KatjaThera

I actually ordered a pair of tshirts, too... I'm paranoid about them being sold out when I get there lol The funny thing is they'll probably arrive after I get back... from the trip after Japan lol (the pick up at convenience store option wasn't available sadly)

OMG please don't sell out until I get there! I collect silicon/rubber wristbands, I never thought I'd have a chance to get a Yuzu one! (or two lol)

*wakes up; sees 80+ new posts; wonders if there's been more news; goes through posts; feels old* Ahem. Carry on

I actually wouldn't be surprised if he does lurk. But actually, if he does, he might lurk less in fan forums and on fan accounts and more on general skating ones. He is a fan of the sport and I think he'd actually be really interested in debates on technical merits in FS and maybe even the new rules and their pros and cons. Of course, English is the biggest issue with that. Aside from him being Yuzuru Hanyu lol. I still haven't watched that press conference and I kind of want to watch it raw first, and then with subtitles, to make my own first impression. I hope to manage to do that, soon. From previous interviews/conferences, I would say Yuzuru is surprisingly straightforward, for a Japanese. He also has moments when he sees no point in modesty, although he always says such things mather-of-factly, and not in a bragging way. I'm sure there are Japanese people who think he is arrogant. (I also personally think any good athlete needs a dose of arrogance, as long as it doesn't go to their heads.) But there are so many other proofs of humbleness and down-to-earth-ness. (And with this I think I finally realized what I love about Yuzu that he has in common with all my other favorites. Dreams big, but with feet firmly planted on the ground.) And so, for the general public, it balances out. I wonder if anyone taught him that or if it comes naturally or if it's another result of his studies. Anyway, I'm also happy that he speaks up about haters and is aware of them. I think for someone who isn't aware, it can be a shock if they become aware of them suddenly - I remember seeing reports during Olympics about various athletes who suffered cyber-bullying for one thing or another. I think it's better to be aware of it, recognize it for what it is - meaningless - and put it behind you. Actually, a part of me would love to see some antis actually face to face with Yuzu trying to argue their opinions that he's not that good or that X or Y are better than him. I think it'd actually be hilarious, because Yuzu would probably listen to their arguments, accept any criticism he might find constructive and then systematically explain away all the others. Not that that's likely to ever happen, but I think even he might find that interesting. (He might know most of their arguments are ridiculous, and that could be why it doesn't really affect him, beyond a natural disappointment and upset.) And I agree this place is probably sheltered, but in many ways, that's why it was created, wasn't it? To be a safe haven for us to be fans of Yuzu and others and avoid the hysterics and bias - and accusation of bias - from other places. No place is perfect, but I think this place is pretty close to that and it meets the goals everyone had when we migrated lol As for hating Nathan - or Shoma or whoever else - I'm the type of fan who does get much like a hissing cat if one criticizes my favorite, and tend to lash out. However, beyond instant reactions that I rarely act upon, I am aware that Nathan is not his scores, Shoma is not his scores and ultimately it's not really their fault. As long as the judges give them points without them having to try harder, why should they? A lot of people in the world would do the same. If you were to get a high salary without having to do much, why would you try harder? Better spend that time doing something else, right? Yuzuru is an exception. He also had different goals - yes, he wanted gold for himself, but he also wanted it for completely different reasons that I doubt any of the others could understand - and he was also pushed to improve by judges not really giving him much candy. I was checking scores last week or so and found 2011CoR. Yuzuru won then, with just 0.03 points over Javi. NEITHER of them had any 9s in their PCS. And yet they were first and second and Yuzu was bronze medalist at Worlds, some time later. I'm not sure even Patrick got 9.5s regularly then. Now, just about anyone - or maybe anyone with enough quads - gets 9s or around there. I'm not saying Yuzu deserved them then, just like I'm not saying they're never deserved now. I'm mostly saying the standards have changed and I doubt it's in a good way. (Also, Nathan actually seems like a fun kid and he seems a million times more grounded than most people around him. I can easily imagine him rolling his eyes or headdesking at the hype and desperation of US media. And Shoma's awkwardness reminds me so much of my own I could never hate him, even while I sometimes get annoyed at the narrative around him. Beyond that, love Javi, love Boyang, even Patrick is fun, they all are, really)

I think it's wrong translation. As far as I can tell, he's actually answering the question - which he doesn't always lol - and talking about programs of his that he likes and had fun with. ETA: I think if he had seriously thought about doing it again, he would have by now lol

Thank you! I'm sure it'll be crazy and I might not even manage to get close enough to see him lol But it's more the idea of being part of his city celebrating him that I love. I have a deep-seated hate of selfie sticks, but I'll see what I can do lol. I got some zunda cookies when I went to Sendai, but didn't get to try anything else. I loved those, though, so I'll definitely try that if I find it! I feel like trying a full meal of Sendai food, with gyutan and such as well... we'll see if I dare lol And of course, visit the fully renovated Ice Rink Sendai... So much to do, so little time lol

OT, but, with the hope of not losing my job, I'm going to the parade in Sendai (and hopefully one of the Yomiuri exhibitions). I'll try my best to come up with a decent report afterwards!

I think it also depends on what his rehabilitation implies. If he does do on ice rehabilitation, then he might be able to skate, if he skips jumps - which he can - and maybe avoid other moves potentially dangerous for his ankle. By end of May it might be ok to do so, if he's careful... We'll see...

Plane tickets are already more expensive than yesterday and running out And I remember there was a post by IronKlaus earlier about how apparently, they're considering selling the tshirts online maybe ahead of time, to fund the parade. I'm not sure if I prefer that lol

Haha! Reports, for sure. Lens... I'm sure there will be lots of gorgeous pictures, better than I could ever manage lol I will probably take my friend's camera that is actually a camera and not just a phone, but I might use that more to take pictures of Sendai ^_^; And of course, I'd have to go back to Ice Rink Sendai as well, and have a cup of tea there ^_^; (And take pictures, if they allow it) Ah, I'm getting excited Before I've gotten my approval. That's not good!

The talk shows are P&G, but I think they're around the same days and in the same cities as the FaOI shows. Those start in two months, so... maybe he will participate in some later on (the last one is July 1st, so there is time...), if rehab goes well. (I'm also curious if Javi will do FaOI; I had forgotten he's also doing Stars on Ice Canada, so if he were to do CiONTU and FaOI as well... he'll be very busy! But maybe they'll both do only later FaOI shows...) And I think if my bosses approve, I'm going to the parade... ^_^;;;;

There's no real reason for him to stay in Japan, aside from resting. If he's starting rehab and if that includes gliding on ice - I won't call it skating just yet - I'd much rather he did that in Toronto. Where they can keep an eye on frustration and impatience issues. He could also be there to discuss his future, next season or even just to invite Brian and Tracy to his show in person. But actually, ever since Brian said very clearly that Yuzu was back on the ice, but only just to maintain a feel of the ice, I hoped it meant he was in Toronto. Brian rarely states things so straightforwardly when he hasn't seen them himself. When Yuzu is doing stuff in Japan, Brian tends to say "I think" or even avoids saying anything for sure. But the way he said that made me think he saw it happen himself. We might never know anyway, Yuzu is the king of ninjas, too.

IdF, seriously? It definitely would be easier... (though France kind of scares me nowadays ^_^; ) But it's so... why would he?! lol I'll wait until they announce something anyway. Which might make Canada super expensive, anyway... Sadly, though, anything November and December is impossible... (Now that I think about it, isn't IdF in November? >_<) I was even thinking of going to one of Javi's ice shows in Spain, but same problem. November and December...

I'm actually seriously tempted now to dash in (ETA: because 18hours flights at least are totally dashing in and out...) for the parade - and maybe some hanami if I'm lucky - then come back, only to go on my second holiday... Help! >_< (The ice show I don't have hopes for, sadly, so I won't even go there...) For competitions, I'm thinking something in Canada. Though I need to be sure he's going which is hard. And I might try worlds next year, too, but I'm not holding my breath...

I should also try to fix whatever's wrong with my brain, because I just checked plane tickets to Tokyo and back for April... (More than the costs, though, which are high, I worry about taking all my holiday in April/May... I'd go nuts by the end of the year ^_^;;; Nevermind not being able to a competition... so I'll have to resist the temptation... ) But I probably will try getting my paws on a tshirt if they do have an online sale...

They should, it'd be very smart! They'd probably make enough from online sales alone to cover the parade costs ^_^; (Apparently, according to Iron Klaus, they did have an online sale last time, so they should this time, too...)

I think it was meant more like Brian's "I have no words". As in any other word by the one, "amazing" are superfluous. (I don't think it was like Javi's "The media kept asking me about Yuzu, Yuzu, Yuzu" ^_^;;; But not sure.) ETA: Or like "There is nothing more to say about Hanyu-kun [that hasn't already been said]." Something like that. I think even if he got tired of being asked about him, it's quite un-Japanese-like to show any annoyance at that, especially given who Yuzu is, so he probably wouldn't say or do anything that would show that.

I think a lot of it depends on how you define friendship. The ones whom Yuzu is probably closest to, if we think typical friendship, are Keiji and Ryuju, mostly because they've known each other and been friends since novice days. That said, even Keiji said Yuzu doesn't do hanging out away from the rink. So if he does hang out with anyone away from the rink, it's probably non-ice skating friends. I'm not sure Nobu is a friend in that typical way. I doubt they meet much away from ice shows or when Nobu's at events as a commentator. That said, they obviously get along great and Nobu does care about him a lot and I'm sure that's reciprocated. Yuzu and Javi I could probably talk about for hours. My take is still that their bond is mostly based on all the stuff they have in common, including a deep love for skating, not taking it for granted, having to fight for it and then climbing to the very top of figure skating together. No one but the two of them can understand what that was like and so that's a bond they don't share with anyone else. (I was thinking the other day it might be the kind of bond pair skaters or ice dancers have, only with the added factor of actually NOT having someone with you on the ice when the time comes to do your best. Which would be another thing they both know - and Yuzu's fierce support by the boards might be part of it, by this theory.) Is that friendship? Again, it depends how you define it. In a way, I guess Javi was right. It's more of a camaraderie than a friendship, but probably the emotional connection itself is stronger than with all of the other friends. Which would be why it was Javi he clung to as he cried. I can't imagine him breaking down in anyone else's arms like he did with Javi.) Misha... he's great, too. He also obviously cares for Yuzu. I'm not sure Yuzu sees him as that close a friend, but who knows, really? Maybe he does. (I think my doubts also stem from the fact that neither seems to have a great grasp of English - which is particularly surprising of Misha, for me, but I often find myself frowning as I can't understand what he's trying to say - so it makes me wonder how they understand each other, if discussing serious stuff; Javi and Yuzu I'm sure had a language barrier, too, but Javi's English is still pretty easy to understand, meaning wise; whether he understood Yuzu or not is a different issue ^_^; ). Beyond that, it's obvious Yuzu gets along well with many skaters, including, more recently Boyang. Jun-hwan as well. In the past there was Nam - we haven't had a chance to see them interact recently - but also there was a lot of fooling around with Denis and Jason and such. Alex, also. Recently Ondrej. Evgenia, to some extent, if we go beyond just guys. Before that, Kanako. But I'm not sure how many of them I'd call friends. Maybe casual friends. Have fun together friends. But not sit down and have serious conversations friends. As for Shoma, I think Yuzu saying Shoma is more like a puppy is actually quite accurate. Yuzu sort of took Shoma under his wing and from early on seemed to make it part of his mission to teach Shoma about how things are done in the worldwide FS world and basically get him to loosen up and interact more. And I'd say to some extent he's managed that. But that's more sempai-kohai behavior, than friendship. And I personally am not sure they will ever be really friends. But again, who knows? They obviously get along well and respect each other, so it doesn't matter that much anyway. Oh and I also don't think being a loner away from the ice is a contradiction to his friendliness on ice. One can be a loner and still be friendly, especially if they don't have to be friendly all the time. But I think the bigger thing is that up until now, at least, Yuzu's entire life was dedicated to figure skating. And that's something he probably didn't have in common with anyone else, since even many skaters also have other things. But for him, everything was about skating. So there wasn't much of a chance for anything beyond that. Whether that will change from now on and how, we'll see.

OK, I'm back with more accurate information. He says that doing axel from spread eagle is a basic movement for him. That when he was training with Tsuzuki-sensei, if he lost his jumps, he'd be made to do them all from spread eagle. Definitely so for the axel. So, jumping axel after spread eagle is a normal exercise for him and a way to deal with losing his jumps. And it's the result of his training since he was a child. That he used to practice more as a child, too, and was made to do this. He also says there was no normal jumping in Tsuzuki-sensei's training, there were always some sort of steps before jumps. So even now, he doesn't really jump normally (I'm guessing by normal, he means simple, with virtually no steps... he uses 'futsuu'). I guess the whole implication is that this is why SE-3A-SE is so easy for him (and I guess SE-any jump-SE). Just before this, there's another interesting bit, that I'm a lot less confident of, where I think he's pretty much saying that he did counter-axel since long ago, but when he first started doing it, he only ever got +1 or +2. Then there's a bit about other skaters doing counter or SE entries that's I'm confused about, then he talks about doing SE sandwiches in the previous season (2014-2015, I think) and how because that is lengthier, it stands out more (and I guess implies it gets better scores? Not sure about that.) (Anyone else with the book or original interviews, noticing I made mistakes in interpretation, please feel free to correct!)

1) I agree. I have no idea if that's why they don't give him higher scores, because it always baffles me, but I guess that would make the twisted kind of sense ISU rules generally seem to have. But I agree, pointless arm movements are pointless and shouldn't matter. Nice and purposeful arm movements, on top of difficult steps getting extra points, yes. But not by themselves or with simple steps. (Which is really weird for me to say since I'd probably fall just from standing on ice skates, but still.) 2) That makes sense. But is it really the case? Though, of course, there's simple steps and difficult steps. I'll come back with more details about what he said after I get home and check the text again, so as not to give wrong information ^_^ It seemed pretty interesting to me, but as I'm new to the technical stuff, it might actually not be a big deal. lol

I've been catching up a bit reading posts here and I have two main comments. One regarding the possibly simplification of Transitions, by including arm movements and crossovers, you'd think they noticed nobody gets very high Transitions scores, so they decided to artificially increase them. However, I've always been wondering what more Yuzu needs to do to get high Transition scores, aside from all the stuff he's already doing? It's the judges who seem to have some stupidly high standard of what transitions should be, so they never give high scores, rather than skaters needing help along the way... Or maybe they never gave Yuzu high transition scares because they thought he didn't use his arms enough or some such thing... The other, someone mentioned 4A between spread eagles and how even Yuzu would have a hard time with that. I was just looking through the new book last night and something that caught my eye was - IF I understood correctly; I'll double check - Yuzu saying that he learned all his jumps with SE entries. Apparently Tsuzuki-sensei was the one who got him used to it like that and he also said he rarely does jumps without steps into them. So SE-4A-SE might be the only way we see 4A the first time... (or at least SE-4A) All of this makes me conclude that skaters are one thing, but coaches play a huge part. Good coaches can truly help skaters meet their full potential, while, sadly, I believe not so good coaches can ruin good skaters. Yuzu has been blessed with awesome coaches - and well, partly, he chose them really well, too - and I think it's a bit part of his success story.

I have a request if anyone can help... Remember that big board Sendai Broadcasting Company put together with fan messages for Yuzu around his Seimei hydroblade, that was also viewable on their website and you could mouse over to zoom in? Did anyone save the original, HUGE picture with the messages from the website? I distinctly remember saving it or trying to, but I cannot find it anymore and was hoping someone else did...

I honestly think he could have - and would have, if not for Nathan's SP - done 4Lo. And landed it, even with good GOE. But he himself said he analyzed the situation and concluded he doesn't need it, so decided to spare his ankle further torture. But I think if Nathan had done a good SP and was a danger, he would have done it. As for back on the ice, I doubt any edge work or so is in plan, because that would strain his ankle and I think it might be too early for that - and too risky, because ice is slippery; I think it's one thing to test flexibility in a controlled environment with a physiotherapist and something else to do it on the ice. But it makes sense to let him glide around a bit. Keeps the edge off on his eagerness to get back, too, and does help him get a feel for the ice. Personally, I'd rather he was back in Toronto until he has to be in Japan for the ice shows, especially since his previous rehab was there, and maybe he could start discussing next season plans. Though I don't think that's very likely. And I guess Brian is in Milan? (I admit I haven't been following Worlds, it's still too raw not being there ^_^; )

Oh, I had never seen this before... I wonder if some videos of the 2012 Finlandia press conferences exist, too... lol (Though Angry Birds sort of fly and... smash into things... but I guess that's like the jumping at a wall comparison he gave for triple axels ^_^; )

We don't have to care. And yes, the ranking isn't worth much. But it is a fact Yuzu has been #1 for over 4 years. And IMO, that's further proof of how above everyone else he has been. Yes, he might lose it because he's missed most of the season. Just like Patrick lost when he took a year off. But despite losing most of the season, Yuzu is still at the top and until the rest will stay at the top. And even after that, I don't think he'll lose too much. And I don't think it's wrong to say that even though he lost most of the season due to injury, he's still at the top and that further shows just how good he is. As long as nobody tries judging skaters just based on ranking - as is done in other sports, although in those, too, rankings rarely tell the full/true story - I don't think there's anything wrong to paying attention to the ranking as well. I haven't seen anyone truly upset about Yuzu probably losing #1. It's just a curiosity as to how things will go.