cuddlebuggy

I remember the time at Worlds where he was mid interview, and Shoma's points came out and he just like stopped halfway and ran over to the screen and was like, how could it be so low? And started asking which elements Shoma missed cuz clearly he knew everyone's programs. Obsessive!All Knowing!Yuzu is the best.

True! I'm glad he has a new inspiration now Javi is gone. I feel GPF really fired him up. The couple of months after Worlds I felt in his interviews he had kind of lost direction, but after GPF I feel his firepower coming back. I really hope, he doesn't get injured anymore, if he doesn't I think these next few years could be his best seasons yet. He has the calmness of mind now that the two gold olys are in his pocket and we can finally see him skate for himself. The best Yuzu is yet to come! Sure he messed up a few of his jump passes at GPF, but I was so incredibly proud of him too for that beautiful 4 Lutz! In n the past he used to be just competitive over everything, even Brian thought it was too much and this year we see how he's taking his time and easing into his goals (well, for any degree of 'easing' that can apply to Yuzu). I think he is really working with his body and being patient with the fact that he is just coming back from injury and needs to build up his stamina and familiarity with jumps slowly all over again. I think if he keeps at it, the 5 quads (maybe 6 with the axel :D) is totally possible! I can't wait to see it. I really hope he doesn't retire and goes onto 2020 Olys, bringing his best A game this time - no nerves, and no injuries! I'm also really excited he's doing J-Nats again, which at first I was worried meant that he was gonna close off his season with a 'thanks japan, peace out!', but now I am taking to mean that he feels good enough to compete at J Nats cuz his injury is healed.

Yeah, I think he said that once he feels he won't be able to win, he will stop competing because he absolutely can't bear to show his 'pathetic' side to the audience. Given how short FS careers are, especially with all the young upstarts, I'm definitely just cherishing all the competitions/performances he is putting out now seeing as retirement might soon be in the horizon. I think also in Brian's interview this year, he mentioned Yuzu had an announcement he wanted to make it 2020, and honestly I thought it might be a retirement announcement. But given that he just had this intense competition with Nathan, I feel like he is all fired up and ready to land some quad axels. I hope he at least does the 2020 season, gets his 5th GPF win, lands his quad axel and wins Worlds one more time, to bow out on a high. That would be ideal.

In lighter news, is there a Yuzu abs appreciation thread? If not I'd love if we could start one https://www.pinterest.com/pin/863354191041498993/

100% . agreed! I used to watch skating when I was younger, but stopped for a while as more and more people left behind their artistry to pursue jump after jump after jump. Not saying that people who jump aren't amazing and athletic, but I feel the program becomes boring coz all we see are big jumps and then a big load of nothing in between. I came back to following skating after I saw a bunch of Yuzu's videos and yes I love that everything he puts out has gone through so much detailed consideration. He is truly an artist.

He said in one of his interviews (Kenji's Room maybe?) that he does take dance classes but only over the summer. But I was just curious what else he did cuz obviously most of the top skaters do some kind of dance related off ice training... so how come it doesn't come across in their dancing

Haha absolutely! As a dancer myself, natural talent/physical attributes definitely plays into it, but without training, even those born with a great dancer's body look super iffy and ungraceful. Amongst the top dancers in the world, there are people blessed with aesthetically pleasing bodies, but they definitely still put in their hours. Usually more so than everyone else to get where they are. Watching the field, for me Yuzu looks like he has so much body control and effortless grace. I'd never have guessed Nathan of all people to have a ballet background, he's so athletic and definitely uses his muscles a lot to create powerful jumps which would make me think more like sportsperson rather than dance person. Of course I'm sure Yuzu is super super hardworking, which is what everyone seems to say about him, haha I'm just curious about how he achieves so much in the sport while doing what looks like less than others. Definitely, having super focused practice sessions are key, but damn, ok this boy is GOAT. Hopefully all this efficient practice means he stays in tip top competition shape for a long long time, although I also do look forward to when he starts to do more shows and can let all that creativity, emotion and expressiveness shine!

I was watching Yuzu's interview on Kenji's Room recently and he said that most people think he skates all day, but he really doesn't. He spends 2h on the ice and then goes home where he eats/studies. He also mentioned that he doesn't have a dance background and did like a month or two of ballet while growing up. At the 2019 GPF press con Yuzu mentioned really envying Nathan for having ballet/gymnastics background. (Coincidentally, Jin Boyang also says he came from a mostly dance/ballet/jazz background.) So let me get this straight, Yuzu has limited dance background, and practices for 2h a day (which is a lot but probably less than his competitors), and he looks and skates like that?! *mindblown* Wha--? How? Is this what they call natural talent because it's too overwhelming :O I think most people can agree with me when they say that Yuzu has the best artistry/beauty of skating of the current men's field. I mean not to bash anyone, but looking at Jin Boyang/Nathan Chen's skates, they are definitely not skaters I would have believed came from a dance background. So that begs the question, where did Yuzu's crazy beautiful expressive/dance skills come from? I know he's intensely private but do we know anything about his off ice training/training regime in general? Cuz I'm just speechless.