General Yuzuru Chat

[Umebachi]

2 hours ago, SuzyQ said:

I always wanted to watch 4.5-minute version of Origin.  Yes, it was so packed and had some feeling of having left something always.

H&E is a perfection as a 4-minute program, even if it does not have difficult elements compared to other programs or skaters.

He might change some elements going forward, but Yuzuru seems to have decided to take his own direction.  If he wants to add 4A in the future, he has to give up something in a 4-minute program.  I think he is now in the midst of experiments towards his ideal.

   

 

I fully agree.  I had always hoped he would take one of the Taiga historic figures / themes into his program, but I wondered how he would be able to interpret the Japanese style music that would appeal to international judging panel as well as develop the complex story behind these historic figures/themes.  I think his experience with Hope and Legacy and Seimei helped to prepare the ground for the creation of Tenchi technically and artistically.  In retrospect, I feel that neither of these earlier programs was fully developed as an artistic statement.  HL creates a feeling of natural breeze coming and going, like the breathing of Earth, with echoes of his early life experience resonating throughout these movements.  Seimei takes on a character of a mythical healer who battles negative spirits through internal strength and through the process, he learns to integrate the traditional movements and breathing cadence of Japanese dance.  It was a valuable experience, but I still consider it an experimental piece, in preparation for a more fully developed program.  Here, I will bring the translations that I made for our Streaming Party from Mansai/Hanyu interview from 2015. 

• Hanyu absorbed a great deal of knowledge from his conversations with Mansai. Searching for the unique form of expression that only he can perform, Hanyu revisited the entire program (Seimei) from the very beginning.  Seeking to find that overwhelming sense of invincibility, he underwent multiple stages of excruciating (blood-sweating) effort. November – NHK Trophy.  Hanyu will win the event with the World Record breaking performance.  On the day of the Free Skate, Hanyu surveyed the entire arena, throwing his gaze to each and every corner. 
• Hanyu: “I need to do to find that (unique) expression is to harness the overflowing energy emanating from nature and to receive (that energy) as though I were donning a sacred robe (纏う).  If I can achieve that, then I hope I to approach the image I have of ‘Seimei’.  For each element, I want to pay even greater attention to every detail to give deeper meaning to each choreographic element and by mastering these details, it becomes possible to embody the spirit of ‘Seimei’.  I think I have been very mindful and aware of going through this (process).  If I could give a tangible form to a choreographic sequence, then just by (the simple act of) assigning a meaning to each motif, I am able to observe my own image/vision of the program expand and grow in totally unexpected ways. Then, even the roar of encouragement or the sound of applause begin to feel/sound very different, and things I had previously not given much attention to... like the feel of air flowing over (my face) when I am skating... suddenly I become aware of a much larger presence /being of the natural world, and that I am inside it and part of it.  We use the term “Ten-chi-jin” (Heaven, Earth, Human) to express this sense (of harmony).  So it is that I find myself much more aware of being/living within this natural world.” 
• “How am I able to capture this feeling while skating? Well, it’s very difficult to explain…Through Mr. Mansai’s guidance, I am now able to find many more moments of ‘meaningfulness’ during my skating performance. There are things I find very important at certain moments, and feelings that I want to share at those moments. These are very precious things for which I want to create a meaningful expression and use my body to narrate the story. These (intangibles) are what I wish to pursue - of course, technical aspects are important, too – but if I can continue to pursue these goals through my skating, I would be very happy and grateful.” 

After doing the translation, I shared the following thoughts in the private exchange with Ladylou, long before we saw his new program Ten to chi to;

• That segment was such an important and revealing moment when he starts to find the "language" of skating - thanks to Mansai's nudging - and as usual, he tries to articulate that creative process with concrete words.  Like he says about the Seimei movements, by giving physical form to abstract feelings it becomes possible to share and shape the narrative. I particularly love how he describes the moment of finding himself in harmony with the natural world by feeling the flow of air while skating - and becoming part of the ebb and flow of nature.  He was truly able to find this zone in 2017 Worlds Hope & Legacy. I enjoyed Origin & Otonal but he knows that he will need a different type of music to find that feeling of one-ness with the world.  Looking forward to his new programs!     

 

Well, we now have Ten to Chi to - which is a perfect vehicle for his exploration of this great theme of Ten-chi-jin.  What is more, he can connect with the actual historic figure of Uesugi Kenshin-ko whose life story and personal qualities overlap so much with his own.  It may take time for some of the international judges to get used to this type of music and be able to appreciate the unique cadance of this masterpiece that offers this maverick skater the space to breathe (at last, free from asthma) and become one with heaven and earth.   

 

 

[IULIANA]

Thank God the Planet is back working again. Sorry for just reading your posts lately and not posting, but I barely am over the feling that JNts are past now and I have to admit I am watching Yuzu`s perfs on the loop (certainly am not the only one!). I really enjoyed Umebachi`s meaningful analyses and I totally resonate with it!

[Henni147]

11 hours ago, SuzyQ said:

H&E is a perfection as a 4-minute program, even if it does not have difficult elements compared to other programs or skaters.

 

EDIT: I know what you mean, but we should be really careful with wordings like this.

1. First of all, the quad Loop may not have the highest BV, but there is wide agreement that the 4Lo is the hardest quad jump after the Axel. This jump is difficult by default.
2. I don't know, if anyone has noticed, but the 4T+1Eu+3S is a combination that Yuzu has attempted 7 times in competition already, but never managed to land it clean without calls before. This was the first time for him. That alone is proof of how difficult this combo is.
3. Also, I'd like to see one other skater, who is able to pull off that cascade of 3A+2T and 3Lo right after another, do two different 4T combos back-to-back in the second half and a 3A with twizzle exit as final jump element.

The BV of the H&E layout is not maxed out (yet), but that does NOT mean it's not difficult. A complex distribution and transitioning between the elements can double the difficulty of execution and I have my doubts that any skater could do it like him with all the flourish and extras he added. That he doesn't get rewarded properly, is another issue.

 

Everyone's talking about 4Lz and 4F, but what's a 4Lz worth, if you need half a rink of preparation and complete one of the four rotations on the ice? Yuzu's 3A is probably harder to do and closer to a real quad than most so-called quad Lutzes out there.

 

Sure, Yuzu skated H&E squeaky clean and made everything look easy at first attempt, but what he did there at JNats was close to a miracle (under the circumstances) and it's simply not true that it lacks difficult elements compared to whatever other program or skater.

 

Gomen for this post, but I feel uneasy with wordings like this. There are enough negative narratives floating around about him and we shouldn't fuel the situation 

[yuzupon]

Someone has said it before, I am sure, but 4 quads, 2 of which are backloaded, plus 2 3A’s program is a difficult program. 
I don’t want to speculate on why Zuzu didn’t include Flip and Lutz, mostly for the sake of my sanity, so let’s not go there.

But just because he didn’t include those doesn’t mean he didn’t do difficult jump. He included (triple) Axel, didn’t he? 2 of them, one as the very last jump. Have flip and lutz taken over as the most difficult types of jump and I didn’t see the memo? The only jump in his arsenal with higher scoring potential (not necessarily higher difficulty) than all the jumps he did in JNats is 4Lz. 

How many other skaters can do a clean backload 4T-Eu-3S?

 

Perhaps it’s because he skated a really clean first pancake, and so it gives the impression that what he did must have been a ‘less difficult’ layout,,, but,,, we complain about how people apply different standard to Zu, and yet, look at what we are doing.

[Paskud]

Incredible. 4 quads program isn't difficult anymore?

[monchan]

Small notice in his A spin

Jnats is only his first outing of H&E, I'm sure Yuzu is finding ways to improve difficulty. Reading from his interview I feel he's thinking of adding 4A to this program.

[Henni147]

3 minutes ago, yuzupon said:

I don’t want to speculate on why Zuzu didn’t include Flip and Lutz, mostly for the sake of my sanity, so let’s not go there.

 

If I remember correctly, he said himself that in the pandemic he wants to avoid close contact with other people (apart from his family). That means, he can't go to physiotherapy either and he doesn't want to attempt jumps that could cause him pain, as long as he has no access to massage and medical treatment etc.

[Melodie]

8 minutes ago, monchan said:

Small notice in his A spin

ig 

Jnats is only his first outing of H&E, I'm sure Yuzu is finding ways to improve difficulty. Reading from his interview I feel he's thinking of adding 4A to this program.

Actually, he has done that for the A-spins in Chopin since ver. 3, but it's the first time he brings that little detail to an A-spin in the free IMO. He isn't rewarded for it, but he goes for it anyway . I read somewhere (probably from Yuzu himself) that placing the hand in that position can throw the skaters off balance. But it's so Yuzu for trying it   

[monchan]

Get that acknowledgement anime boy :))

 

 

This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

[Melodie]

11 hours ago, SuzyQ said:

H&E is a perfection as a 4-minute program, even if it does not have difficult elements compared to other programs or skaters.

   

I would have to respectfully disagree with you here. He had 4 quads, including a beautiful 4Lo, and 2 triple axels. His layout for H&E at JNats was difficult. 

[SitTwizzle]

21 minutes ago, monchan said:

Small notice in his A spin

Jnats is only his first outing of H&E, I'm sure Yuzu is finding ways to improve difficulty. Reading from his interview I feel he's thinking of adding 4A to this program.

I just cannot imagine a 4A in a free program. My wildest imagination cannot go further than a 4A as the quad in a short program. Sorry. 

 

19 minutes ago, Henni147 said:

 

If I remember correctly, he said himself that in the pandemic he wants to avoid close contact with other people (apart from his family). That means, he can't go to physiotherapy either and he doesn't want to attempt jumps that could cause him pain, as long as he has no access to massage and medical treatment etc.

And indeed, usually physiotherapy involves contact between two sweating skins.

 

@yuzupon

Indeed effortlessness is mentioned at least twice in ISU rules : once as a bullet for jumps GOEs, and another one for skating skills. That judges score to the opposite, doesn't mean the rules aren't there. I don't watch them often because they make me angry when I think of actual skates and scores.

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/sandp-handbooks-faq/17596-program-component-chart-id-sp-2019-20/file

[Melodie]

13 minutes ago, Henni147 said:

 

If I remember correctly, he said himself that in the pandemic he wants to avoid close contact with other people (apart from his family). That means, he can't go to physiotherapy either and he doesn't want to attempt jumps that could cause him pain, as long as he has no access to massage and medical treatment etc.

Or maybe that he really didn't need them at JNats. Plus, the jumps and jump combos that he chose went really well with the flow

[monchan]

9 minutes ago, SitTwizzle said:

I just cannot imagine a 4A in a free program. My wildest imagination cannot go further than a 4A as the quad in a short program. Sorry. 

I'm pretty sure it must be in the FS. He only did 4Lz in his FS, prob the same for 4A. He did 4Lo in LGC and never skated it clean:))

[Henni147]

9 minutes ago, Melodie said:

Or maybe that he really didn't need them at JNats. Plus, the jumps and jump combos that he chose went really well with the flow

 

Yeah, that too. I really don't want to worry about his layout.

a) With 4 quads and 2 Axels it's difficult enough as it is already.

b) He has options to max out his BV anytime, if he wants to. It's not like this is his limit from now on.

 

I feel that we got so spoiled and used to the high complexity and ease of Yuzu's programs that we do not even recognize how difficult it really is anymore. Apart from Nathan no skater has a program with higher BV than H&E at the moment. And even Nathan tends to reduce his number of quads, when he debuts new programs. Please do not forget that.

[SuzyQ]

1 時間前, Henni147さんが言いました:

 

EDIT: I know what you mean, but we should be really careful with wordings like this.

1. First of all, the quad Loop may not have the highest BV, but there is wide agreement that the 4Lo is the hardest quad jump after the Axel. This jump is difficult by default.
2. I don't know, if anyone has noticed, but the 4T+1Eu+3S is a combination that Yuzu has attempted 7 times in competition already, but never managed to land it clean without calls before. This was the first time for him. That alone is proof of how difficult this combo is.
3. Also, I'd like to see one other skater, who is able to pull off that cascade of 3A+2T and 3Lo right after another, do two different 4T combos back-to-back in the second half and a 3A with twizzle exit as final jump element.

The BV of the H&E layout is not maxed out (yet), but that does NOT mean it's not difficult. A complex distribution and transitioning between the elements can double the difficulty of execution and I have my doubts that any skater could do it like him with all the flourish and extras he added. That he doesn't get rewarded properly, is another issue.

 

Everyone's talking about 4Lz and 4F, but what's a 4Lz worth, if you need half a rink of preparation and complete one of the four rotations on the ice? Yuzu's 3A is probably harder to do and closer to a real quad than most so-called quad Lutzes out there.

 

Sure, Yuzu skated H&E squeaky clean and made everything look easy at first attempt, but what he did there at JNats was close to a miracle (under the circumstances) and it's simply not true that it lacks difficult elements compared to whatever other program or skater.

 

Gomen for this post, but I feel uneasy with wordings like this. There are enough negative narratives floating around about him and we shouldn't fuel the situation 

 

Oh, sorry and I understand what you mean.

I should have said that "even if it does not have elements that are given higher base values when compared to his other programs".

H&E has more edge jumps than usual, maybe because it more suits the program than using toe jumps, and Flip and Lutz, both toe jumps, have higher base values even if it is already a known fact that the Loop jump is more difficult when it comes to quad.