Team Japan

[barbara]

8 hours ago, sweetwater said:

Probably somewhere in Toronto.

 

As for Rika, isn't she training in Champery simply because it is in a highland? Training there would increase her stamina and help her get a feeling of quads since one can jump higher in such a place.

Rika could increase her stamina at high elevation because there is less oxygen and the body produces more red blood cells; lung capacity is increased.  When she skates at a lower altitude, her muscles would be getting more oxygen than they are used to and this would be an advantage.  Jump height would only be affected by increased strength - gravity isn't that much different at high altitude.  But, any advantage from high altitude training for a few weeks is not going to last for a very long time. And Champery isn't any higher up than Calgary. And thousands of feet lower than Colorado Springs.  I would think she is going for the coaching only.

[sweetwater]

5 hours ago, barbara said:

Rika could increase her stamina at high elevation because there is less oxygen and the body produces more red blood cells; lung capacity is increased.  When she skates at a lower altitude, her muscles would be getting more oxygen than they are used to and this would be an advantage.  Jump height would only be affected by increased strength - gravity isn't that much different at high altitude.  But, any advantage from high altitude training for a few weeks is not going to last for a very long time. And Champery isn't any higher up than Calgary. And thousands of feet lower than Colorado Springs.  I would think she is going for the coaching only.

Whether it looks effective or not, training in highland is what she has been doing for these few years to learn or solidify quads and 3A. I guess practicing a jump in highland is a bit like practicing it with a harness? Even with the help of a harness or the high altitude, landing one would help to get a feeling of a successful jump. Rika isn't the only one who learned a difficult jump that way. She used to visit Colorado Springs for this purpose, but it practically isn't available for her this year. Calgary isn't an option since she can't enter Canada.

[SuzyQ]

On 2020/7/27 at 午前1時17分, SitTwizzleさんが言いました:

Lucky coaches, you mean? So Shun Sato has a quad lutz?

And Yuma Kagiyama's FS will be on Princess Mononoke? We had discussed it for Yuzuru Hanyu and I must say I loved this soundtrack.

 

 

 

[sweetwater]

Japan’s Shimada feels stronger after tough senior debut season

https://www.goldenskate.com/2020/07/japans-shimada-feels-stronger-after-tough-senior-debut-season/

[SitTwizzle]

2 hours ago, sweetwater said:

Japan’s Shimada feels stronger after tough senior debut season

https://www.goldenskate.com/2020/07/japans-shimada-feels-stronger-after-tough-senior-debut-season/

Is it possible that, if he's good at practice and less so in competitions, it may be due to Champéry being rather high?

[Songster01]

On 7/25/2020 at 8:34 PM, barbara said:

Neither Jun or Yuzu would be traveling via the United States.  I totally understand the US/Canadian border closures but won't people (perhaps with letters from their federation) be allowed to arrive in Canadian cities on direct flights from countries that have the virus totally under control (like Japan and So Korea)? Of course, they would have to quarantine, but I think I'm unclear if Canada is closed to ALL international travelers, regardless of origin.  What if, for instance, someone from New Zealand needed to travel to Toronto?  Landing at a major international airport, an Asian citizen wouldn't, I would hope, face the same sort of prejudice one might find at a US border.  And, wow, that's sad - this is what happens when misinformation is rampant and prejudices come out, as if any one nationality is somehow responsible for this virus.  In the states, we can thank our bigoted president who still calls it the Chinese Flu.

 

The federal travel restrictions and guidelines are are not aimed just at people coming from the US, but every nation.  Apart from people meeting certain narrow conditions and a few loopholes (for ex, people driving to Alaska have to go through part of Canada) no one is allowed into Canada. And almost everyone who comes here must quarantine.  I heard yesterday that European airlines are trying to get the feds to loosen up towards European tourists, but as numbers seem to be trending upwards in more than one European country (Spain apparently is the most worrisome case?), I think it's safer to keep the status quo for now. We should only consider opening up when both Canada is clearly under control, in other words has an extremely low trending of cases for a long time (and we really need several months at Stage 3 levels to see how lax people get) _and_ there are certain individual countries that meet rigorous guidelines.  I'd rather it be decided by public health concerns most of all.  That would seem fairer.

 

Welp, American parents of first-year students complained and the feds here listened to them: https://www.cicnews.com/2020/07/canada-exempts-u-s-students-from-travel-restrictions-but-theres-a-catch-0715161.html#gs.c2p4qi  I have to say I'm against them giving preferential treatment to American students,  I get that they are geographically close and we have ties of friendship, but the situation is too dire there and it sends a bad message to people in countries doing far better than the US who also send far more students here.  I say this as a US citizen who was in these kids' shoes a few decades ago; I am sure the kids are disappointed.  Nevertheless, I'd rather they reward countries that consistently have handled their outbreaks well, like Taiwan or New Zealand.  South Korea sends more students here than the US does and has done far better than the US (and us!) in handling COVID-19, so why weren't they made the exceptions instead?  That is if they want to come, but I totally understand if South Koreans are looking at Canada's record as not being good enough to risk sending there kids here during the pandemic. Or if Canada being too close to the US is a concern, given we are giving Americans preferential treatment. 

 

I begin to wonder if any of Team Japan who left will be able to come here before the end of this fs season... 

[SitTwizzle]

3 hours ago, Songster01 said:

I begin to wonder if any of Team Japan who left will be able to come here before the end of this fs season... 

This also depends on Japanese decisions. Infections trend seem upwards in Japan.

[EisElle]

I do wonder why Shoma isn't in Champery with the rest of them - especially since he hadn't been working with them for long (training camps aside). He clearly could travel if he wished to. Maybe with the season being up in the air he sees no reason to rush in foreign land 

 

Rika's timing for her part time training in Canada was unfortunate, sadly - at this point, with cases in Japan being on the rise again, I see it hard for her (or Utashin or Yuzu) to be allowed in Canada any time soon, even if they're not living any close to the Tokyo hotspot (where are Utashin training btw?)

Nor I expect them to chance an intercontinental flight with feds' letters as the only thing to sway border officers to let them in

And with chances of borders closing again at any moment, early challengers out of question per JSF choice and the uncertainty about GP series, I can see why skaters would prefer to stay put and wait instead of going to Canada as soon as they would be able to 

 

 

On 7/25/2020 at 4:57 PM, Paskud said:

 

Those are beautiful pics and the place looks stunning

An aside, tomorrow I'll leave for the land of no wi-fi (aka my parents'  holiday house) and I'll have the chance to go and watch a similar sunrise only, a few thousands miles from Satton's, on a different sea

[sweetwater]

According to a video interview shared by Fuji at the beginning of July, Utashin has been training together since late January June for 2-3days a week in Okayama, Utana's home, with Shingo going there from Tokyo. The rink in Okayama has developed a bit like a training center for Japanese ice dancers in these several years, so I think there is someone who can help them as a temporary coach. But given the rapid increase of COVID-19 patients in Japan, travel between Tokyo and Okayama must be getting more difficult than in July now. Hope the situation becomes better enough for them to be able to train together at least in Japan...

 

I am not sure what is Shoma's plan for this season, but unlike Koshiro, Shoma has a training base in Japan as well. As someone guessed earlier, he may be trying to figure out what to do after retirement here as well. He has already won an Olympic medal with which many retire. I wouldn't consider that he is in the same situation as many other young Japanese skaters in that regard. He has opened his YouTube account today, by the way.

 

As for Rika, I am a little bit baffled to see the way people (including the Russian media) react to Rika's situation. She said she was going to work with Brian as well as Coach Hamada, and in June, she was hoping to fly to Canada sometime in July. That's all she said about going to Canada. After that, apparently, she has adjusted her plan to the situation and has been doing what she can at each moment. The info about the border closure between Canada and other countries has been constantly updated in Japanese by Japanese media and fans as well. I think she knows the situation and won't push her plan through.

 

ETA: Fixed a typo regarding the time Utashin started training in Okayama together. Sorry for not checking enough.

[lynnidolz]

Its great that japanese skater like shoma who is training oversea still has training base in japan as well.How about Yuzu he has been withhTCC for a long time.Does he still has training base in Japan?Is it a bit disadvantage for him then

[sweetwater]

1 hour ago, lynnidolz said:

Its great that japanese skater like shoma who is training oversea still has training base in japan as well.How about Yuzu he has been withhTCC for a long time.Does he still has training base in Japan?Is it a bit disadvantage for him then

If I remember correctly, Shoma is still studying at Chukyo Univ., so he should be able to use their rink when it is open. He seems to be skating in other rinks in Nagoya as well.

Yuzu, on the other hand, seems to have been in a good relationship with Ice Rink Sendai, so I guess he can train there if he wants to, although it must be hard to secure enough ice-time since it is the only rink that is open in summer in Miyagi.

[BWOZWaltz]

I hope Yuzu has enough ice time and is safe. Maybe Ice Rink Sendai can be hired during the night so that he can have Zoom with TCC coaches with their time zone. After all, Ice Rink Sendai used to be his home rink so I think he still feels at home to a certain extent while practicing there. Strange time to be on this planet wherever you are right now but Yuzu being in Sendai with his family could be the biggest benefit for him and his family out of COVID19 situation. 

[rockstaryuzu]

1 hour ago, sweetwater said:

Yuzu, on the other hand, seems to have been in a good relationship with Ice Rink Sendai, so I guess he can train there if he wants to, although it must be hard to secure enough ice-time since it is the only rink that is open in summer in Miyagi.

Given that at this point, Yuzu seems to  be Ice Rink Sendai's biggest donor, I can't imagine him having trouble getting ice time there...

[EisElle]

4 hours ago, sweetwater said:

According to a video interview shared by Fuji at the beginning of July, Utashin has been training together since late January June for 2-3days a week in Okayama, Utana's home, with Shingo going there from Tokyo. The rink in Okayama has developed a bit like a training center for Japanese ice dancers in these several years, so I think there is someone who can help them as a temporary coach. But given the rapid increase of COVID-19 patients in Japan, travel between Tokyo and Okayama must be getting more difficult than in July now. Hope the situation becomes better enough for them to be able to train together at least in Japan...

thank you for the info. I hope Shingo especially takes care

the rise of Tokyo cases just shows how unpredictable things are, even domestic movements might become difficult anytime

 

 

as for Yuzu

Spoiler

 

I'm taking for granted that if he's in Japan he can arrange for ice time.

He doesn't need as hours on ice much as other skaters anyway, even in TCC he usually trained no more than a couple hours on ice and in the past, like in early 2015, he did manage to make arrangements. Of course, we must trust him to be able to better manage his training now and for sure I hope he doesn't skate at 3am (and I'd be very surprised if TCC coaches didn't try to arrange eventual live communications with skaters in Japan and Korea at an acceptable hour for both the coaches and the skaters)

 

Yuzuru might not be the current Jpn champion, or JSF's dearest son, but by rankings and results of the last 10 years he's by far the best and most reliable skater they have, plus he's the most popular (all things that matter twice in current situation, when the kind of draw he has is even more needed). AND he's been freshly recognized as Most valuable skater by ISU (however useless that token award is, I'd be surprised if JSF weren't at least a little bit pleased that a Jpn skater got it).

All of this must mean something.

Not even JSF would be so dumb to let someone like Yuzu without a rink where to practice

 

 

 

[sweetwater]

Meanwhile, the first local comp in this season is taking place in Fukuoka behind closed doors, limiting the participants to the skaters affiliated to Fukuoka fed and above novice level. In addition to taking temperatures and offering rubbing alcohol, the organizer mandated the skaters to wear face masks except during their performances and to stagger the time in entering and leaving the venue using two different entrances to separate the flow line. In the dressing room, each skater uses a long bench to stay at least two meters away from each other. Judges were judging from behind acrylic boards, wearing both face masks and face guards, but as the face guards fogged up and hinder them from judging what the skaters were doing on the ice, they stopped using them halfway through. The competition seems to be streamed by Jsports.

Source: https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2020/08/01/kiji/20200801s00079000407000c.html