[2007] Kodama vol. 53 - Yuzuru Hanyu Essay

[yuzurujenn]

*machine translation, inaccuracies exist*

 

Info: https://x.com/7Yu_Ya4/status/839082796077309952

Source: Kodama 53, 2007 pg. 111-113 (Edited by the Sendai City Junior High School Education Research Association, Japanese Language Division)
 

 

A New Step Forward

(Nanakita - Yuzuru Hanyu)

 

“I've finally arrived.”

Every year, my summer vacation begins with those words.

 

This year, as soon as summer break started on July 24th, I took part in the All-Japan Promising Newcomer Discovery Camp. In this camp, figure skaters from all over Japan gather every year to determine the seeded skaters for the All-Japan Championships. It’s held in a place called Nobeyama in Nagano Prefecture. It takes about ten hours to get there by car. So every year, almost without thinking, I end up saying, “I've finally arrived.” And again this year, many things happened during the four days of the camp.

 

On the first day of the camp, I checked in and headed to my assigned room. When I opened the door, my rivals who had arrived earlier were already getting ready.

 

“You’re late! Hurry up and get ready so we can go!”

 

I quickly went in and got ready too. Then we all headed to the opening ceremony. At the ceremony, they explained the schedule and the camp rules. It ended earlier than expected, and next was on-ice practice. Seeing everyone skate again for the first time in a while, I noticed they had all gotten better. As I practiced, I thought, “There’s no way I’m going to lose to them.”

 

Next was the physical testing. There were two rounds. In the first round, endurance was measured with a five-minute run, and explosive power was measured with a 50-meter dash. I’d never come in first in either event before, so I wanted to do my best. The 50-meter dash started. I was the very last to go. But soon my turn came, and I took off running. My start went well, and I clocked in at 7.85 seconds. It was a decent result. Then came the five-minute run. I was full of nerves and anxiety as I waited to start. But then, my dad, who was watching me, cheered: “Yuzu, do your best!”

 

With those words, all my nerves and anxiety vanished. In its place, a strong determination welled up inside me: “I’m going to do it!” Running with that mindset, before I knew it, there was only one minute left. When the count reached “30 seconds left,” my body suddenly felt light, and I was able to run hard all the way to the end. Those five minutes flew by. When I realized it, I was so tired I felt like I might collapse. My record was 1,260 meters, placing second. I was disappointed not to get first, but I felt I had achieved a result I could be proud of.

 

On the third day of the camp, we had the elements performance and the free skate. In the elements performance, we do required jumps, steps, and spins, and are evaluated by the judges on how high the jumps are, how precise the steps are, and how beautiful the spins are.
The free skate is like a real competition. We perform to music just like in a regular event, executing the required elements in time with the music. These two components are so important that they practically determine the seeds. So on this day, everyone becomes quiet. That’s how tense we are. We all wish time would stop, but it keeps moving forward. One hour before the elements performance, we left the room.
When I arrived at the rink, I usually get more nervous, but this time was different. Rather than nervousness, I felt confident because I had practiced harder than usual.

 

Then came the real thing. My coach said, “Just do it like you always do,” which fired me up even more. The jump was a success. Even I thought it looked good. My final spin wobbled a bit, but overall, it went okay. Next was the free skate. This was the real test. I was skating to a new piece of music for the first time. Somehow, my turn came up faster than it did for the elements performance. The free skate lasts three minutes and thirty seconds. Just running for that long is tough, but with jumps and spins, it gets even harder. And there was one more difficult factor in Nobeyama: the oxygen level. Because Nobeyama is at a high altitude, there’s less oxygen. Even under those harsh conditions, I have to perform. But thinking that everyone is enduring the same thing gave me strength. I took my starting position. The music began. I failed the first jump, which was one of the required elements. But the other required jump was very clean. The other jumps were tough in the second half, but I managed to get through them. It was a performance I was really satisfied with, so I was very happy. When I got back to my coach after the music ended, he praised me a lot, and he looked really happy. I still have stamina to work on, but I was so happy I couldn’t even put it into words.

 

Then on the fourth day, the Japan Skating Federation announced the seeded skaters.

 

“Yuzuru Hanyu.” I was the first to be called. I was so happy. There was also a training camp for the top skaters in the next level up, and I was invited to join that as well. That made me even happier. On the ice at this training camp, I took a new step forward.

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Wintek]

2007.07.24

*machine translation, inaccuracies exist*

Excerpt from Miyagi Prefecture Excellent Composition Collection
Kodama 53, 2007 p. 111-113 (Sendai City Junior High School Education Research Association, Japanese Language Division)

A New Step Forward
Nanakita, Yuzuru Hanyu

“[We/I have] finally arrived.”
My summer vacation starts with this phrase every year. Again this year, on July 24th right after summer vacation began, I participated in the All-Japan Training Camp for Discovering Promising Newcomers. In this camp, figure skaters from all over Japan gather every year, and the seeding for the All-Japan Championships is decided. Among training camps, it’s quite a large one. This camp is held in a place called Nobeyama in Nagano Prefecture. It takes about ten hours by car to get there. So every year, I find myself unconsciously saying, “[We/I have] finally arrived.” And again this year, during the four days of this camp, many things happened.

Spoiler

On the first day of the camp, I finished checking in and headed to my room. When I opened the door, my rivals who had already arrived were getting ready.

“You're late. Hurry and get ready, let’s go.”

I also quickly entered the room and got ready. Then, we all headed to the opening ceremony. At the opening ceremony, the schedule and rules of the camp were explained. The ceremony ended earlier than scheduled, and next was the on-ice practice. When I saw everyone skating for the first time in a while, as expected, they had all improved. I practiced thinking, “There’s no way I’m going to lose to them.” Next came the measurement tests. There are two rounds of measurement tests. In the first round, endurance is measured by a 5-minute run, and explosive power by a 50-meter dash. In the 5-minute run, the distance you can cover in 5 minutes is measured. I had never come in first place in either of these before, so I wanted to do my best.

The 50-meter dash began. My turn was last. But soon it came around, and I started to run. My start went well, and the result was 7.85 seconds. It was a decent result. Then, the 5-minute run. I was full of nervousness and anxiety as I began the run.

However, my father, who was watching me, encouraged me, saying, 

"Yuzu, do your best.”

My father's words made my nervousness and anxiety disappear somewhere. Then, I felt motivated to “do my best.” With that feeling, I desperately kept running, and before I knew it, only one minute remained. When the count came, “30 seconds left,” my body suddenly felt lighter, and I was able to run all the way to the end with full effort. The 5 minutes passed in a flash. When I realized it, I was so tired I almost collapsed. I ran 1260 meters. The result was second place. Unfortunately, I didn’t get first on the first day, I think I was able to leave behind a result, in my own way.

On the third day of the camp, there were Elements Performance and Free Performance. Elements Performance means doing required jumps, steps, and spins, and having the judges evaluate how high your jumps are, how accurate your steps are, and how beautiful your spins are. The Free Performance is just like a real competition. A program is performed to music just like in a competition. These two are so important that you could say they basically determine the seeding. So when this day comes, everyone becomes silent. That’s how nervous we get.

When this day comes, everyone is so nervous they wish time would stop, but time keeps moving on moment by moment[1]. One hour before the Elements performance, we left our rooms. Usually, when we arrive at the rink, I get really nervous, but this time was different. Rather than nervousness, confidence came, “I’ve practiced harder than usual.”

Then came the real thing, When my coach said, “Just do it like you always do,” I became even more fired up. I nailed the jump. Even I thought I did it beautifully. The final spin was a bit shaky, but it was okay. Next was the Free Program. This was truly the real thing. I was challenging myself with a new piece of music for the first time. It felt like my turn came sooner than during the Elements. The free program is 3 minutes and 30 seconds long. Even just running for that long is hard, and adding jumps and spins makes it even more tiring. On top of that, Nobeyama has one more tough condition: the oxygen level. Since Nobeyama is at a high altitude, there’s less oxygen. Even in this tough situation, I had to do my best. But thinking that everyone was enduring the same thing fired me up. And then, I took my starting position.

The music began to play. I failed the first required jump, but the other required jump was executed quite beautifully. Even the jumps that came after—though it got hard in the second half—I managed to land them and held on. It was a performance I was proud of, and I was really happy. When the music ended and I returned to my coach, he praised me a lot and was really happy for me. Though I still had the challenge of building stamina, I was so happy I couldn’t even put it into words.

And then, on the fourth day, the skating federation announced the seeded skaters.

“Yuzuru Hanyu-kun.” I was the first name called. I was really happy. Also, I was allowed to participate in the training camp of the top skaters in the class above. That made me even happier.

On the ice at this camp, I took a new step forward.

---
[1] This part is a bit poetic, with a nice sound "時間は刻一刻と進んでいく" (Jikan wa koku ikkoku to susunde iku). The expression is not common in colloquial Japanese to refer to the passage of time.