General Yuzuru Chat

[SparkleSalad]

5 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

I should have googled since to answer you I answered my own question ^_^;;;

Yuzuru Hanyu - Time of awakening

 

Oh, what? I haven't seen that one. 

 

 

ETA: It looks to be the same as the other one but with a different cover and mysterious bonus item.

 

It seems it was released first and the one with the PW cover was released in July 2014.

[robin]

1 minute ago, KatjaThera said:

I should have googled since to answer you I answered my own question ^_^;;;

Yuzuru Hanyu - Time of awakening

 

Oh good to know, I never knew this existed. 

[KatjaThera]

I think I saw it mentioned on his Wiki page for the first time, but fans virtually never talk about it, so I imagined it's either very rare or nothing that important...

 

Here it says what it contains (google translate will make it clear; no time to translate now ^^)

 

Hmm... tempted to try hunting a limited version in Japan...

[Valkyria]

Yuzuru seems to have a very analytical mind, a desire to know why things happen, their effects and how to control them; this applies both to the technical aspect of skating and the complexities of the human mind. Of course he'd be nose-deep in psychology stuff. I wonder if he's tried to psychoanalyze himself, actually. And possibly the people around him, too 

[CupidsBow]

6 hours ago, Hydroblade said:

Idk if it's just me but I would love to listen to him taking about the things he's realized by studying. 

Also, I know that the topic of needing a sports psychologist has been discussed, but until now I never thought that maybe he realized that and by studying these things he's mentioning in this interview,  he's trying to cover that part too? I'm glad that he's paying attention to his mental state like this

 

I kinda understand where he's coming from but he will have a lot more knowledge than me because I only studied psychology at A level (which is the UK is this weird bit between high school and university age 16/17-18/19) but studying things like that can really help with self-awareness and you can develop some self-correcting behaviour or at least become more sensitive to recognising when you have problems that need to be talked out/dealt with (I recognised it within myself I, however, opted to ignore my need for help and chose my illness over wellness because my problem has a tendency to warp your mind in that way. yay. At least I was self-aware I guess). I remember clearly that after studying about sleep and dreaming - particularly lucid dreaming - I kind of taught myself to lucid dream (having never experienced it before) and even analyse dreams as I was sleeping. My college had an entirely separate course on critical thinking/cognitive psychology I was interested in but didn't have time to take up as part of my studies.

It makes sense to me that he would be interested in those fields (cognitive and behavioural psychology, education and all the theory that goes into the psychology of learning from the standpoint of the educator and student etc) since 1) it's interesting and 2) a large part of skating as a sport is dealing with pressure. I like that he seems interested in both physical and psychological self-care since he can apply some of what he studies to himself, which will do him a world of good, but also help people around him especially if he ever does get into coaching. It seems fitting he'd be interested in psychology and physiology since a good balance of the two is kind of the key to succeeding in a sport like figure skating, which an individual sport with pretty much everything riding on a single performance (or, at least, two performances per event) as opposed to team sports like rugby or football where the pressure is a bit more spread out across the entire season.

I'd love to hear him talk more about this kind of thing since I have my own interests (though I veered off into media theory and collective psychologies, though I am considering studying education more), but I get it might be kind of personal considering he does seem to be taking his study and applying it to himself in some ways. Having a diary of competitions and practices including physical and psychological conditions so he can analyse what causes for mistakes were and how to address those causes to avoid them in the future is hella interesting. He seems to not really like publicly letting on to any kinds of 'weakness' (not mentioning injuries until after events, never discussing boot problems when he has them, downplaying injuries or mental pressure, rarely discussing his asthma...) so I dunno if he'd ever go into any detail about what things he learned and applied to himself. 

 

It seems to fit in really well with some of what Brian has said about his general approach to coaching. No wonder Brian's method seems to work so well for Yuzuru.

 

I wonder how he's getting along in University... Having a genuine interest and complex motivations usually yields good results but you never know   

I found this interview really interesting lmao.

[sweetwater]

3 hours ago, Floria said:

When did he said that? Does anybody know the source?

I can’t provide a link to the source now, but it’s from his comment after FS in NHK Trophy 2014, taken in the back stage. Probably included only in a recap aired by NHK BS in December 2014.

[Floria]

 Skating notes

 

[katonice]

3 minutes ago, Floria said:

 Skating notes

 

He's so organized 

[KatjaThera]

2 hours ago, CupidsBow said:

He seems to not really like publicly letting on to any kinds of 'weakness' (not mentioning injuries until after events, never discussing boot problems when he has them, downplaying injuries or mental pressure, rarely discussing his asthma...) so I dunno if he'd ever go into any detail about what things he learned and applied to himself.

 

I found your post really interesting, but I just wanted to point out a little thing about this quoted part. I don't think it has much to do with not showing weakness, and it's more that he doesn't want to make excuses or be seen as making excuses. There was an interview somewhere where he said that all big athletes never make excuses so he doesn't want to either.

 

He does admit to mistakes and weaknesses - and is generally harder on himself than anyone else - so I don't think that's a problem, he just doesn't want to make excuses for when things don't go right. (Which makes me wonder if he'd have kept last year's injury completely secret if he could have...)

[robin]

5 hours ago, KatjaThera said:

 

I found your post really interesting, but I just wanted to point out a little thing about this quoted part. I don't think it has much to do with not showing weakness, and it's more that he doesn't want to make excuses or be seen as making excuses. There was an interview somewhere where he said that all big athletes never make excuses so he doesn't want to either.

 

He does admit to mistakes and weaknesses - and is generally harder on himself than anyone else - so I don't think that's a problem, he just doesn't want to make excuses for when things don't go right. (Which makes me wonder if he'd have kept last year's injury completely secret if he could have...)

 

I was going to comment the same. He doesn't talk abt his injuries bc he doesn't like excuses. 

 

On the contrary my impression of him is that he doesn't shy away from looking vulnerable. He wears his emotions on his skin and is very vocal in expressing them which is something I really respect and envy about him. It showcases strength rather than weakness and I am pretty sure that it is part of what enables him to constantly grow as a skater and person.

[liv]

I think he would have liked to have kept the injury secret, but knowing he was going to stay in Canada for treatment and would have to decline shows he usually would attend would let people know something was up. He had to mention it...media usually finds out these things somehow. And, even with people knowing about the injury, it was rarely, if ever, mentioned by international media. I can't recall watching any of his programs with anyone commentating that he'd been off the ice for 2 months. So, really, the injury was pretty much ignored as a reason for any of his early season glitches.... just the way he probably would have wanted.

[robin]

9 minutes ago, liv said:

I think he would have liked to have kept the injury secret, but knowing he was going to stay in Canada for treatment and would have to decline shows he usually would attend would let people know something was up. He had to mention it...media usually finds out these things somehow. And, even with people knowing about the injury, it was rarely, if ever, mentioned by international media. I can't recall watching any of his programs with anyone commentating that he'd been off the ice for 2 months. So, really, the injury was pretty much ignored as a reason for any of his early season glitches.... just the way he probably would have wanted.

 

I remember in that documentary that was aired after Yuzu's injury was public information (but filmed prior) the interviewers were aware of his injury and even asked him about it. Alot of people must have known abt it so it would have been difficult to keep it a secret for much longer especially after the Boston LP.... (Btw, everytime I watch that part of the docu and Yuzu says "But I can walk fine now" (paraphrasing here) I want to grab his shoulders and shake him .)

 

Idk if it is bc Yuzu tried not to advertise it too much that commentators seem to be unaware of his injuries but it still makes my blood boil when they mention how bad he started the season and just leave it at that.

[Hydroblade]

2 minutes ago, robin said:

everytime I watch that part of the docu and Yuzu says "But I can walk fine now" (paraphrasing here) I want to grab his shoulders and shake him

That whole part of the docu is really hard for me to watch. 

I have the same impression, he doesn't want to be seen as "making excuses" for his mistakes.

However, if he knows why those mistakes happened and he's not trying to convince himself that he should be able to give a perfect performance regardless of physical or mental state, i don't care if the media or anyone else are kept in the dark about it. I mean, no matter how much you want to do something, you can't ask your body to do more for you than what it can deliver in a certain physical state, we're only human...

[Summer]

6 hours ago, KatjaThera said:

And speaking of DVDs, I'm reposting a question I asked before and nobody seemed to know the answer... does anyone have any idea what is on the DVD he did release? ^_^;

 

I have the Time of awakening Blu-ray. I haven’t watched it in a long time so I just try to remember what’s on it.

 

It’s divided in different chapters according to seasons. The chapters have some nice practise and backstage footage, and some of his best programs. Unfortunately, the K&C moments are cut off. Most of the performances are from competitions held in Japan like Japan Nationals and NHK. Thankfully it also has the FS from Nice and both of his Sochi performances. It ends with his WC win in Saitama.

 

I think most of it is on the internet spred in different videos, but it’s nice to be able to see them in the right order. Naturally it’s in Japanese and there are no English subtitles. The picture quality is excellent.

 

The bonus materials are early programs like a really cute Sing Sing Sing and some footage from his Sendai parade after Sochi. And there is a small booklet with pictures.

 

As a fan I’m happy to have it. I hope there will be Part II after PC Olympics. However, if you can watch all your favourite pre-Sochi programs in good quality somewhere else, I’m not sure how useful it'd be for you.

[robin]

4 minutes ago, Hydroblade said:

That whole part of the docu is really hard for me to watch. 

I have the same impression, he doesn't want to be seen as "making excuses" for his mistakes.

However, if he knows why those mistakes happened and he's not trying to convince himself that he should be able to give a perfect performance regardless of physical or mental state, i don't care if the media or anyone else are kept in the dark about it. I mean, no matter how much you want to do something, you can't ask your body to do more for you than what it can deliver in a certain physical state, we're only human...

 

He seems to have learned that he performs better when he is in a good physical state (LOL) and the importance of staying healthy and being careful which I am obviously very glad he did. I trust that he is taking better care of himself now and won't overtrain recklessly. Although... how many quads did he say he jumps during practice? Was it 40? 60?