Yuzuru Hanyu: 2014-15 Season

danni said:

He won so much respect since Worlds 2013, when he was in 9 th place after the SP and he had an outstanding skate at FP, and finished at 4 th place. We all saw at that time how ambitious and fighter he is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbHNC3Nkh44

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Meoima said:

New interview, not yet any translation. But there is a cute selfie video by Yuzuru himself.
http://web.canon.jp/event/skating/interview/int_hanyu03_1.html

"Hi, it's Yuzuru Hanyu. A lot of things has happened to me here in this season, but I was able to make it this far. Thank you very much. I will work hard for the in future as well. Please support me."

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PrincessBeany said:

Found this a couple pages back....

I completely agree. I was lucky enough to be at Worlds that year and I fell in love. He struggled so much in practice and in the short and then showed such strength and determination in the FS. Writing about that event was one of the first posts on my blog! I've been a fan of his ever since.

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yuzurufan123 said:

Why does Yuzuru sometimes wear glasses?

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Victor said:

This is the chapter 1 To be continue.

(Q) I was so surprised to hear you got an operation just after the JN in December. Wasn't there any other options?
(Y) No, I had an abdominal operation. the doctor cut 4cms (in a crescent shape) around my navel. He/She (?) explained me that method damages my mustles the least. It was done under a general anesthetic. Then I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks. Since I got my fascias sutured, my doctor said, I had to be very carefully in daily life for a while, so I just took rests at home for 4 weeks.

(Q) It was very long. I guess you couldn't help feeling anxious?
(Y) Actually I was afraid of losing my muscle power, so I thought I should have vivid images of my good executions in my head. I watched the videos of GPF etc., where I did well, and watching them over and over, I rehearsed them like "Oh, that's the timing." and practiced all the jumps in my head.
Thanks to the imagery training, the feeling of skating on the ice wasn't so changed as I had worried before.

(Q) I heard you got your right ankle sprained when you landed a quad jump.
Did you feel anxious in those days? You seem to have been in a hurry.
(Y) The opposite rather. as I had 2 months more to the Worlds at that time, I felt like putting 3 quads (in my LP) as the original one had had. So I did some training again and again, in which I practiced "the third quad in the tiring second half" after I did many run-throughs. I did the set many times. Consequently I got a sprained ankle. That's one of the learns I have to reconsider.

(Q) As a result, you resumed your training at the beginning of March.
Is that the reason why you couldn't go to Toronto?
(Y) Finally I decided to practice in Japan, for I wasn't in very good shape yet, for the short-flight of Japan-Shanghai is preferable to the long-flight of Toronto-Shanghai considering my health condition.

(Q) Did you wonder whether you would be scolded unless you went to Toronto?
(Y) No, not at all. (Laughter) Brian always cares about me and he is not the person putting incessant pressure on you, not the person thinking all the time, like " I have to order him to do this or that to make him busy."
He approached me in the same manners as usual, in order that I could be relaxed. I'm really grateful to him for his consideration.

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Victor said:

This is the chapter 1 To be continue.

(Q) I was so surprised to hear you got an operation just after the JN in December. Wasn't there any other options?
(Y) No, I had an abdominal operation. the doctor cut 4cms (in a crescent shape) around my navel. He/She (?) explained me that method damages my mustles the least. It was done under a general anesthetic. Then I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks. Since I got my fascias sutured, my doctor said, I had to be very carefully in daily life for a while, so I just took rests at home for 4 weeks.

(Q) It was very long. I guess you couldn't help feeling anxious?
(Y) Actually I was afraid of losing my muscle power, so I thought I should have vivid images of my good executions in my head. I watched the videos of GPF etc., where I did well, and watching them over and over, I rehearsed them like "Oh, that's the timing." and practiced all the jumps in my head.
Thanks to the imagery training, the feeling of skating on the ice wasn't so changed as I had worried before.

(Q) I heard you got your right ankle sprained when you landed a quad jump.
Did you feel anxious in those days? You seem to have been in a hurry.
(Y) The opposite rather. as I had 2 months more to the Worlds at that time, I felt like putting 3 quads (in my LP) as the original one had had. So I did some training again and again, in which I practiced "the third quad in the tiring second half" after I did many run-throughs. I did the set many times. Consequently I got a sprained ankle. That's one of the learns I have to reconsider.

(Q) As a result, you resumed your training at the beginning of March.
Is that the reason why you couldn't go to Toronto?
(Y) Finally I decided to practice in Japan, for I wasn't in very good shape yet, for the short-flight of Japan-Shanghai is preferable to the long-flight of Toronto-Shanghai considering my health condition.

(Q) Did you wonder whether you would be scolded unless you went to Toronto?
(Y) No, not at all. (Laughter) Brian always cares about me and he is not the person putting incessant pressure on you, not the person thinking all the time, like " I have to order him to do this or that to make him busy."
He approached me in the same manners as usual, in order that I could be relaxed. I'm really grateful to him for his consideration.

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Victor said:

Part 2


(Q) How did you practice without him?
(Y) I e-mailed him every day. I asked him about everything, even about how to correct my ill-positioned jumps on the e-mails. It was such a hard job for me to explain everything in English. But Brian knows my original manner/capability of jumping well, so he compared my good jumps and bad jumps on the videos of COC, GPF etc. and gave me advices like, "Yuzuru, you have a tendency to do that, so adjust it in this way when it happens......" In that way, I regained my sense/feeling of jumping gradually, better and better.

(Q) Did you feel a kind of lag, a gap compared with given advices on face-to-face basis？(Y) When I made some mistakes on jumps, I couldn't get any advices from him on the spot. That was hard. But I came to understand the points to be payed attention to when I jump, because the points Brian and Tracy are always advising me are mostly the same things recently. So, basically I recalled the advices they had given me at TCC for three years and followed them.

(Q) You had only 3 weeks of training. What practice did you aim at?
(Y) Anyway I did more run-thoughts than last summer or before GPF and tried gaining stamina. So I thought I'd got prepared better, in better condition than JN.

(Q) Then you determined to enroll WC, right?
(Y) No, in my mind, I didn't have the option to withdraw. Because I am a skater on the active list, a competitor, I don't have any illogical feeling about it.
I was chosen as a member od Team Japan, then I must skate to compete there.
I've always thought I'm happy that I can continue skating, which I love most, thanks to my family and the people supporting me, who have been always allowed me to do what I want.

(Q) You've come to WC at last and you met your team members again here in Shanghai
(Y) I was really relieved meeting them. Brian seemed to be relieved too.
And when he saw my practice, he said to me, "Oh, good/that's fine/you're doing well!"
(I don't know what he actually said.)
So that words made me reassured. I think I'm happy that we could be reunited here this time.

(Q) Did't you feel lonely while you trained alone by yourself?
(Y) Since you can practice freely using the music, it's not a disadvantage at all.
Brian asked worriedly, "Can you keep your motivation?" But he also said like that, "but you're Yuzuru. You're gonna OK/You'll make it.“
Yes, definitely I was highly motivated to peak myself here to WC.

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xibsuarz said:

What surprises me a bit is how Yuzuru doesn't seem bothered by all that touching. As far as I knew, it's not common for Japanese culture (though I'm not sure).:

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firal said:

Looks like Kanako made an effort to take a picture with every team Japan member at Worlds...and the way she thanked her coach after her FS made me think this is it for her:hopelessness:

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Rough translation
Realizing my limit and talking about future retirement:
News Zero interview: ”I have been competing for so long now and my career as a competitive figure skater has passed its halfway mark (he joined senior circle at the age of 15). I think it is time to realize my own limit and cherish every single match that I have in the future. ”
Canon interview:“I will spend probably 1/4 of my life skating (he began figure skating at the age of 4), and I would then like to pass on my special experience to the next generation and develop my activities outside figure skating as well.”
—— So, as he used to mention several times, he is pretty much sure that he will retire at the age of 23 after 2018 olympics. And apparently, he is already planning his post-competitive skating career and life now. Coaching is something that he will consider as he mentioned he would like to pass on his experience to next generation. Meanwhile, all options are open to him.

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Victor said:

Part 2


(Q) How did you practice without him?
(Y) I e-mailed him every day. I asked him about everything, even about how to correct my ill-positioned jumps on the e-mails. It was such a hard job for me to explain everything in English. But Brian knows my original manner/capability of jumping well, so he compared my good jumps and bad jumps on the videos of COC, GPF etc. and gave me advices like, "Yuzuru, you have a tendency to do that, so adjust it in this way when it happens......" In that way, I regained my sense/feeling of jumping gradually, better and better.

(Q) Did you feel a kind of lag, a gap compared with given advices on face-to-face basis？(Y) When I made some mistakes on jumps, I couldn't get any advices from him on the spot. That was hard. But I came to understand the points to be payed attention to when I jump, because the points Brian and Tracy are always advising me are mostly the same things recently. So, basically I recalled the advices they had given me at TCC for three years and followed them.

(Q) You had only 3 weeks of training. What practice did you aim at?
(Y) Anyway I did more run-thoughts than last summer or before GPF and tried gaining stamina. So I thought I'd got prepared better, in better condition than JN.

(Q) Then you determined to enroll WC, right?
(Y) No, in my mind, I didn't have the option to withdraw. Because I am a skater on the active list, a competitor, I don't have any illogical feeling about it.
I was chosen as a member od Team Japan, then I must skate to compete there.
I've always thought I'm happy that I can continue skating, which I love most, thanks to my family and the people supporting me, who have been always allowed me to do what I want.

(Q) You've come to WC at last and you met your team members again here in Shanghai
(Y) I was really relieved meeting them. Brian seemed to be relieved too.
And when he saw my practice, he said to me, "Oh, good/that's fine/you're doing well!"
(I don't know what he actually said.)
So that words made me reassured. I think I'm happy that we could be reunited here this time.

(Q) Did't you feel lonely while you trained alone by yourself?
(Y) Since you can practice freely using the music, it's not a disadvantage at all.
Brian asked worriedly, "Can you keep your motivation?" But he also said like that, "but you're Yuzuru. You're gonna OK/You'll make it.“
Yes, definitely I was highly motivated to peak myself here to WC.

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Meoima said:

This short interview sounds a bit sad to me: http://yuzu-ice.tumblr.com/post/115241750719/rough-translation-realizing-my-limit-and-talking

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Meoima said:

This short interview sounds a bit sad to me: http://yuzu-ice.tumblr.com/post/115241750719/rough-translation-realizing-my-limit-and-talking

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shiroKJ said:

Thank you Victor for your hard work



It's hard reading this....We've heard him say it many times already but.....I don't know. Its just really difficult to think about it. His words struck a chord and is making me very emotional right now. *goes to distract myself...*

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tiarakitten said:

Thank you everyone for sharing the news. It sure is a worry for Yuzuru, hope it's not too serious. And IMO, the Japanese medias are usually not so good at citing sources. However, news like this cannot possibly be one of April fool's jokes either. Although April fools is widely known in Japan, using news isn't the way of enjoying April fool's jokes. Just my opinion. So whatever the source of this news, I still take it seriously.

Thanks for sharing this video, meoima. Here's a very brief translation of it.

-----------------------------------------------------------
from News ZERO (April 1st, 2015)

"What is Yuzuru Hanyu's determination?"

He's had a tough season which resulted in accidents, injury and surgery in the abdomen. Still, nothing stops him from competing to get higher results. What motivates him so much?
Though there are many who cheered for his getting a silver medal in the worlds, Yuzuru kept repeating the word 'regretful' in front of the media after the world championships, counted up to 23 times in 4 days after the competition. That came from his determination for his skating.
The day after the FP, he talked about his career length as a skater. "I had better start thinking about my limitations. My career as a skater is getting longer now, probably about halfway through."
He started skating at the age of 4, and he's been skating for 16 years since then. He's turned 20. However, many of the skaters end their career as competitors in their mid-20s. So Yuzuru started counting the days till he retires. Yuzuru became the world champion as a young skater, and everyone think his progression is unlimited. However, Yuzuru himself is more patient about it.

Interviewer: "Why do you not think of taking a break?"
Yuzuru: "Why, because I am an active competitive skater.There's no other reason."

He strongly realizes that the time limit as an active skater is not very far. He doesn't want to waste any minute, second, of it. That's the reason for his word 'regretful.'
Yuzuru: "I know I am the only person who can bring myself higher. And I know this 'regretful feeling' will help me go to the next step, one step at a time."

Yuzuru will be competing in 2 weeks. (No mention of his infection on the abdomen in this video.)

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Meoima said:

I will definitely see him in the next Olympic as I live very near there. Here's a better translation of the video from the other forum:

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Victor said:

Part 3

(Q) It's been a long time since you practiced among the other skaters last time.
Didn't their skating speed affect you? (IMO the interviewer wanted to ask more streight, "frihgten you?")
(Y) Oh, yeah. I was a little nervous during the public practice. Kozuka Takahiko, Mura Takahito, Michal Brezina, Dennis Tenn, and Javier were there and they were skating on top speed. And of course I probably had a bit of thought, "That was the Shanghai, where .....you know"
That's why I couldn't concentrate on the practice well.

(Q) How did you feel (when you were) with Javier?
(Y) This season, I've hardly practiced with Javi. Though, I got to feel as usual soon after we started the public practice, feeling like a kind of daily routine, Brian is there watching both of us.

(Q) And the day of SP, you stepped out the first 4T.
(Y) To say the truth, I'm not reconciled yet about the 4T. It's my score-making jump. It's big. Fiest of all, I have a feeling I've lost my competitive intuition(試合勘).
I wasn't used to the tense atomosphere during the public practice and the 6mins practice. So I might have lack my concentration on what I did.

(Q) Even though you couldn't concentrate on skating well, you got 95.20 and you were top at that point.
(Y) Yes, the 4T's mistake wasn't so fatal as falls, or 2T replacing 4T. I could manage it, just a stepout.
And I think this 3weeks' hard intense training led the rest of the SP to the high level which I could add enough points to recover the ill-4T.

(Q) What do you think about the 2 quads in LP?
(Y) This time, I got the feeling I was much swayed by the circumstances, like the atmosphere in the venue, or my rival skaters......I had such kind of weakness (mentally) this time.
I could make it during practicing, but I couldn't make it at the competition. That means, to me, I have to reconsider the method of practice and how to prepare (peaking?) for the moment of competition.
Yeah, I executed both SP and LP pretty well at GPF, but COC, NHK, and GPF were scheduled in succession, not having a big blank between each competition. Brian and I had a picture like, "I was like that (at COC), now like this (at NHK), and will be like.....(at GPF)"
But this time, I've had 3 months' blank. While my mental state has been changing (apart from competitions and skating), small lags/gaps occurred in my intuition.

(Q) In the public practice, you made 4Ss so cleanly.
(Y) Yeah, I didn't worry about 4Ss because my 4Ss had been more consistent/stable than my 4Ts, even when I practiced in Japan. I landed them in the same clean way all the time. Brian also said, "That's fine!" So I trusted my feeling, but it turned out to..."
That means nothing if you can't make it at a competition, you know."

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