General Yuzuru Chat

[Murieleirum]

15 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

It's easier for Shoma and Nathan and Boyang though. They're younger than Yuzu and they came along when he was already on top (even if Shoma's been around Yuzu since before that).

 

I don't think Takahashi ever imagined someone like Yuzu would come along. Yuzu pretty much came and turned everything Takahashi probably believed in, on its head. That'd mess up anyone. I'd be curious how Patrick took it, if he'd ever speak openly about it, because it was probably a blow to him, too. One example, the first time Yuzu broke the short program record, they had footage of Daisuke saying he'd just heard of it and how it was virtually 100 points and he didn't have the confidence he could reach such a score. He'd probably not imagined anyone would. That's the sort of thing I mean.

 

That said, Takahashi doesn't blame Yuzu. He actually seems to be a bit in awe of him. But some of his fans might.

 

Oh well, I guess I get a little de-motivated as well when I see younger violinists acing pieces that I've been struggling to play. But I know why they sound good and I don't. They practice more than me. That's all. They don't have more talent, they just have more commitment. And I think the same was for Yuzuru with other skaters. Age doesn't have anything to do with it in my book - still, I understand why Takahashi felt what he felt. 

 

Other example: in class, I always wanted to get the highest grades (I guess me and Yuzu have some things in common...) and I would get suuuper kuyashii when someone had a higher grade than me, or my grade wasn't as high as I wanted it to be. But when that happened, I couldn't stop studying and start thinking 'they are smarter than me, I will never beat them'. Because then my self-esteem would have went even lower! 

 

Yes, you can't delete Yuzuru's genius. You can't pretend he doesn't exist, you can't pretend he's not the best. But you can use him as much as you can to push youself, and I think that's what every skater (including Patrick) is doing and I think it's working wonders for the sport as a whole! 

 

Finally, I feel like Takahashi is a wonderful person and I love his skating. No one skates like him because every skater at the top is unique. No one can take that away from him and Yuzuru certainly didn't do that. 

[kaeryth]

It doesn't help that Japanese media seem to love creating rivalry storylines between their own skaters - which of course just fuels fanwars. But as much as they lay out these rivalry storylines, they're cowards in the end. Case in point: It's next to impossible to find a footage of JNationals 2012 podium/victory ceremony.

 

I'm dreading what type of narrative they're preparing for this year's nationals to be honest. Especially with the Yuzuru vs Shoma thing they've been trying to go for the whole of last season as well as ladies only having 2 Olympic spots.

[Murieleirum]

7 minutes ago, kaeryth said:

It's next to impossible to find a footage of JNationals 2012 podium/victory ceremony.

 

Lol it's not like I'm looking for trouble, but I would like to see it. Do you happen to know videos of it? 

[singcarcom]

2 hours ago, KatjaThera said:

Somehow, I don't really get as much a sense of pressure from this. If anything, it's more strength and confidence. Mostly, though, it's very matter of fact, because this has sort of been his plan all along. So rather than 'everything is culminating here' nervousness, it's more like: 'finally getting close to completing this goal'. To me... And we know he already seems to have ideas of wants to do afterwards, so it's not really the final countdown, either. I can't really explain it, but I don't think this 'culmination of 18 years of skating life' is a pressure thing. On the contrary...

 

However, on the other topic, it's true that there is a fine line between very confident and too confident. And when that line is crossed, it's easy to make stupid mistakes. (From a personal perspective, in Maths tests in high school, I always managed to do well on the most difficult exercises, which I was nervous about, but often made mistakes on the easy ones I was confident about.) Also, failing when you're feeling confident feels so much worse than failing when you're not so confident. So, yes, a balance is necessary.

 

But I think Yuzu is in a good confident place now. And if he crosses in the too confident part, that should show in the early days and he'll work on it. (I also tend to think that he's leaving himself room to increase difficulty, if he feels like adding a challenge to keep himself on his toes.)

I agree. Since Yuzu is such a humble person, I don't think he'll let over-confidence get to him. Given how much competitive the men's field has become, I doubt that he'll let his guard down.

 

 

1 hour ago, KatjaThera said:

But I know what you mean, I'm the same. The more you pile "this is it!" pressure on me, the worse it is. With Yuzu, I have absolutely no doubt that he can do it, face the pressure, and blow the minds of everyone. Whether he will or not... that's for us to have heart attacks in the process of finding out lol

I have faith in Yuzu too, but there's a part of me that's worried that if for whatever reason, things didn't go perfectly as he went (even if he won gold), he'll be full of kuyashii....And let's say he achieves his perfect skate, then what's next? I don't want him to r****** yet but if he truly reached the perfection he wanted, what else is there to pursue? 

[liv]

Yuzu has done amazing things for the sport. First, in his amazing performances, skills and records, and second, in forcing others to work harder, thereby creating more amazing skaters. Those skaters would have been good anyway, but by comparing themselves to him and finding out what needed to be done, they became almost the best versions of themselves that they could... just as he tries to become the best version of himself for the Olympics. 

 

It is a bit nail biting to hear he wants everything to culminate at the Olympics, but this is not a new thought in sport. Everyone wants to be their best there, on the biggest stage, that is the mind set of champions. I especially want his competitors to do well so that he cannot relax in any way. He does his best under pressure situations, when his back is up, so if he takes his fighting spirit with him into the arena then it becomes an advantage rather than a burden. 

 

Looking forward to a (hopefully ) black Seimei.... just a few weeks!!!!

[Hydroblade]

2 minutes ago, liv said:

 

It is a bit nail biting to hear he wants everything to culminate at the Olympics,

My stomach sank when I read that.

Pls Zuzu, stay with us just a bit longer

[liv]

1 minute ago, Hydroblade said:

My stomach sank when I read that.

Pls Zuzu, stay with us just a bit longer

I know. Part of me wants him to win....but maybe with a small error, so that he remains 

[xeyra]

He'll stay even if he wins, no worries. He'll just have to find new motivations (4A).

[KatjaThera]

5 minutes ago, singcarcom said:

I agree. Since Yuzu is such a humble person, I don't think he'll let over-confidence get to him. Given how much competitive the men's field has become, I doubt that he'll let his guard down.

 

 

I have faith in Yuzu too, but there's a part of me that's worried that if for whatever reason, things didn't go perfectly as he went (even if he won gold), he'll be full of kuyashii....And let's say he achieves his perfect skate, then what's next? I don't want him to r****** yet but if he truly reached the perfection he wanted, what else is there to pursue? 

I don't think he'll reach ultimate perfection at Pyeongchang. Especially if he considers he's only reached about 20% of his full ability. Pyeongchang is just aiming to be the best he can be at the current level. Then it'll be on to the next level, I think.

 

I'm also a bit surprised at everyone's reactions to that comment... if you look closely at his career, it's obvious everything he's done so far was towards Pyeongchang. His early plan was participate in Sochi, win in Pyeongchang. He moved to Canada because he realized he needed to get much better and didn't have enough time till Sochi and then it became possible to win Sochi, which he did, but Pyeongchang was always the goal. So... it's not at all surprising?

 

But, since he also says he has gone anywhere near his limit - 20%, 30%, whichever it was isn't even halfway there - I can't imagine he'd retire, without at least trying to reach that limit. In fact, post-Pyeongchang might be more of a "The sky's the limit," where he won't have such a set goal and deadline, but rather can take his time to develop that perfect skate without any pressure. In which case, the best will be yet to come.

[ruruzest]

9 minutes ago, singcarcom said:

I agree. Since Yuzu is such a humble person, I don't think he'll let over-confidence get to him. Given how much competitive the men's field has become, I doubt that he'll let his guard down.

 

 

I have faith in Yuzu too, but there's a part of me that's worried that if for whatever reason, things didn't go perfectly as he went (even if he won gold), he'll be full of kuyashii....And let's say he achieves his perfect skate, then what's next? I don't want him to r****** yet but if he truly reached the perfection he wanted, what else is there to pursue? 

I don't think he would R even he feels like he's reached his ideal perfection

so far in his career we always hear he says he needs to improve , to work in st , to practice ,... and I believe he has reached perfection in lots of Programs , seime , h&l, Chopin ,... 

I truly believe and hope he would continue for awhile , reaching perfection or not , like he said " there are always things to improve .."

[Xen]

oh there are still 4A and 4-4 combos for him to chase. Besides, his idol went three cycles, and he also sees now how pchan and javi remain competative at amuch older age. He would at least want to test the new rules, or maybe try for the first three-peat....

[singcarcom]

5 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

I don't think he'll reach ultimate perfection at Pyeongchang. Especially if he considers he's only reached about 20% of his full ability. Pyeongchang is just aiming to be the best he can be at the current level. Then it'll be on to the next level, I think.

 

I'm also a bit surprised at everyone's reactions to that comment... if you look closely at his career, it's obvious everything he's done so far was towards Pyeongchang. His early plan was participate in Sochi, win in Pyeongchang. He moved to Canada because he realized he needed to get much better and didn't have enough time till Sochi and then it became possible to win Sochi, which he did, but Pyeongchang was always the goal. So... it's not at all surprising?

 

But, since he also says he has gone anywhere near his limit - 20%, 30%, whichever it was isn't even halfway there - I can't imagine he'd retire, without at least trying to reach that limit. In fact, post-Pyeongchang might be more of a "The sky's the limit," where he won't have such a set goal and deadline, but rather can take his time to develop that perfect skate without any pressure. In which case, the best will be yet to come.

 

3 minutes ago, ruruzest said:

I don't think he would R even he feels like he's reached his ideal perfection

so far in his career we always hear he says he needs to improve , to work in st , to practice ,... and I believe he has reached perfection in lots of Programs , seime , h&l, Chopin ,... 

I truly believe and hope he would continue for awhile , reaching perfection or not , like he said " there are always things to improve .."

 

I guess...but based on his previous interviews, Yuzu has kinda implied that he'll always be at 20% because the sky is the limit. Of cos Yuzu will keep improving, but eventually he'll r*****, we just don't know when. I think I'm just a greedy fan who wishes that the day will come as late as possible. 

 

I'm reminded of Tracy's interview where she mentioned how Yuzu is different because he doesn't lose steam after winning gold. Maybe we're just a bit worried because there were many athletes who r**** after Olympics. Perhaps he's holding himself back this season because he wants to show the best he can to the world on the Olympics stage. After that, perhaps he'll go Yolo with 4A and all the other quads...lol... 

[xeyra]

Plus he 'owes' us a post-Olympics season with new programs. 

[Neenah]

I don't think it is a matter of finding new challenges because that is easy for him (the sky is the limit after all). I believe that he will retire when he feels that this chapter of his life is over and that he is ready to move on to something new. Yuzuru is at the age where young men start planning their future and looking ahead and he will have to decide on what to do after retiring. I think that decision is what would help him choose the best time to stop competing. Skating competitively after all comes with a lot of extra stuff other than  competitions and medals. There are injuries, fans, media, and lots of pressure that can wear anyone out, he may like to compete but end up finding all the other things exhausting and not worth it.

 

My wish for Yuzu is to compete as long as he enjoys it and to get out the moment he stops. I don't want him to associate his skating with negative things or to lose his love for skating.

[Lunna]

7 минут назад, Neenah сказал:

Skating competitively after all comes with a lot of extra stuff other than  competitions and medals. There are injuries, fans, media, and lots of pressure that can wear anyone out, he may like to compete but end up finding all the other things exhausting and not worth it.

I also always think about the fact that Yuzu trains and lives in foreign country most of the time and that separates the family, so as much as I would totally love him to continue competitive skating he must do what he thinks best for him. Anyway I think we will see him in shows, they just don't give the same level of emotions as competitive skating (to fans and to sportsmen as well).