This May there was a commercial show at an ice rink in my city, but I was on a trip that day. so Almost everyone at my rink (except me) got pictures with Boyang. And a lot of skaters were just staying around later to sign stuff, including Sui and Han, one guy even got his shirt signed by every skater there (Boyang, Shen/Zhao, Sui/Han etc)...

Onmyouji Pooh! That'll stand out! Are you going to ACI? Well hopefully I can get my sketching skills back, but maybe if I get lucky and get 10 minutes to sketch him while waiting in line or something, and glance up at him furitively, do you think his antennas will detect that a fanart is happening live? If he waddles over to see what's going on, maybe I should shove my sketch to you to hand to him? While I go hide somewhere cause my drawing's not perfect....

Now he has finally come to accept his status? But sometimes I think the media overdoes it-like filming him changing into his training gear. I think it was spirit of the athelete or some other show, where he was pulling off his trainers and revealing his UA pants, and you can hear a million cameras clicking in the background. And he chuckles and says he feels a bit embarassed when people film him while he's changing. Much as I love and adore the Yuzu info overload, I don't really want him to fear for his privacy when he enters the men's restroom....

I don't know....they just know he exists and is kinda popular. I changed my avatar on a chat platform where there's a group from work. And one of the guys went, "Oh, you changed your image to Yuzuru Hanyu?" I was pretty surprised and asked how he knew, and the reply I got was, "I heard he's kind of popular for his looks, and he's a trending a bit online." Note, that this coworker understands japanese and uses it for work. But he doesn't follow figure skating.

Hmm...I think Yuzu is the type who would need us to remind him that there are people who love him even on one of his bad days. He's pretty harsh on himself, and needs to be forcefully yanked out of his own head at times. Also, much as he's an introvert, he's pretty sensitive, and that if he feels kindness and optimism from others directed towards him, it affects him in a positive way. I do however, agree that I would not want to overtly gush over him. If he were say....rows in front of me in the boarding line, I won't go rushing to grab his hand. But if he were pretty much within a shoulder tap distance (directly around me) then I'd probably consider doing something nice, but discreetly to get the message that us fans really appreciate him. Hence my trusty sketchbook.

I have a slightly different take on this. I think he might be more open to the idea of fans approaching him, if they are figure skating fans. It's a bit like recieving a sincere compliment, versus an empty one. I have coworkers who know who Yuzuru is, but only know him vaguely as a really hot, well known japanese guy-some know that he skates, some do not. I think he's aware that outside of Japan and figure skating fans, figure skating is still a minority sport. So having a real figure skating fan notice him in public, not just a person who randomly knows him for his looks or celebrity status, is still a pleasant surprise.