Interesting - I think I saw a documentary about Kenzo Shirai before Rio and he was having trouble with swimming (part of his curriculum at NSSU?) - @KatjaThera could be right that low body fat is a problem.

2 minutes ago, SparkleSalad said:

 

I will take full responsibility if you fail. Worth it. (I'm sure you'll pass with flying colours!)

lol don't be, I will fail spectacularly. I haven't studied at all until this week and even this week, I spend more times looking at the walls than studying. I'm somewhat confident speaking Japanese - except with my teacher, For some reason my vocabulary goes AWOL when I talk to her... - but JLPT is grammar and kanji and exceptions and vocabulary and reading comprehension. Ugh... I want to be more like Yuzu and work harder, though...

 

2 minutes ago, Sombreuil said:

Interesting - I think I saw a documentary about Kenzo Shiraz before Rio and he was having trouble with swimming (part of his curriculum at NSSU?) - @KatjaThera could be right that low body fat is a problem.

I don't want to take credit for that theory, I read it myself a previous time this was discussed, but it makes sense to me that someone with 3% body fat would have a hard time floating... (though actually I just remembered a musician I like, who also has very low body fat and likely had it all his life, has said he's a very good swimmer... so maybe actually low body fat + heavy muscle mass might be an issue? Yuzu definitely has definitely more muscle mass...)

38 minutes ago, katonice said:

I'm just curious though. I thought all Japanese school kids were required to learn to swim. I thought it was a default part of their curriculum. But maybe I just have the wrong idea about this. 

 

Maybe there are probably some schools that don't have it as part of the curriculum? For example if say, they are more geared towards academics, arts, music, or sports and don't have the extra time to put swimming classes on their student's schedule. In my city it was part of the curriculum too but my high school was the very few that opted out because we were academic/college focused and most students were drowned in schoolwork.

Edit: I live in the US though, so just a theory.

7 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

lol don't be, I will fail spectacularly. I haven't studied at all until this week and even this week, I spend more times looking at the walls than studying. I'm somewhat confident speaking Japanese - except with my teacher, For some reason my vocabulary goes AWOL when I talk to her... - but JLPT is grammar and kanji and exceptions and vocabulary and reading comprehension. Ugh... I want to be more like Yuzu and work harder, though...

 

(My muddled, sleepy brain. I will take full responsibility if you pass! I'm so proud of me for all your hard work. ^_^) 

12 hours ago, PapiandPooh421 said:

Sorry if this will be OT but do you guys know what BGM Japan media used for Sochi? They use Nessun Dorma for the GP Series and GPF then Bolero for Japanese Nationals and Worlds, right? I just got suddenly curious. 😐

There were several songs used as theme songs for Sochi since each broadcaster had their own theme song, though I remember only a few of them.
“今、咲き誇る花たちよ” (To the flowers in full bloom now) by Kobukuro (NHK)

“Number One” (Fuji)

 

56 minutes ago, Xen said:

He could try butterfly, that's a lot of waist and hip action, and he has plenty flexiblity and strength there. 

 

He has barely been back a week, cmon, give him some time.

It is difficult to swim with too much muscle though No fat and all muscle makes you very... not floaty. Even with strength, it is very difficult for swim.

3 hours ago, kaerb said:

Which is why even though I'm annoyed that Yuzu has to work harder for the same marks relative to others, I think the fact he's able to turn it into motivation has turned out fruitful for him. I'm sure it can't be easy to avoid being bitter about the scoring but I admire the attitude of 'well there's nothing that can be done (in the short term, as an athlete) I just need to be better so they have no excuse'.

Yes, that seems to be the case.  But then there's what happened in Helsinki earlier this year.  Kurt Browning for CBC made the observation that what Yuzu had just done in the free skate had resulted in 'a big picture moment', when, as he continued, Yuzu had given the judges 'no excuse for not going and throwing the book at him' and loading him up with extra points everywhere.  That's essentially what happened also in 2015 in two competitions late  that year.  I think you might be overstating things a bit about unfair scoring since it's evident that when Yuzu is perfect the judges do respond.  Remember, he's set twelve world records, eight of which involved breaking records he himself set.  Also, only once has a record he set been broken by someone other than himself.  That occurred in 2013 when Patrick broke his short program record.  Yuzu responded shortly thereafter by reclaiming the record and then improving on it at Sochi.  Any time a skater has topped one of his records it's always been after Yuzu has himself set a higher record.  I really don't think the judges are too biased against him, since they obviously recognize quality when it's there, witness all those record scores.  If the judges were ALWAYS working against him I really don't see how he could have set all those records.  I think the judges set a higher standard for Yuzu for many of the same reasons Yuzu sets a higher standard for himself.  He and they see him in the context of GOAT, the Absolute Champion.  As Johnny Weir said one time when observing how Yuzu motivates himself.  'He's skating against himself.  What's harder than that?'  A thought just occurs to me that the judges might not be judging Yuzu on the basis of how he compares to his competitors but rather how he compares to what he has done and accomplished.  It is actually rather a compliment that the judges have that higher standard when judging Yuzu and it is testimony to Yuzu that that seeming bias he encounters just prompts him to work harder.  As far as I'm concerned, I prefer the situation this way, since it means that Yuzu has truly earned every point he has received, and that means that what we are seeing point-wise is a reflection of not how Yuzu has fared against the others but how he has fared against the Absolute Champion.

Happy 1994!!😄😄

7 minutes ago, SparkleSalad said:

 

(My muddled, sleepy brain. I will take full responsibility if you pass! I'm so proud of me for all your hard work. ^_^) 

I thought there was something weird there

 

(PS: zunda cookies from Sendai are so yummy... I wish the walk to Ice Rink Sendai hadn't tired me so much I didn't try to taste actual zunda in Sendai... Oh well, next time...)

Yay! Happy 1994! 

We're so fortunate to have gotten to know you Zuzu!  Advance Happy Bday! 

 

52 minutes ago, xeyra said:

 

Honestly, I want the first thing we hear about him to be him jumping quads again because that means he's recovered.

Imagine the scenario would be something like Javier Raya updating his instagram with a run through of his long program. And 3 minutes in, we hear a dolphin like squeal followed by a slender black UA body that just popped what appears to be a loop jump. Said slender body proceeds to fling itself into the air, and lands a quad loop, fists pumping down in a "bam" motion to show that little quad loop just who is boss.

41 minutes ago, SparkleSalad said:

 

 

Hmm, isn't male essential body fat something like 5-7%? So Yuzu can't go under that....then again he is a space kitty so what do we mere mortals know. 

And his Chinese pronunciation is pretty good here. Usually people have trouble with the 4 intonation system we have. And "jia you" is the Chinese equivalent of "ganbatte ne!" Not "come on"-more "good luck just do it!"

Happy 1994 guys! 

Just posting here to book my spot on page 1994  Since 1994 is my number too  Did I mention that I'm a December baby too? 

 

I hope Yuzu will have a splendid birthday this year in a place most like his own home, TCC 

We are near the 21st century!!! finally~~~ 

Yay, we made it!

 

13 minutes ago, micaelis said:

Yes, that seems to be the case.  But then there's what happened in Helsinki earlier this year.  Kurt Browning for CBC made the observation that what Yuzu had just done in the free skate had resulted in 'a big picture moment', when, as he continued, Yuzu had given the judges 'no excuse for not going and throwing the book at him' and loading him up with extra points everywhere.

But that's what frustrates us. The judges didn't load him up with extra points everywhere in Helsinki. To me, and I think many, Helsinki was Yuzu breaking a record despite being underscored (of course, minimally so, but still). He deserved more than he got in Helsinki, IMO. But he's so good that even when they don't give him all he deserves he can break records.

 

ETA: just to be clear, I don't think it's all bad either and because he never complains, I try not to either. But Helsinki is, to me, the perfect example that judges can't really be trusted to score him as he deserves, not even when he is perfect.

 

7 minutes ago, Xen said:

Hmm, isn't male essential body fat something like 5-7%? So Yuzu can't go under that....then again he is a space kitty so what do we mere mortals know. 

And his Chinese pronunciation is pretty good here. Usually people have trouble with the 4 intonation system we have. And "jia you" is the Chinese equivalent of "ganbatte ne!" Not "come on"-more "good luck just do it!"

I'm pretty sure I remember him saying it's 3-4% during competitions, 5-7% during ice shows, but hoping someone can back that up with links. I only remember a TV show, where both Yuzu and Mao were way bellow average. I think Yuzu was 3% and Mao 7% or 10%, but I could be wrong

If someone at TCC would be kind enough to take a pic of him with a cake on his birthday and post it that will make my day.