KatjaThera

I believe he talked about this in the press conference with the foreign corespondents in Japan after Pyeongchang and he gave the best answer ever, that I believe should be rule #1 taught to all aspiring figure skaters: the technical is there to enhance the artistry. So there should be no such thing as just artistic or just athletic. True figure skating should be both, where the technical comes to enhance the artistry. (I don't remember his exact words and my work laptop hates me currently, but I believe it was something along these lines.)

I agree with this. I think he might occasionally follow a skater, for reasons, but I don't think he actually sits down to watch competitions like regular fans. I do believe he is a fan of the sport, though, and I think he might watch it more regularly after retiring. I also think he might specifically watch programs that he feels he can learn something from. Or he might even watch for research purposes (I was joking just yesterday with Sparkle that his University graduation paper might be on the topic of jumps, as it'd also put to good use all those times when he asked other athletes about jumping in their sports lol So he could be watching other skaters, and specifically other disciplines, to do research for that ) But remembering what he said about the other skaters being probably more interested in watching what he's doing, rather than him watching them, I think he might not really feel he has much to learn from the younger skaters... But who knows? I think he might be the type to make sure he knows everyone who is at a particular event, to avoid any awkward situation. It seems to fit his very thorough personality. Also he seems very thoughtful and to have a very good memory for faces and names, so I wouldn't be surprised if he actually does know their names, or at least very vaguely who they are. It's not like there are tons of juniors at banquets, either, I think, so it shouldn't be that hard to keep track of them...

Lots of discussions on the topic of swimming... I agree it's probably not impossible for him to swim. It's not like he could kick with all his might and still sink. However, the extra effort required, combined with his asthma and possible allergies - although I don't remember him ever saying he was allergic to chlorine, but there was someone once who had posted links to studies about whether swimming is good or bad for people with asthma, which also touched upon the fact that for many chlorine is a bigger issue than the effort of swimming, IIRC - probably simply makes it not worth taking up. Especially when he doesn't really need to practice another sport to stay in shape. (He might consider learning to ride the bicycle, though lol) And I vaguely remember he once said he doesn't like sand or the feeling of it, either, so I think beaches might not be his favorite place... (I get it, too... though some types of sand can be nice. I'll forever be in love with Enoshima sand lol) As for him watching Junior skaters... I don't think he'd need to watch them regularly to form some opinions. I also think predicting the quad revolution or that his main rivals would be upcoming juniors didn't really require him watching them regularly. Some of that was obvious even without knowing the juniors... He does probably like to stay up to date, but I'd be surprised if he really spent a lot of time watching them... I also don't remember hearing this before, but I could have missed it.

I tend to believe that Yuzu would have continued pushing himself even if he did get candy from the judges, because he's his hardest critic. He analyzes each jump he does and he knows best when he did good and when not, regardless of the scores. I believe there have even been times when he outright said he got too high scores and he needs to improve to live up to them (though I might have dreamed that lol). But I also think getting judge candy is bad for the other skaters, because it's really easy to say why bother, when you get the points anyway. It's also bad for FS as a whole, but that's a different issue. For the rules, I still think it could go either way, depending - either favoring Yuzu or the quadsters. However, I think a lot of us forget that Yuzu isn't really a no-quads guy. If everything had gone right last season, the only one with more quads would have been Nathan. And if Yuzu had landed all of his, he and Nathan would have been tied in landed quads at Olys. Admittedly, he's mostly counting on 4S and 4T, but still. And if he managed to bring Nessie, the rest could easily pack up and go home (or well, almost) If he brings back 4Lo and then maybe even 4Lz eventually, it'll really balance things in his favor. And all that without sacrificing artistry, transitions and so on, because he's Yuzu and that would go against his greater goal. If he does even half of that, I don't think judges could hold him back much... Also, he knows he gets underscored at times and I believe he prepares for it. To force them to give him the bare minimum, which will still be enough to be above the rest - like Worlds 2017. They really tried, but could not hold him back. Anyway, even if one of the others beats him and papers write about it, I doubt there will ever be another skater like him. He is so much more than incredibly talented. He has the personality, the charm, the adorable and the serious and the intense sides, and he also has the incredible story and a strong magnetism. I doubt any other existing skater could pull in as many fans or impress and touch and influence as many people. So even if they beat him in points, they'll never really take his place, IMO.

[admin edit: speculation] As for Yuzu getting political backing, I don't think he ever did. COC'14 rant below: Back to the topic, up to Sochi, JSF backed Daisuke - and looking back on old threads on GS, it's quite funny to see the bias there as Yuzu started threatening that position with results, not to mention the conspiracy theories. Afterwards, I think they sort of basked in Yuzu's success, but without actually doing much about it. They didn't really need to either, though. [admin edit: speculation] But Yuzu is still their secret weapon and if Shoma can't do it, they hide behind Yuzu's success. But as far as helping him and giving him political backing? Not gonna happen. Haven't there been competitions when the Japanese judge scored Yuzu more poorly than they scored Nathan and more poorly than the US judge scored Yuzu. It doesn't get more not backing up than that, IMO...

Probably, yes. And he'd probably have to work much harder to stay afloat, which combined with his asthma, might not be a good idea. But I'm really not sure. We just kind of concluded it was so ^_^; His body fat is around 3-7%, depending when in the year it is, it seems.

I think it's more that he can't swim, because of very low body fat. But not sure...

I doubt he doesn't want to. I think he's just being realistic and tempering himself down accordingly. It's like Javi said, FS is a far more demanding sport than most people - skaters included - realize and Yuzu has been injured a lot, so despite being younger, he might already be dealing with even more than Javi or other skaters who are retired or getting there. Expecting another 4 years of top competitiveness isn't very realistic, so he doesn't want anyone - including himself - to expect that. But, while taking it step by step, it might still happen, depending on how he feels. If he's having fun and his body holds up, he might still go to Beijing. But that's something he'll only decide in time, depending on how it all goes. So, with this in mind, it makes sense to go for 4A right away. Why wait? And anyway, he didn't say he'll retire after he lands 4A. He said he'll decide then. I'm pretty sure he wants not just to land it, but to get +5GOE on it, so it might take a while still. lol Also, if he's feeling good, he might want to experiment with other things, as well. Like combinations and so on. But it all depends on how he feels and I think that's great. Focusing on himself, his body and his wishes, without any outside pressure to win this or that or another Olympics. The trip to Pyeongchang was brutal, so, while I'd want him to keep competing for several decades more, I wouldn't really wish that on him again. Even though the pressure was mostly self-imposed. Or maybe especially because of that, but he's put himself through way too much already. So, I'd say, let's just enjoy him having fun from now on (and probably blow us all away in the process, because he's still Yuzu lol)

True, but we don't know for sure he hasn't practiced 4A previously. Knowing him, it's unlikely he'd say he wants to do it in competition this year, while also clarifying that if he does it, he'll want it to get positive GOE, if he were really still at a point where he's not fully rotating at at least decent consistency. It's true he has over a month between ACI and Helsinki, but he'll generally have less time to train it after the season starts and that's not really enough time to bring it up that much. Basically, we don't know much about his 4A history, but I can't get some comments from last year out of my head... comments that make me wonder if he might not have wanted, if everything went absolutely perfectly, to do it at the Olympics. He sounded a little bit like he was considering it already last year, but was unsure early on, and then the injury put an end to any crazy plans. Or at least, he didn't rule it out. I'm not saying it was ready last year, but it did seem like he was thinking about it already then. So, if he had any kind of progress last year, now it could be farther along than we think. No idea if that is so or not. We'll probably only find out in the future, probably, but it just wouldn't surprise me. *shrugs* But it's unlike him to say something like this and not have what to back it up with. It's actually a lot more than he said about 4Lz before bringing it. It is, however, like him to downplay his progress, partly because his standards are much higher and partly because he's a tease

I would say it depends... I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want to show them. On the other hand, he might have given them something for future documentaries lol As for the doll talk, I have a headache so could be wrong, but I think she asked him about the key to 4A and then gave him the doll and when he asked what kind of position was that, she said it was takeoff, so he fixed it. Then talked about how that's the hardest thing and gave the example of long jumpers who run before taking off and that way they're able to jump about 6 metres (I think he said 6 and they showed 8), but how in FS you have to do that just through leg power. I think it was something like that... and there was more, but my brain gave up there...

I'm sure the rest of the footage will air next week, on BS Fuji. This was more like a teaser for that, I guess. It's more surprising the other big sports shows haven't done reports

I love the jump with the Olympic Medalists board in the background!

It does look a bit off and I think that open position does remind us of a popped jump, because it's similar to what he does when he pops, especially when he pops axels. So I get what you're saying. I personally wouldn't call it beautiful either (and his stretched leg being rather more perpendicular with the ice doesn't make it look very much like the ballet leaps), but it does have a wildness and freedom to it that I enjoy. To me it's another sign of his new IDGAF attitude. Like "if I want to do a random leap out of hydroblade, then I will and everyone can just deal with it! And if by some chance, the technical panel decides to think it's a popped axel, that's their problem, not mine." lol It did seem a bit improvised to me, though, so I think we'll have to wait till ACI to see what it's actually supposed to look like...

If he did that, it'd be mass destruction...

I think while it might be a combination of existing jumps/leaps in fs or ballet, the result might just be an original element... I'm no expert, but none of the terms given so far, when compared to other example videos, fully cover the element, IMO (there's the rotation to cover when it comes to ballet leaps, and the details of the rest of the jump when it comes to fs jumps) ETA: The thing with this is, in the ballet leap, they leap with the right leg forward and bend the left. Yuzu leaps with the right, rotates and then bends the same right leg, with the left straight, achieving that position, but with the opposite legs and different take off, before landing.

Admittedly. So a Hanyu Axel? And I don't think it actually counts as delayed, since he starts rotating almost right away - unlike his actual delayed axel. I was looking at some axel variations, namely the open axel and tuck axel. But neither really fits... or maybe a combination... since the open axel seems to have both legs straight, but he actually bends one...

it looks like a delayed single axel with helicopter legs lol Maybe it's a single hanyu lol (it'd work well to have an axel variation named after him lol)

It has actually, he said it's 4S. I think there was some talk on whether or not 4A could be the solo quad in the SP. Personally, I think that'd be riskier than doing it in the free... And it's not like they couldn't show us footage Nessie-less. Last year they hid the 4Lz-3T for months after media day, though they did show us stuff

I would say... trust that he knows what he's doing, but also trust that he'll only tell you what he's doing ahead of time if he feels like it. And he usually doesn't LOL

I thought the same... I even looked at that axel and was like: no, that's definitely a triple...

Actually, it's hard to know for sure what he said, because we only get brief clips that almost seem to contradict each other. I'm sure if we saw the whole thing it'd make more sense. But 4A +5 is epic!

Aha... so he doesn't plan to include it, but it'd be nice if he could make it part of a program and, if possible, he wants 4A +5(GOE)... oh, boy...

It's confusing, yes... but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what he says, he'll still do whatever he wants, whether it matches what he said or not lol

I don't remember reading anything about costumes... Which report do you mean?

Huh... in this he says he has no plans to include the quad axel (in his programs, this season? the context isn't very clear), but that he is practicing it? But he was thinking about it a bit, so I got 4Lz flashbacks again.