Source: https://bsima.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E5%A4%A2%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AB%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%95

https://web.archive.org/web/20190824220808/https://webronza.asahi.com/national/articles/2013021500010.html

2013.03.12

Beyond the Dream 15 - Four Continents Championships Report (Part 2)

The Salchow bomb

“A grueling program”—that was how someone described Notre-Dame de Paris, the free skate that had just been completed.

At Coach Brian Orser’s direction, the program was packed with complex steps, putting the skating skills Hanyu had acquired in Canada to the test. Orser had also given him another instruction: to project the aura of a “grown man,” rather than the boyish quality he had shown up until the previous season.

On top of that, the program opened with two quadruple jumps, a toe loop and a Salchow. A skater who had only begun attempting quads in competition two seasons earlier was already taking on jumps at the world’s highest level this year.

“Jumps, skating, the program… Can I manage all of it? I probably can’t do any of it at all! I know that, so I’m prepared for it. Things might not go well, but I’ll get through it with sheer determination!” (Comment made in August)

But this challenging program seemed to be tougher than even Hanyu had anticipated.

His mistakes on the quadruple Salchow and other elements in the Four Continents free skate were understandable at this stage. What was more disappointing was that the tension of competition had affected his concentration, preventing him from delivering a compelling performance to the large audience in Osaka.

His short program, Parisienne Walkways, was so impressive that it looked set to become one of his signature performances. That often made the free skate feel lacking by comparison. Having seen how much attention he paid to expression in the short program, I couldn’t help wondering why he didn’t make the free skate more enjoyable to watch.

“Well, yes. Even from my perspective, I think there’s something a little lacking in the long program, the free skate. The jumps are good. But there are a few things we need to improve outside the jumps, and things we need to work on…”

Those were the words of Coach Brian Orser.

Hanyu had yet to fully master Notre-Dame de Paris. How would he tackle this challenge?

His determination to master two types of quads

First of all, Hanyu himself seemed to feel that attempting two different types of quads was his biggest hurdle.

“I’m confident in the toe loop I’ve been doing since last year. When I can land it, I can jump it with about as much force as I would a triple. But the Salchow… At Four Continents, I actually found myself laughing wryly in the middle of the jump. I was like, ‘Ahh! I’ve done it now…’ (laughs).

“Even in regular practice, my success rate on the Salchow still isn’t very high. When I can’t land it, I just can’t do it at all. I succeed maybe once every 10 or 20 attempts. Even when things are going well, I land it only about once every three tries. I had only just gotten a feel for the Salchow right before coming to Four Continents. During official practice, I was landing it one after another and felt I was getting somewhere, but it didn’t work in competition, so there’s nothing I can do about that. I’ll have to start over and work on it again.

“This time, I was focused on the Salchow, so I’m not worried about the mistake later in the program, when I popped the triple Lutz. What frustrates me more is missing the Salchow when I had focused so much on it. In competition, the nerves really are something else. You get nervous, start thinking about all sorts of things, and your body can stiffen up…”

There was something remarkable about the methodical way Hanyu acquired his jumps.

At 14, in his first year as a junior, he attempted the triple Axel for the first time and had mastered it well enough to land it with ease in competition within the same season. In his second junior season, he set himself the goal of including two triple Axels in his free skate, with the second one placed in the second half of the program. He achieved that, too. At 15, he went on to win the World Junior Championships.

Then, in his first season as a senior at 16, he was already attempting quads. By the end of that season, he had become consistent enough to land a quad in his free skate.

Last season, he began attempting a quad in his short program as well, aiming to land two quads across the short and free programs. He came close to achieving that goal and won the World Championships bronze medal at 17.

And this season, landing one quadruple toe loop in each of the short and free programs had become routine. Now he was desperately working to master a second type of quad, the quadruple Salchow, before the season ended.

“At this rate, I want to try a quadruple loop next season. I mean, Javier [Fernández of Spain] is already doing all types of quadruple jumps!”

He was only 18. From the outside, one might think there was no need for him to rush so much. And attempting a different type of quad, the Salchow, was no small undertaking. He had managed to land it at the Finlandia Trophy, the first competition of the season, but since then he had struggled with shaky landings and under-rotations. We had yet to see a clean quadruple Salchow from him at a major competition.

In that case, one might wonder whether it would have been better for him to attempt the same quad twice this year, choosing the toe loop, which had a higher success rate and was more likely to earn positive grades of execution. I put that question to Brian Orser as well.

“Of course, we considered doing two toe loops. But when we think about his future, I believe it’s important for him to include both the toe loop and the Salchow. Eventually, I think it would be fine for him to include two toe loops and one Salchow. What matters to me is continuing to develop him. Of course, it’s not easy. But I think this is a good start for his first year with the Salchow. It’s not easy, so he still has a lot of growing to do.

“Yuzuru wants to try a quadruple loop next year? That’s great! (laughs) Javier is already practising his third type of quad. Yuzuru probably saw that and thought he could do it, too. His quadruple toe loop is so high in quality that I don’t think he’s heading in the wrong direction. He should keep trying things little by little, rather than attempting everything at once. He’s young and has time. I’d love to see him land three quads in his free skate someday. He can do it!” (Coach Orser)

But what if Hanyu reached a major competition before he had mastered the quadruple Salchow? Would he consider dropping the Salchow and sticking to the toe loop as his only quad? I put that question to Hanyu himself.

“No, I haven’t considered that. No matter how many times I fail, I intend to include both the toe loop and the Salchow in every competition this season. If things don’t go well, Brian might tell me, ‘Stop jumping it!’ That could be an important decision if the goal is to win. But I want to keep challenging myself.” (Comment made in August)

Fortunately, coach and student were in agreement, and so far Hanyu had included both types of quads in every competition he had entered. He was deeply frustrated by his failed Salchow at Four Continents, but his challenge was always about looking ahead. If he could land both the toe loop and the Salchow cleanly at the World Championships, it would be an achievement worthy of thunderous applause: mastering the second quad in his very first season of attempting it.

Improving his physical condition

However, a difficult jump like the quadruple Salchow could potentially throw off an entire program. For a skater like Hanyu, whose jumping technique was so economical, a single Salchow could become a major time bomb.

I once heard him explain that the more beautifully a jump was executed, the less strain it placed on the body. When a skater lands cleanly and glides smoothly away on one foot, that moment allows the body to rest.

“That’s why it’s not just falls that take a toll. If you keep stepping out of jumps, or landing them without any flow, with the landing feeling jammed up, fatigue just keeps building over the four and a half minutes. This time, I may have used up a tremendous amount of energy on that one Salchow. Popping a jump is exhausting, too. When you’re about to jump and the movement suddenly gets cut off, it’s a mental blow, your concentration breaks, and you lose physical energy as well. It’s… pretty tough. Maybe I used up all my strength on the Salchow and had nothing left for the other elements that needed it. Perhaps that’s why I was so exhausted in the second half, too. I think all the training I’ve done has helped me build up quite a lot of stamina. But in the atmosphere of competition, there are still times when I run out of steam…”

At four minutes and 30 seconds, roughly two minutes longer than the short program, the free skate was still a heavy burden for Hanyu. And skating those four and a half minutes while carrying the time bomb that was the Salchow made it all the more demanding.

As anyone could see, his build was slender and seemingly fragile for a male athlete. Unlike women, male skaters generally become capable of executing more advanced jumps as they develop the muscularity of a mature adult body. But Hanyu was still at the age when his peers were competing at the World Junior Championships.

Joshua Farris, who had won this year’s World Junior Championships, and Jason Brown, who finished second, were both American. Japan’s leading junior skaters, Ryuju Hino and Keiji Tanaka, were also the same age as Hanyu. At an age when his peers were competing with jumps up to the triple Axel, Hanyu was attempting two different types of quad. Surely that placed considerable strain on his body.

His health was another concern. He had suffered from respiratory problems since childhood and was prone to catching colds. He had a small appetite for a high school student, tired easily, and was often more exhausted the day after a competition than even the more experienced skaters. He certainly could not be described as physically robust. I had also heard that he had not been feeling quite himself since suffering food poisoning at the Grand Prix Final in Sochi earlier that season.

Could he really master a free skate that demanded so much stamina, both for the jumps and for the other elements, with a body like his?

“However, the effort he puts into improving his physical condition is considerable.”

Those words came from Masashi Aoshima, a massage therapist in Toronto.

“When Yuzuru first came to see me in May, the biggest problem was that he knew far too little about his own body as an athlete. Whether it came to injuries or physical fitness, he really wasn’t aware of his own condition. So I pointed out all sorts of things he wasn’t doing and things he didn’t know. I imagine he was pretty upset at being made fun of (laughs). But Yuzuru has that kind of personality. The more I told him, the more determined he became to study everything and prove me wrong. By the time he came for his next treatment, he had thoroughly reviewed what I’d told him and was ready to argue his case.

“Now he knows far more anatomy than many massage therapists who aren’t particularly good at their jobs. He understands the structure of the muscles throughout his body and how the major muscles work. At first, he was the kind of skater who would say things like, ‘Stretching has nothing to do with me.’ Now he tells me he spends two hours a day on it. You have to acknowledge that kind of effort. He comes to see me three times a week now, but his physical conditioning has improved to such an extent that I can say with confidence that treatment alone could never have brought him this far.”

As a result of these steady efforts, the right ankle he had injured at the World Championships a year earlier was still painful, but it was no longer causing major problems as he approached the end of the season.

And while the Salchow tended to overshadow everything else, the extraordinary consistency of his quadruple toe loop this season was also a result of the improvements he had made to his physical condition.

What about his stamina, though? Could he build up enough endurance to complete the full four and a half minutes? As I reported in the seventh instalment of this series, various measures were being tried, including acupuncture treatment to loosen the muscles in his chest.

“By loosening his chest muscles, he can breathe more easily now. Before, tension in his chest meant that even when he took a deep breath, he couldn’t get enough air in. Now oxygen can enter his lungs much more easily. This has naturally improved his stamina during performances. And with more oxygen reaching his brain, his concentration has improved as well. That has also helped increase his success rate on difficult elements.

“He seems to be very aware of these changes himself. As you’d expect from a top athlete, he notices physical changes far more sensitively than an ordinary person would. He has told me that even the difficult free skate choreographed by David Wilson feels easier to perform than before. When he sees positive changes, he becomes even more convinced of the value of my treatment and the things he’s doing himself, which motivates him to work even harder on his physical conditioning.

“Unusually for someone his age, he still has a certain openness and willingness to listen. He takes in what people tell him and has the ability to absorb it and make it his own. His physical recovery is progressing much faster than I initially expected.” (Aoshima)

Even with all these measures and Hanyu’s own hard work, this season’s free skate and its two types of quads remained formidable challenges. If he once again ran out of steam at the World Championships, people might say that stamina was still his weakness.

But his physical development was still a work in progress. He was steadily laying the groundwork for the day when, after overcoming this major hurdle, he would be able to deliver performances at a much higher level. He was continuing his physical conditioning without letting up.

Source: https://bsima.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E5%A4%A2%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AB%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%96

https://web.archive.org/web/20220524054101/https://webronza.asahi.com/national/articles/2013031200013.html

2013.03.13

Beyond the Dream 16 - Toward First Place at the World Championships with a Perfect Performance

There’s Still Something Missing from His Free Skate

The daunting challenge of attempting a quadruple Salchow, along with concerns about his physical condition that could affect his ability to execute it: even if Yuzuru Hanyu overcomes these two obstacles, his free skate still faces another major challenge. How far can the 18-year-old go in fully expressing the essence of Notre-Dame de Paris?

Japanese media coverage tends to focus heavily on whether jumps are landed successfully. But figure skating is a comprehensive sport, and whether a performance can captivate and leave a lasting impression on the audience is also a major factor in determining the outcome of a competition.

Take Javier Fernández of Spain and his free skate this season, Chaplin. Some have criticized it as a program with many opportunities to rest in order to accommodate three quadruple jumps. Yet even in the sections where he stands still and dances, he incorporates striking moments of mime, turning the program into a dramatic work that feels like a short film. Many junior skaters also say, “I love Javier’s free skate!” It is undoubtedly one of the standout programs of this season.

Fernández is not the only one. Daisuke Takahashi, Patrick Chan of Canada, and Takahito Mura are also experienced senior skaters, each performing programs with a strong individual character. At the Four Continents Championships, some viewers may even have found Takahashi’s or Mura’s free skate more memorable than Hanyu’s, despite Hanyu finishing second. The question is whether Hanyu can hold his own at the World Championships against skaters performing such impactful programs.

There is a certain compatibility between a program and the skater performing it. In Hanyu’s case this season, his short program is an exceptionally good fit. For Takahashi, his free skate, The Clown, seems to bring out his emotions more naturally, and he delivered an overwhelming performance at the All-Japan Championships.

His short program, on the other hand, apparently never quite felt right, and he changed it partway through the season. Finding a program that suits a skater is a formidable challenge for anyone. It seems to depend not only on the compatibility between the skater and choreographer, or between the skater and the music, but on something more than either of those alone.

Other skaters, such as Japan’s Yuki Nishino, who tends to get nervous in competition, have told me that they want a program that allows them to relax as soon as the music starts playing.

“Whenever I strike my opening pose in a competition and the music starts, I always get nervous, thinking, ‘Oh, it’s started…’ But with O mio babbino caro (her short program last season), I would suddenly feel calm. I was surprised myself. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, so there’s music that can make me feel this calm!’ I had never come across music like that before. Thanks to it, I had quite a few successful short programs that year.”

Furthermore, no matter how much a skater loves a program or how highly others regard it as a masterpiece, it is difficult to maintain the same level of enthusiasm for performing it throughout an entire season. Yamato Tamura, who represented Japan at the Nagano Olympics, looked back on his Olympic-year free skate, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, this way:

“I really loved that program, and I was able to get into it and skate with real feeling right up until the All-Japan Championships. But by the time the Olympics came around, I had grown tired of both the music and the choreography… By then, I was already thinking things like, ‘What should I skate to next? What kind of music would I like for next season?’”

Finding the right program and knowing how to connect emotionally with the music… neither is easy.

Strangely enough, before the season began, Hanyu’s free skate had actually seemed the better fit for him. It was somewhat mature and dramatic, yet still an extension of the style that had always characterized him: youthful and passionate. I had expected him to show us something wonderful. By contrast, his short program was quite an adventurous choice, and some wondered whether such a sensual, melancholy program would suit him.

“But for now… there’s still something missing from his free skate.”

Now that the season is nearing its end, things are much as Brian Orser himself described them (in Part 15 of this series). Hanyu has yet to overcome a major hurdle when it comes to presenting his free skate to the audience. He is still struggling to get through the difficult jumps and steps while maintaining enough stamina to complete the program.

What he needs now is the personal drive to decide what kind of Notre-Dame de Paris he wants to show the audience. During the 2011–12 season, when his free skate was Romeo and Juliet, I was able to draw him out on this subject time and again.

“I watched the movie, and it was different from the story Shakespeare wrote. It was a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Romeo. That version really resonated with me, and I thought it was great. So at the beginning of the season, I skated while replaying the movie in my mind, just as it was. Rather than skating my own emotions, it felt more like I was making the images and my skating become one.

“Then, after skating it many times in competitions… I think I gradually reached the point where I was no longer DiCaprio or anyone else, but was acting out the story myself. I want to take both Shakespeare’s Romeo and the Romeo from the movie into myself, then express my own Romeo, someone who is neither one nor the other.” (Comment from January 2012)

It was precisely because Hanyu had such a deep desire to show the audience what he wanted to express through the program that he was able to deliver a performance with everything he had at the World Championships at the end of the 2011–12 season, bringing the entire audience to its feet. How, then, does he intend to express this season’s Notre-Dame de Paris?

“Yes. I think the free skate is relatively close to my usual style. The final section, in particular, reminds me of Paganini (*Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, his free skate in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons). I skated that program for two years, so it left a deep impression on me. The atmosphere I was aiming for back then was a kind of soft, androgynous quality. I was still a junior, so it was a rather vague idea (laughs).

“But with this Notre-Dame, even within that softness, I need to have a masculine core, a mature atmosphere, and the solid, commanding presence of an adult. I think that is the core of the program. Then, surrounding that mature atmosphere, I want to show the softer expression that I have. I hope that softness will be completely different from the kind I had as a junior. I hope I can convey that whole atmosphere, that aura…” (Comment from August)

After skating the program repeatedly in competitions, Hanyu may have gradually developed his own image of Notre-Dame de Paris. However, considering that he has not spoken about the program as often as he did about Romeo and Juliet in the 2011–12 season, perhaps he himself has yet to fully discover how he wants to present this season’s free skate.

Until now, Hanyu had spent six years with coach Nanami Abe, gradually developing what made him Yuzuru Hanyu through working closely with her, as she was also his choreographer. This year marks his first season venturing out into the wider world. Fortunately, he has been able to show us a “new Yuzuru” through his short program. Ordinarily, however, finding the right fit with a new choreographer and new approaches to expression takes more time.

“This season, we started training together. I think the timing was very good. We’ve been given one season to understand each other, in preparation for the big goal of the Olympics.” (Brian Orser)

As his coach says, they are still gradually exploring how well Hanyu and his choreographer work together, how he connects with the music, and the possibilities he has as a performer. Just as with the quadruple jumps and his physical conditioning, this challenge may also still be at the stage of laying the groundwork.

Toward the Finished Version of Notre-Dame de Paris

Everything is for the future. Looking back, Hanyu has spent this season in a way that is remarkably typical of a pre-Olympic season. His coach and those around him probably never expected him to reach the top of the world at the World Championships this March. Instead, they have set the 18-year-old various challenges with the future in mind, regarding many aspects of his development as works in progress.

Against this backdrop comes the World Championships in a pre-Olympic season. With consistent results of second place at the Grand Prix Final, victory at the All-Japan Championships, and second place at the Four Continents Championships, expectations are inevitably rising.

“Well then, shall we go and watch Yuzuru win!” One journalist even said this in an excited voice.

But winning this year’s World Championships will not be easy for him. He still has so many challenges to overcome, and in addition to Patrick Chan and Daisuke Takahashi, who finished ahead of him last year, there are also rivals such as Javier Fernández and Kevin Reynolds of Canada, who have been improving rapidly.

“It might not be that easy,” some people said, taking a more measured view.

Amid all these expectations, what is interesting is that Hanyu himself is eager to win this year’s World Championships.

“I’ve done everything I needed to do up to this point. As a result, I’ve achieved personal bests and even world-record scores at various competitions. Even so, I still lack the strength I need in my free skate, and at Four Continents, all my weaknesses came out… But I’m confident that I’ve put in the work, and I want to get even stronger from here.

“Above all, I need to practice. Really practice! Brian and I have talked about doing the hardest training I’ve ever done. First, I want to train right through to the World Championships, pushing myself all the way to the end.

“And at the World Championships themselves, I want to show perfect jumps. I want to state that unequivocally. I don’t know whether I can really do it, but I want to show perfection! I’ll go into the competition with that level of concentration and give it everything I have. I want first place, too. My goal is to take first place with a perfect performance.”

The 18-year-old only grows stronger when faced with difficult obstacles. This time, let us see the extent of his potential and determination.

But even if he cannot overcome the challenges posed by the two types of quadruple jumps and his stamina, there is still something I want to see from Yuzuru Hanyu at the World Championships, which may be his final competition of the season.

I want to see it in his free skate, where he has yet to deliver a performance this season that makes us exclaim, “This is it!” I want him to show us what Yuzuru Hanyu’s Notre-Dame de Paris truly is.

For someone who is still only 18, this will surely be the most difficult challenge of all. Yet it is precisely because he has the ability to reach deep inside people through his short program that I want him to show us what he can do in this final free skate.

The jumper Yuzuru can show us again next season, even if not this year. But the opportunity to see the finished version of Notre-Dame de Paris, a program that will last only one season, is almost gone. And so, too, is our opportunity to witness it.

*** Separate general article about Worlds 2013 from the same journalist. Not part of this series, but worth to add in the chronology of events

Source: https://bsima.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E9%81%B8%E6%89%8B%E6%A8%A9%E3%83%AA%E3%83%9D%E3%83%BC%E3%83%882013

2013.03.14

World Championships Report 2013

Daisuke Takahashi, Yuzuru Hanyu, Takahito Mura: Their Resolve

Spoiler

I think this every year: the World Championships really are something else! One major competition after another has taken place, from the Grand Prix Final and the All-Japan Championships to the Four Continents Championships and the World Junior Championships. These are all competitions the skaters have set their sights on as major goals. But compared with any of them, the World Championships are on a completely different level.

The moment you arrive in the host city, welcoming banners and posters catch your eye. Numerous staff members and volunteers, all dressed in matching uniforms, are there to greet you. Fans from all over the world gather everywhere, chatting about their favorite skaters and making predictions about how the competition will unfold. And then there are the skaters, stepping onto the practice rink enveloped in an intense atmosphere of anticipation.

This is the battle to determine the true king and queen of the season. What's more, this year's World Championships take place in the pre-Olympic season, the most exciting point in the four-year cycle. The field is also the strongest it has been in four years, bringing together everyone from young up-and-coming skaters to seasoned veterans who have already decided to retire next year. The leading figures who will shape the Sochi Olympics are all here.

This year's venue is London, a small city in Ontario, Canada.

Until March 12 local time, skaters from all disciplines take to the main rink (Budweiser Gardens) and the practice rink for their official practice sessions. The second most important competition in the four-year cycle after the Olympics has begun quietly, yet with all the glamour befitting the World Championships.

Shortly after noon on the 12th, the three Japanese men's singles skaters appeared together on the main rink. Before a large crowd of spectators who had bought tickets specifically to watch the official practices, or passes for the entire competition, the three made their final adjustments, each in his own distinctive style. These spectators had come to size up the skaters before the competition began.

It has been four years since Takahito Mura last competed at the World Championships. Coincidentally, his previous appearance, in 2009, was also at a World Championships held in the year before the Olympics. Has he trimmed down even further since the Four Continents Championships? He makes the big quadruple-triple combination look effortless, the kind of jump that makes you clench your fist and think, "I want to see that in competition!" Even when he begins skating through his short program, every movement is powerful. He seems to have further refined his robust, powerful style of performance, which stands out among Japanese skaters.

There are several moments when his jump axis wavers and he misses a jump. Apparently, when he gets too fired up, his axis is more likely to become unstable. But with all that determination surging through him, he looks ready to show the authority and composure of a national team member who has earned his place through his own efforts, a far cry from the high school senior he once was.

"My quads are in good shape, and I'm landing them consistently without losing that form. When I competed here before, it was almost like a school field trip. I was there to experience what the World Championships were like. But this time, I'm going in with the intention of fighting for a place in the standings. I think that's the biggest difference from last time." (Mura)

This is Daisuke Takahashi's eighth World Championships, and he is by far the most experienced of the three. Sure enough, as soon as he begins skating through his program, the cheers from the Canadian audience grow noticeably louder.

His jumps, however, are far from being in good shape. He even falls heavily on a quadruple jump. At first, he also seems to be taking his program relatively easy, sometimes simply skating through it while keeping time with the music and adding only some head movements. And yet, watching him like this... well, Daisuke Takahashi is the kind of skater who makes you feel that he'll be fine no matter what his practice looks like.

He knows better than anyone how to prepare for major competitions. He understands not only how daunting the World Championships can be, but also how to enjoy them. And once he gets into the right mindset and starts moving, he produces the most beautiful silhouette on the ice, more so than anyone else there. He is still the skater whose every movement you want to follow with your eyes.

For his free skate, La Strada, he seems intent on presenting the program he has carefully nurtured in his own way as the culmination of his season. His skating is even more completely in sync with the music than before. As I let my own emotions follow his movements, the moment he comes to a precise stop in the final pose sends a shiver down my spine. His condition may not be at its peak, but Daisuke Takahashi is clearly leaving nothing undone in preparing to deliver a performance he can at least be satisfied with.

"My jumps aren't in good shape. They haven't been good all season! (laughs) But I've focused on skating through my programs over and over so I can get through a program that includes two quads. I can say I've had such good training that I no longer have to worry about my stamina. Still, given how my jumps are going right now, it'll be difficult... But of course, I want to skate a perfect performance. The World Championships are a necessary step toward taking on the next challenge. I want to give it everything I have so I won't have any regrets about leaving something undone. I'll accept the result after I've given it my all. (laughs)" (Takahashi)

Then there is reigning Japanese national champion Yuzuru Hanyu, who seems to be practicing with a little more uncertainty than the other two. He doesn't appear to have the same fired-up determination as Mura, nor the composure of Takahashi. He is no longer an unheralded newcomer with nothing to fear, but neither does he yet have a wealth of experience behind him.

Watching his tentative movements as he begins skating, you almost find yourself remembering that he is still only 18. This is actually his first World Championships at which he has arrived as a skater attracting serious attention and being considered a medal contender.

What surprises me, however, comes when he begins his free program. The way he invests each scene created by the music with his emotions makes him seem like an entirely different person from the exhausted skater we saw at the Four Continents Championships. Even his jumps fit beautifully into the emotional flow of the performance. Is this what he was talking about in January, when he said, "I want to express myself through my jumps. I want to match each jump to the mood of the music so that every jump leaves a stronger impression"? Perhaps he is beginning to discover how to do that, through trial and error.

First, he brings out the beauty of the jumps he excels at, using them as accents to the program and making them stand out to the fullest. Then he smoothly infuses them with his own emotions, weaving a continuous story throughout the performance. Perhaps, in the free program that he has struggled to express fully until now, he has finally found something that allows him to say, "But this is my Notre Dame!"

As expected, Yuzuru Hanyu is Yuzuru Hanyu. Despite the limited time and the mountain of challenges before him, he seems to have done everything within his power and arrived here ready to face the final major competition of the season.

"Last year, just making it here felt almost like a miracle. But this time, I feel that I have to make the podium, also as a way of drawing a line under this stage of my career. Last year, even the fact that I could deliver that kind of performance at the World Championships felt as though it wasn't really down to my own ability. This time, I've finally made it here on my own two feet. I want to earn a place on the podium through my own strength, and I hope I can truly take in everyone's support and repay them through my performance." (Hanyu)

I was also delighted to meet someone important to Team Yuzuru at the venue during this competition.

David Wilson, the choreographer of Hanyu's free program, Notre-Dame de Paris. Since David can only meet with Hanyu when competitions are held in Canada, I was able to hear some stories about how the two created the free program before the competition began. This season, in addition to Hanyu's program, Wilson has also choreographed Javier Fernández's free program, Chaplin, and Patrick Chan's free program, La Bohème, making him a key figure in the battle at the top of men's singles.

"Yuzuru and Javi [Javier] always practice together, right? So Yuzuru can skate all of Javi's programs, and Javi has memorized Yuzuru's programs exactly as they are. We even joke with them, saying, 'Why don't you swap programs and skate them in competition?' (laughs)"

I'll bring you the full interview, including these amusing anecdotes, a little later.

2013.03.15

World Championships Report 2013

Men's Short Program – Takahito Mura shows significant improvement. How will Yuzuru Hanyu cope with the setback?

Spoiler

Although Takahito Mura is in 11th place after the short program, his prospects for the free skate are not bad.

“The quad... I put too much power into it. Because things had been going well in practice, I got nervous and took off without properly planting my toe pick. This is the first time I've ever made a mistake like this in competition.”

During practice, he had been checking even the smallest details of his movements, and his landing rate had steadily improved. It's truly a shame that he couldn't show the quad he had worked so hard to master with such strong determination to “land it no matter what!” However, what was remarkable about Mura's short program was how quickly he was able to switch gears after missing the quad.

“Because I messed up the quad so badly, I just told myself, ‘On to the next one!’ I was able to put it behind me and move on. I guess that's where I was completely different from four years ago.”

If Takahito Mura were simply a jumper, he would probably have spoken only of his regret at missing a quad he should have been able to land. But he's different now. He understands how difficult and valuable it is to show what he can do in all the elements other than the quad, and he knows that he managed to do just that.

Having put the mistake behind him, he landed his signature triple Axel with such power that the audience gasped in amazement. His 3-3 combination also went off without a hitch, earning him solid grades of execution. Watching from the sidelines, I couldn't help feeling frustrated on his behalf, thinking how highly he might have been scored if he'd landed the quad with that same momentum. But Mura himself didn't dwell on the failed quad or abandon the rest of his program for a moment.

According to Mura, the movements in a program can be divided into “soft movements” and “powerful movements,” and he is naturally the type who excels at the latter. Not softness, but strength. It was only over the past two years that he had begun to develop softer movements under the guidance of Colorado Springs-based choreographer Tom Dickson.

“But once I started learning to move softly, I couldn't remember how I'd originally moved with power!” he said with a wry smile in the summer of 2012. He must have gone through plenty of trial and error between then and this major short-program performance.

That evening, his “Malagueña” combined lightness and power. It was less a performance by a figure skater than by a dancer. His fiercely intense poses, as though he were ready to bite, made you catch your breath, while his flowing steps exuded masculine sensuality.

“I'm satisfied with my performance apart from the failed toe loop. Every element earned positive grades of execution. If they hadn't, I would have dropped even further in the rankings, wouldn't I?”

Mura hadn't landed the quad he most wanted to jump. Yet his statement that he was satisfied with everything else revealed not only growth in his expressive skills, but also significant growth in his mindset.

On March 15, he will take to the ice with “Shogun,” a program even more striking than his short. A program that symbolizes his breakthrough this season awaits.

And then there is Yuzuru Hanyu.

A heavy fall on the quadruple toe loop. A triple Lutz with his axis tilted at an angle unlike anything I'd ever seen from him. Despite all the work he had put into polishing his program, he was unable to show any of his usual qualities. There was no doubt that something was seriously wrong. The free skate had long been considered his challenge at the World Championships, but even before that, he had finished a surprising ninth in the short program, the very event in which he had once set a world-record score.

As some media reports had indicated, Coach Orser had confirmed that Hanyu had entered the competition with a knee injury. However, Hanyu himself had said, “I can't talk about that until after the free skate,” so for now, I will refrain from giving a detailed account of the injury.

He's always been like this. He has been prone to injuries since his junior days, but whether he hurt his back or his leg, he never volunteered any information about it.

Even after a competition had ended with a good result, he was still reluctant to reveal the truth. Take the 2012 World Championships, for example.

“The injury was the result of my own mistake. I don't deserve to be called a hero for winning a medal despite overcoming an injury,” he said, still reluctant to disclose the facts even after the competition.

On that occasion, he had competed with a severe sprain and then delivered a perfect free skate.

This time, however, he had made mistakes on two jumps in the short program while suffering pain so intense that he was breaking out in a cold sweat.

The quadruple toe loop is a jump that depends on incredibly precise timing. If pain strikes when he bends his knee before takeoff and uncertainty creeps in, that alone can throw off the rhythm and timing he has worked so hard to establish. If he hesitates, wondering, “Can I do this?”, and his movement is delayed by even a fraction of a second, the jump can end in failure. Even a jump he had managed to land in official practice becomes difficult when he tries to execute it in time with the music.

The pain must have been even worse on the triple-triple combination after his fall on the quad. The pain may well have prevented him from bending his knee properly, causing his axis to tilt so dramatically.

If he was in this condition during the short program, would he be able to last through the four-and-a-half-minute free skate? Even one fall on either of the two opening quads would take far more out of him than it would under normal circumstances. The triple Axel, placed in the second half of the program to earn a higher score, would also become considerably more difficult. He might even need to reconsider the layout of his program.

The situation is more serious than it was a year ago. However, over the past year, Hanyu has diligently treated his injury and worked on building up his body. As a result, he now understands his own physical condition more deeply and thinks about it more carefully than he did a year ago. In the past, even when those around him worried about his physical condition, he would insist, “I'm fine, I'm fine,” and leave it at that. He hadn't been particularly diligent about stretching or other forms of self-care, but the major injury he suffered a year ago brought about a profound change in his attitude.

“I've been making quite an effort to take care of my body, by my standards! I've continued doing the stretches I learned from Mr. Aoshima (Masashi), the shiatsu practitioner, and I remember how my body feels after he treats me, so now I can do some simple care on my own. The body really doesn't lie, you know. If I haven't been taking proper care of it, he notices right away. Something I was more or less forced to do has somehow become part of my daily routine.

“I can't keep making people worry about my injuries, either. I can no longer irresponsibly say, ‘I'm fine!’ I need to draw a clear line here and say, ‘I am injured, but I'm also taking proper care of myself.’ That's what I intend to do.” (Comments made before the season.)

Fortunately, there is a full day between the short program and the free skate this time. He has at least some time to consider adjustments to his jump layout and to work on getting himself into condition to skate, including through acupuncture and other treatments.

In the free skate, we should watch not only to see how he performs, but also how this young man, who will carry Japanese figure skating on his shoulders for some time to come, faces this major setback. Let's watch closely and see how he deals with it.

Source: https://bsima.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E5%A4%A2%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AB%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%97

https://web.archive.org/web/20220520171920/https://webronza.asahi.com/national/articles/2013031900010.html

2013.03.20

Beyond the Dream 17 - The Strength That Astonished Everyone

I never imagined the World Championships before the Olympics could be this nerve-racking.

Whenever one Japanese skater did well, we'd jump for joy, thinking, "Everything's going to be all right now!" But if another had a disappointing performance, we'd look as though we were at a funeral, thinking, "It's all over..." And then, against our better judgment, we'd find ourselves breathing a sigh of relief at the performances of skaters from other countries... Watching this World Championships, we kept chanting “Three spots, three spots” like a mantra, referring to the three Olympic entries each country could earn. It's been a long time since I've watched competitions that were this hard on the heart, in both the men's and women's events.

Amid all this came Yuzuru Hanyu's performance in the men's free skate. For four minutes and thirty seconds, there were virtually no transitions, and the choreography seemed to have flown out the window. I never imagined that a program so stripped bare could move me so deeply.

People can be so fickle. Before the competition, I'd been thinking, "It's all right if he makes a few mistakes on his jumps. This is the World Championships, after all, and I absolutely want to see a free skate that's worth watching." But after the short program results put Japan's three Olympic spots in jeopardy, my thinking changed. I no longer cared about the dancing or the choreography. I just wanted him to land his jumps cleanly! I found myself watching with all the desperation of someone praying.

Figure skating is a sport that tests a skater's overall ability, but if the jumps don't come off, they can't finish near the top, no matter how deeply they move people.

Conversely, if the jumps are landed, a skater can expect to earn a certain number of points. That's why I was reminded once again that it's only natural for so many skaters to say, "When it comes to competition, I end up thinking about nothing but my jumps. The desire to put on a performance that moves people comes second."

Given the condition of his body after those jumps in the short program, how much of the free skate could he possibly get through? With the pain and physical exhaustion, it would have been understandable if he couldn't land most of his jumps.

There was simply no way Hanyu could land his jumps and still deliver an expressive performance in his current condition. So, at the very least, I hoped he would finish his free skate with as few mistakes as possible. That was all I could wish for.

"I was out for ten days with the flu, and then I got injured and had to take another week off. And then the short program turned out the way it did... When I thought about the Olympic spots for Sochi, I felt really sorry. It wasn't just pressure. I also felt a tremendous sense of responsibility. So today, I started skating with the determination not to lose my concentration until the very end. But, whatever I said to myself, I was incredibly anxious...”

And so, in the free skate, Hanyu proceeded with extreme caution, taking every possible precaution with each jump while sparing his body as much as he could.

He landed the troublesome quadruple toe loop cleanly. His Salchow was slightly off-balance and under-rotated, but he avoided a fall. What remarkable concentration! Next came the flip, followed by two Axel combinations...

As I clenched my fists with every jump he landed, these words came to mind.

It really was just as I had thought. With every jump, his movements became more labored. I had never seen him look so exhausted as he did while rotating in that final camel spin. His intricate choreography and sophisticated skating were barely half of what he was capable of, and there was virtually no expression left in his performance. The program he had spent so much time building was, quite astonishingly, empty.

But that was enough.

Yuzuru Hanyu had come to this rink today to jump. And as Japan's representative, he'd come to deliver a result at the World Championships before the Olympics. Even under normal circumstances, that would have been a difficult mission. Yet he'd accomplished it all under the greatest pressure and in the worst possible condition. That was the strength he possessed.

"I realized that simply taking on the challenge wasn't enough. That wouldn't mean anything. I had to land the jumps properly. If I didn't get results, I wouldn't have contributed to the team or fulfilled my responsibility as Japan's representative and the reigning All-Japan champion. That's what I thought."

In the end, his only jump mistake was the quadruple Salchow. By the end of the program, he was utterly exhausted, and his body could barely move. In the final spin, he even omitted the physically demanding butterfly entry. He was willing to sacrifice a level on the spin if that meant he could make it to the end, showing his sheer determination to finish. Then came the finishing pose, both arms thrust forcefully into the air!

That final moment, when he summoned every last ounce of strength he had, was the only part that truly felt like Hanyu's Notre-Dame de Paris. But that was enough.

"I didn't complete the rotation on the Salchow, and my score wasn't perfect. But I managed to skate all the way to the end of a program that included the Salchow, giving it everything I had. Personally, I'm satisfied. I really feel a sense of accomplishment!"

I thought I knew how strong Yuzuru Hanyu was. When asked about his greatest strengths, I'd always answer, "He's good at jumps, and he can use his body flexibly. But his greatest strength is his strong mentality, a personality well suited to an athlete." He loved competition and hated losing. The more adversity he faced, the more fired up he became, and he could even enjoy the tension of being pushed to his limits. I knew all about his strength. And yet, even so, I couldn't have imagined he could be this strong.

Many people involved in the sport were also full of admiration for him that day. Coach Orser, of course, but choreographer David Wilson, who stood rinkside for Hanyu for the first time at this competition, was equally excited.

"I was really amazed by the strength he has deep down. I mean, he'd barely practiced at all in Toronto just before the competition!"

Wilson also said he was already thinking about plans for the next season for the sake of his hardworking young protégé.

Kathy Reed, an ice dancer and friend on the Japanese team, also commented, "Athletes have to overcome all kinds of circumstances and compete regardless. Take Hanyu-kun, for example. His knee hurt, but he still managed to do everything he needed to do."

Amid all the praise, however, it was probably the men's skaters who would compete alongside Hanyu in Sochi who felt the greatest shiver of apprehension at his almost monstrous strength. What if he hadn't been injured? Patrick Chan of Canada, who had just become world champion for the third consecutive year, and Javier Fernandez of Spain, who had won his first World Championship bronze medal at this competition, must both have wondered what the result might have been.

Meanwhile, I hope Hanyu's efforts will provide an even greater source of inspiration for the Japanese skaters, who feel a closer connection to him. Japan had secured all three men's places for the Sochi Olympics. The skaters competing for those spots were all older than Hanyu, and surely his performance had strengthened their resolve: "I'm not going to let Yuzu beat me!"

And what about the young skaters of his generation and those younger than him? For now, they still speak modestly of him, saying things like, "Hanyu-kun is on another level" or "I could never become as strong as he is." What did they feel when they watched Hanyu that day?

Consider the history of Japanese men's figure skating. Takeshi Honda, for example, performed quadruple jumps with almost craftsmanlike precision, changing the way skaters who followed him thought about jumping. Daisuke Takahashi, for example, delivered performances that were extraordinary by Japanese standards, changing the way the next generation thought about artistic expression.

Now, Yuzuru Hanyu may become the man who fundamentally changes the mentality of Japanese male skaters, who have so often been mocked as “all glass hearts,” “united by their mental fragility,” or “a whole lineup of timid princes.”

Source: https://bsima.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E5%A4%A2%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AB%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%98

https://web.archive.org/web/20220519231244/https://webronza.asahi.com/national/articles/2013052900007.html

2013.05.29

Beyond the Dream 18 - Creating a Show Number

After making it through the fierce battles at the World Championships.

Yuzuru Hanyu, who injured his left knee, spent a full month off the ice, recuperating at his family home in Sendai. After attending events such as the Skating Federation's awards ceremony, he returned to Toronto, Canada, in late April.

Still concerned about his leg injury and with his physical condition remaining unstable, he nevertheless began working on choreography for a new program with David Wilson in May. At the end of the month, he returned to Japan to perform in the ice show Art on Ice. Skating to Fumiya Fujii's classic song "TRUE LOVE," he was expected to show audiences his energetic skating again for the first time in about two months.

The off-season was a time when audiences could enjoy his skating at ice shows for a while. In 2012, he performed a number for the first time in collaboration with a musician performing live, revealing a new side of himself as a showman.

Though it was a show number, "Hana ni Nare" (Become a Flower) had left a strong impression during the previous season. Now that the ice show season is here, let's take another look at the program.

"I hadn't met Yuzuru-kun at all before the day of the show. We met for the first time in Fukui, and after chatting briefly, we decided, 'Let's just try it once without thinking too much about it.' So we rehearsed with the idea of simply letting ourselves be free at first, and then... somehow, singing it felt so good! And it wasn't just me. Yuzuru-kun felt the same way. After rehearsal, he came over and said, 'Woooow! This is just too amazing!' (laughs)"

Singer Fumiya Sashida, who performs "Hana ni Nare," recalled his first encounter with Yuzuru Hanyu in these words.

The number was originally selected from Sashida's songs and choreographed for Fantasy on Ice, an ice show held in Fukui in September 2012.

At the time, Hanyu had returned from Toronto at the end of August to take part in the show, and worked on the program with choreographer Kenji Miyamoto. During the 2012–13 season, Hanyu worked with three Canadian choreographers for the first time: David Wilson, Jeffrey Buttle, and Kurt Browning. In fact, "Hana ni Nare" was also the first program he had skated that was choreographed by Miyamoto.

"Hanyu-kun is a skater who practices very seriously. He also learns choreography incredibly quickly. When I choreographed the program, I wanted to make the most of his long limbs, small face, and well-proportioned features." (Miyamoto)

"Working on the program with Coach Kenji was really easy. First of all, he explained each movement in great detail. For example, there's a particularly striking spread eagle, and he told me, 'Imagine that you're flying with wings.' He explained things in depth, including what meaning to give each movement in relation to the lyrics. It was like he knew exactly how to scratch an itch I couldn't quite reach (laughs)." (Yuzuru Hanyu)

"He really liked the song, too. The lyrics mention the wind, the sky, and the sun, giving the song a sense of clarity. I tried to create a fast-paced program that would match that atmosphere. Even from my perspective, he looks as though he's really enjoying himself as he skates." (Miyamoto)

Many skaters complain that Miyamoto is a strict teacher, but his collaboration with Hanyu proceeded in a relaxed atmosphere. Although both took the work seriously, they never clashed. Watching the two of them, it was remarkable how quickly Hanyu picked up Miyamoto's movements and instructions, showing a keen instinct for what was needed. Miyamoto's suggestions, such as "Why don't you try it a little more like this?" were also spot-on. It was fascinating to see how a single piece of advice could bring such a marked improvement in Hanyu's movements.

Many people must have noticed how skillfully the choreography brought out Hanyu's strengths. The program came together smoothly, allowing his body to move naturally in response to the music and his feelings. The choreography proceeded without a hitch and was completed in just three days. Hanyu then headed straight to Fukui, where he met Sashida for the first time, as described at the beginning.

In fact, Hanyu seemed to have been looking forward to performing with live vocals. He had always loved music and was the sort of person who could hardly be separated from his iPod. He had also appeared in the same ice show in 2011, but had been disappointed that he couldn't realize his wish to collaborate with a musician. The guest artists that year were MONKEY MAJIK, a rock band based in Sendai. As fans will know, Hanyu had previously skated to their song "Change" as a regular exhibition number during the 2009–10 season.

"'Change' was the first song with proper vocals that I skated to. It felt really fresh, and it was a fun program to skate. I created it in the year I won the World Junior Championships, and it could become one of my signature exhibition numbers. I would have been so happy if I could have skated to it with the band playing live. Performing together with musicians is something I've always dreamed of." (Hanyu, in a 2011 comment)

However, "Change" featured the Yoshida Brothers, shamisen musicians who had collaborated with MONKEY MAJIK, and it would have been difficult to perform the song live without them. More importantly, Hanyu had not yet competed at the World Championships, and it was considered too early for him to collaborate with musicians in the way the leading skaters did.

This time, however, he was a World Championships bronze medalist, leaving no room for anyone to object. With many audience members coming specifically to see him, he could confidently perform a collaborative number that would be one of the show's highlights.

"I was just as happy about it. Of course, I knew Yuzuru-kun's name, but I hadn't known that musicians sometimes got the chance to sing at ice shows. I'd never even imagined that I might collaborate with a figure skater, so I was a little surprised. And I was so happy that I thought, 'I've got to make sure I sing this properly!' (laughs). I was really excited to have the chance to take on a new challenge myself, too." (Sashida)

One was 17 at the time, the other 26. Though they differed in age and profession, it was a truly exciting meeting between two rising stars in their respective fields.

"Just as there are certain timings in singing, there are timings in skating, like when to jump, right? At first, I thought it might be better to coordinate those things. But in the end, we didn't pay particular attention to them. The most important thing was simply that both of us felt good doing it. So I just performed as I normally would at a live show. Yuzuru-kun said, 'I'll immerse myself in the lyrics as I skate.' Thanks to that, I didn't get nervous from the very first performance or find myself thinking, 'Oh no, what am I going to do...?' We were able to enjoy ourselves and perform comfortably.

"Watching him from a distance, I thought the movements in the program were very simple. But the simpler the movements, the harder they must be. I thought it was amazing that he could become so emotionally involved and express himself so powerfully through such movements. And he's only 18, having just turned 18 the other day. Honestly, that's incredible." (Sashida)

Hanyu himself said that he became so immersed in the music while skating that he nearly cried. Sashida was delighted to hear him say that.

"We were able to maintain the same energy for the second performance, and for the third and final one, we were both incredibly fired up. Before we went on, we said to each other, 'We've enjoyed ourselves so far, but let's enjoy ourselves even more this last time!' 'Then let's go for it until we're both completely lost in the music!' We were so excited that Yuzuru-kun even suggested, 'Why don't we do one more song?' We agreed, 'Yeah, let's do it!' and actually asked whether we could perform something together after 'Hana ni Nare.' In the end, it wasn't possible because of time constraints, but that's how enthusiastic we both were. By the third and final performance, we felt as though we'd given it absolutely everything!" (Sashida)

Throughout the performances, Hanyu was indeed so high-spirited that it was almost comical. Even during the interval, he could barely contain his excitement and kept pestering his fellow skaters, including Tatsuki Machida. He frolicked around noisily, and even when told, "Keep it down!" he remained full of energy. At times, his emotions ran so high that he seemed unable to control himself and behaved like a child. On this day, he was particularly out of control.

"Especially in the performance just now, I messed up a jump, so I thought I had to make up for it in other parts... I tried adding a Biellmann spin. The Biellmann position looks a bit like a flower bud, so I thought it might suit 'Hana ni Nare.' Did it look like I was singing while skating? Yeah, I sing along like crazy every single time!" (Hanyu)

Once he had calmed down a little, he rushed over to Sashida to ask for a photo and an autograph. In fact, Hanyu was an 18-year-old celebrity-loving fanboy.

"After that, the two of us just kept talking. My first impression of Yuzuru-kun was that he was really focused and seemed mature. But it turned out he was shy around people he didn't know. I was the same way. Once we became comfortable with someone, we could talk a lot. That initial barrier had disappeared by the time we'd run through 'Hana ni Nare' together once. After that, we just chatted away like normal. Rather than talking about the collaboration, we mostly talked about the games we were into and other silly things (laughs). Then we got a little more serious and talked about the goals we each wanted to achieve. We talked about all sorts of things."

Behind the scenes at ice shows, collaborating skaters and artists often have separate dressing rooms. Skaters also tend to be younger, while musicians are generally seasoned professionals. Perhaps, then, it was somewhat unusual for two people to become as close as these two and talk so openly with each other.

Source: https://bsima.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E5%A4%A2%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AB%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%99

https://web.archive.org/web/20220922045537/https://webronza.asahi.com/national/articles/2013052900006.html

2013.05.30

Beyond the Dream 19 - "Hana ni Nare"

Their collaborative number, “Hana ni Nare” (Become a Flower), did not end with the ice show.

It is unusual for a song prepared for an ice show to continue being used as an exhibition number after the competitive season has begun. Yet during the 2012–13 season, Yuzuru Hanyu performed “Hana ni Nare” at the exhibitions of the NHK Trophy, the All-Japan Championships, and the Four Continents Championships. In particular, at Medalist on Ice following the All-Japan Championships, he once again performed in collaboration with Fumiya Sashida, who sang live.

The performance that drew a particularly strong response was probably the one at the NHK Trophy. It was the first time Hanyu had skated this number in a broadcast shown nationwide on television, and apparently the station received numerous inquiries asking, “Who sings this song?”

That year's NHK Trophy was held in Sendai for the first time in five years. It was also the first time since the earthquake that the event had been held in a disaster-stricken area. And, of course, Sendai was Hanyu's hometown. Having won in such a special place, the 17-year-old rising star attracted considerable attention, particularly from the local community. And the number he skated to bring the competition to a close was “Hana ni Nare.”

With his oversized sleeves fluttering behind him, he took each step deliberately, skating as though savoring the significance of this special stage. Compared with more experienced skaters, his dancing and expressive techniques might not yet have been particularly sophisticated. But in their place, he had a single-minded dedication to pouring his emotions into his skating, along with the ability to convey his feelings directly and wholeheartedly. Watching him, I was reminded of this once again.

I had felt the same way when he first skated at a charity show in Kobe in April 2011, shortly after the earthquake. In places of special significance, where he wants to convey feelings that matter deeply to him, his presence grows all the stronger.

Unlike the small rinks used for summer ice shows, he made full use of the 60-by-30-meter competition-sized rink, skating freely and expansively. Gradually stirring warm emotions in the hearts of the audience, he expressed his deep affection for Sendai and his profound gratitude. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Hanyu's NHK Trophy performance came to its conclusion with this number.

“Hanyu-kun was beautiful at the NHK Trophy…” Choreographer Kenji Miyamoto says that he particularly remembers this performance.

“Given what had happened in the earthquake and the message contained in the lyrics, I almost started crying while choreographing the program myself. I wondered whether there were many other meanings behind Hanyu-kun skating to this song. He has been through so much, and he is still working hard. But now he is looking ahead, ready to bloom into a beautiful flower… I thought he had truly made it into a wonderful program.” (Miyamoto)

Sashida, too, had the opportunity to sit in the audience and watch Hanyu skate closely that day.

“At ‘Fantasy on Ice’ in Fukui, I was performing live myself, so it was difficult to focus solely on Yuzuru-kun's skating. That's why I thought I'd enjoy watching him from the audience this time. But I didn't even know until the day itself that he was going to skate to this song. So the moment he started skating, I burst into tears. (laughs)

“Of course, I'd always watched his performances on TV, but seeing him skate in person is something else entirely. There were details I couldn't see clearly at the shows, so even through my tears, I watched him intently, wondering, ‘How is he skating to it?’ And then I saw how beautifully he expressed both the delicate and the powerful parts of the lyrics through his skating! He's really good at creating facial expressions, too, but I don't think those expressions were put on. I think they came from what he was actually feeling. Watching him, I thought, ‘He's singing…’ It was exactly the same as when I play the piano or sing. The only difference is whether I'm singing into a microphone or expressing it through skating. He, too, is making music…

“Since the venue was Sendai, Yuzuru-kun was especially fired up, and I was so happy that he chose to skate to ‘Hana ni Nare’ on such an occasion. It was as though the song itself was being purified through his skating in that place. I was so moved that I was practically speechless, and I ended up crying so much. (laughs) Even now, I still find it difficult to forget how deeply I was moved that day.” (Sashida)

An exhibition number can showcase things that are not possible in competition. But even within the greater freedom of an exhibition program, skaters and coaches have differing views on what such a program should be.

For example, some might argue that “Hana ni Nare” was an extremely simple program, relatively easy from a technical standpoint. Indeed, during the shows, after finishing his competitive program in the first half, Hanyu would look relieved and happily mutter, “The hard part is over. Now all that's left is ‘Hana ni Nare’!”

There was once a skater who performed a flamboyant dance number of the kind typically associated with ice shows, only to shelve it before the season began. The dance-heavy program was visually entertaining and thrilled the audience, but it offered little in the way of technical skating or intricate steps. Apparently, the skater's coach pointed out that no matter how many times the skater performed it, it would not help develop those skills. That made sense. For competitive skaters, who must make every single day of training count, such considerations are important, too.

Hanyu's “Hana ni Nare” did include a triple Axel, but the steps and other elements were things he could perform comfortably. It might not have been a program that pushed his technical abilities to the next level, as another of his exhibition numbers, “Hello, I Love You,” did with its abundance of difficult steps.

And yet, every time I watched “Hana ni Nare,” I was struck by how much feeling he could pour into his skating when he did not have to concentrate on technical demands. Here was the unguarded charm of the Yuzuru Hanyu of that time, something he had found difficult to show fully in competition, where he had to contend with the tension of difficult jumps and steps. “Hana ni Nare” was a number that allowed him to reveal all of it, in abundance.

Source: https://bsima.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E5%A4%A2%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AB%EF%BC%92%EF%BC%90

https://web.archive.org/web/20220519231244/https://webronza.asahi.com/national/articles/2013080600009.html

2013.08.08

Beyond the Dream 20 - What Does an Affiliation Contract with ANA Mean?

“I was told that this is an affiliation contract, rather than an ordinary sponsorship deal. I am truly delighted. The road to Sochi is long and arduous. I want to make the most of the support I have received.” (Yuzuru Hanyu)

On July 1, the opening day of the new figure skating season, Yuzuru Hanyu announced that he had signed an affiliation contract with All Nippon Airways (ANA).

It is not uncommon for figure skaters to be affiliated with major corporations. Midori Ito, Shizuka Arakawa, and Yukari Nakano were affiliated with Prince Hotels, Miki Ando with Toyota Motor Corporation, and Fumie Suguri with Avex (Arakawa remains affiliated with Prince Hotels). However, the vast majority of these skaters have been women.

Among male skaters, there have been very few such cases. One example is Takahiko Kozuka, who is affiliated with Toyota Motor Corporation, a company based in his hometown. (Some popular skaters, such as Mao Asada, Daisuke Takahashi, and Kanako Murakami, have sponsorship deals with several companies rather than just one, while remaining affiliated with the universities they attend.)

Men's figure skating is now being described as "Japan's era." At the 2012 World Championships, Daisuke Takahashi finished second and Yuzuru Hanyu third, marking the first time in Japanese history that the country had won multiple medals in the men's event.

Incidentally, it had been 11 years since a country last won multiple medals in the men's event, when Russia's Evgeni Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin did so in 2001. In 2012, four Japanese skaters also qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where only six skaters could compete: Takahashi, Hanyu, Takahiko Kozuka, and Tatsuki Machida. To top it all off, Takahashi and Hanyu finished first and second, stunning the world.

At this year's World Championships in March, Japan's skaters failed to reach the podium, with Hanyu's injury and Takahashi's struggles with his jumps among the factors. Nevertheless, Team Japan's men will undoubtedly remain a formidable force in determining the outcome at the Sochi Olympics. The prospect of Japan producing its first-ever male Olympic champion in figure skating is looking very promising, much to the anticipation of the Japanese skating community.

Even so, public awareness of men's figure skating remains far from high. Despite dominating international competition and attracting a large fan base, particularly among women, figure skating is still regarded as a women's sport in Japan, a male-dominated society. This is not something I tend to notice when I am out covering competitions, but when I talk to editors who are not particularly interested in skating, I am sometimes taken aback when they say things like, "Oh, so there are male skaters too."

This lack of recognition is particularly evident when it comes to sponsorship. Even among skaters within reach of an Olympic berth, most male skaters find it financially difficult to continue competing. Some speak frankly about the situation in interviews, saying things like, "The money for skating practice disappears so quickly, it's as if it has wings. At this point, I just feel like shouting, 'Won't somebody please help me!'"

I have also heard from several young skaters who still want to continue competing but are considering retiring at the end of this season for financial reasons. Ryuichi Kihara, who switched to pairs this year, said, "I wanted to continue competing for as long as possible. I'm happy that taking up pairs has made that possible." In addition to the fact that pair skaters generally have longer competitive careers than singles skaters, pursuing a place on the Olympic pairs team has enabled him to receive corporate backing.

Whenever I see male skaters struggling with whether they can afford to continue competing or contemplating retirement, I find myself thinking about this: skaters are athletes, but each is also an artist with a strong individual identity. When a skater retires, we lose the opportunity to experience that individual's unique form of artistic expression.

Given the lack of genuine understanding of men's figure skating, several outstanding performers are abandoning their artistic pursuits. Is it too pessimistic to take this line of thought so far?

Against this backdrop, the news that Yuzuru Hanyu had become affiliated with ANA gave me great hope. It was unprecedented for a male skater as young as 18 to receive the backing of a major corporation. According to ANA's Public Relations Department, "We selected him from among all athletes, regardless of gender or age, and approached him with the proposal ourselves."

Of course, Hanyu's remarkable achievements were a major factor in securing the contract: he won a bronze medal at the World Championships at 17 and a silver medal at the Grand Prix Final at 18. The possibility that he could remain active not only through the Sochi Olympics but also through the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics in South Korea was another important consideration. An ordinary skater would not have been in the same position.

"What do you think of Hanyu? He's cheerful! Fresh and energetic! He has a wonderful smile! He's flexible! His dedication to hard work and challenges, his single-minded commitment, and his willingness to break through boundaries and step onto the global stage. All of these qualities align perfectly with ANA's corporate action principles, 'ANA's Way.' We share the same goals and the same determination to work hard, and we both operate on a global stage. You could say it's a mutual love affair! (laughs) And in the end, we couldn't resist that smile." (Ken Nishimura, ANA Managing Executive Officer and Senior Vice President)

"The contract runs for one year, starting today, July 1. The main form of support will be providing airline tickets for travel to Toronto and for overseas trips. We plan to discuss other forms of support for his athletic activities going forward. Hanyu is the second athlete to sign an affiliation contract with our company, following table tennis player Ai Fukuhara." (ANA Public Relations Department)

"I'm more nervous at this press conference than I am before starting a performance! (laughs) Skates, blades, training facilities, costumes, program production costs, coaching fees... Figure skating is an incredibly expensive sport. This time, an airline is supporting me, and I'm really happy because there are so many connections between flying, jumping, wings, and feathers, and both skating and my name. They've even created a symbol featuring me skating, which makes me feel that I've truly formed a connection with ANA.

"Until now, I've had to travel back and forth between Japan and Toronto many times, and it's been quite difficult. It varies from season to season, but last year I was constantly going back and forth, making so many round trips that I couldn't even count them. Air travel takes a long time, and when I have to fly to different countries for competitions, figuring out how to spend all that time on the plane can be challenging. From now on, I'll be able to feel at ease both at the airport and on board. This support is important because it will have a direct and significant impact on my competitive performance.

"I'm delighted, but at the same time, I feel the pressure of having to carry the name of a major company like ANA on my shoulders. It still feels strangely unreal, almost as if it were happening to someone else. But I really have come this far... I feel that I need to work even harder so that I can deliver good performances at competitions from now on." (Yuzuru Hanyu)

Yuzuru Hanyu is an unconventional skater, both in his competitive results and in his temperament.

Daisuke Takahashi is a prime example, but many Japanese male skaters in the past went through a period of struggling under pressure. They might fail to reproduce in competition what they had achieved in practice, or their results might fluctuate considerably. Only gradually would they develop into world-class skaters capable of competing with the best in the world.

"But Yuzuru was never one to lose his nerve in the first place!" His senior, Daisuke Takahashi, has vouched for his mental strength and ability to deliver under pressure. Hanyu has consistently achieved results since his junior days.

Now that Hanyu has the backing of ANA, I cannot help but hope that he will help break through the existing barriers: the perception that figure skating is a women's sport and the difficulty male skaters face in securing sponsors.

Japan's golden age of men's figure skating was built by skaters such as Daisuke Takahashi, Nobunari Oda, and Takahiko Kozuka. With the Sochi Olympics approaching, Takahashi and Oda have announced their retirements, but I have a feeling that this exciting era will continue to flourish.

Hanyu is not the only one who will carry the torch. The generation following Takahashi, including Takahito Mura, Tatsuki Machida, and Akio Sasaki, will remain active after Sochi. The junior generation, including Keiji Tanaka and Ryuju Hino, has also shown remarkable dedication over the off-season, and it looks as though many skaters will compete for places on Japan's national team after Sochi. Further down the ranks are skaters such as Shoma Uno and Taichi Honda, who are still small in stature but already have the makings of stars.

Among the even younger generation, Sota Yamamoto, a second-year junior high school student who has landed a triple Axel and is beginning to display talent reminiscent of Hanyu, is one to watch. So is Taichiro Yamakuma, who idolizes Takahashi's skating and is known for his fearless performances. Both are eagerly anticipated as they make their junior debuts this season.

Perhaps the era of Japanese men's figure skating that Takahashi and the others laid the foundations for will only truly come into its own after they retire.

These young skaters do not feel that figure skating is embarrassing simply because they are boys. By the time they became aware of the world around them, skating was already a popular sport, and their school friends had been telling them, "It's so cool that you do skating!" They grew up watching captivating skaters such as Takahashi and Machida perform, naturally developing the idea that figure skating is about dancing and artistic expression.

Now, all that remains is for society to catch up with their outlook.

When these young men grow older and reach the age at which they must decide whether to continue skating, I hope they will be able to pursue their competitive careers without worrying about the costs, provided they have reached a certain level, regardless of whether they are men or women.

I hope that Yuzuru Hanyu's affiliation contract with ANA will become a major catalyst for raising public awareness and recognition of men's figure skating.

<End of "Beyond the Dream" column>

The next series covered is the Sochi Oylmpics report.

Please check the thread in Year 2014 : https://planethanyu.com/topic/4927-2014-asahi-webronza-sochi-olympics-report/