Fumie article

**Mathman** · 03-20-2004, 02:25 PM

Fumie

There is a very nice article on Fumie by Lynn Rutherford in the January/February issue of Spotlight on Skating magazine. It mentioned that throughout her skating career, education came first for her and her family.

"If there was a training camp for skaters, and my school had a hard exam coming up, then I didn't go to the camp."

She graduated last year from Waseda University's School of Education with a degree in social sciences, and is eager to begin graduate school. She wants to study physical training for athletes at an American University, and is working on her English with that goal in mind.

Fumie spoke about strong technique, mental preparation and hard training as being equally important in trying to advance to the next level -- and in trying to keep ahead of the next generation of Japanese ladies. She admires Michelle Kwan as the skater who best embodies mastery of these three disciplines.

"I could really learn a lot from her. But it is so hard to talk to other skaters about these kinds of things.

"In the future I want to ask Michelle, 'What do you think about when you skate?' But right now the answer should belong to her alone. She has her own experiences and I don't want to trespass on her thoughts."

Is she a sweetie or what?!!!!!!!

Mathman

**jesslily** · 03-20-2004, 02:33 PM

I like Fumie's skating very much. She has very good jumping technique, huge lutz and flip, great power and speed, and each year she improved her artistry tremendously. The only weak part is she does not have spactacular spirals which hurts her marks a lot.

**soogar** · 03-20-2004, 03:32 PM

It's really interesting how spirals have become such a big deal in ladies' skating as the technical requirements have increased. In the 80's and early 90's, spirals weren't really a big deal, more like an afterthought, whereas now there is so much emphasis on the spiral. It also seems like this influence is coming from the US with Sasha, Michelle and Nicole Bobek using the spiral so effectively whereas other skaters don't really focus on the spiral. Katarina Witt , Kristi Yamaguchi and Jill Trenary were artistic skaters and none of them emphasized the spiral. Nancy Kerrigan had a signature spiral but she never got a lot of height on the leg (just holding it by her hand).

However I think that forcing the hip outward to get that extension on a spiral isn't really good for skating jumps. I was reading a book on stretching and it said that the when people stretch their hips to achieve a straddle split, they lose a lot of stability in the hip joint. To do all that stretching to wow an audience with a fantastic spiral seems kind of pointless esp if it takes a toll on the hips.

**Mathman** · 03-20-2004, 03:46 PM

"To do all that stretching to wow an audience with a fantastic spiral seems kind of pointless..."

But doing all that training so that you can wow the audience is the point of figure skating. It has no other.

MM

**soogar** · 03-20-2004, 04:03 PM

Most of the skaters whom I've mentioned who did not emphasize a spiral can wow an audience. In a previous thread, we were discussing how Katarina's "where have all the flowers gone?" program sent chills up our spine and she did not lift her leg up to her ear for her spiral.

I can appreciate a great spiral, however I think Fumie can develop her skating in other ways without resorting to stretching her hips to the point where she might incur injuries on her jumps. Also I think that with all the emphasis on the spiral (and I'm thinking more about Sasha than MK) takes away from other aspects of skating and expression that can be improved.

**icenut84** · 03-20-2004, 06:32 PM

Originally posted by soogar
Also I think that with all the emphasis on the spiral (and I'm thinking more about Sasha than MK) takes away from other aspects of skating and expression that can be improved.

I kind of agree. I love Sasha's skating, and her spirals, put at the right moments (like the first one in Malaguena), really *can* wow - and that spiral is probably more effective at that moment than it would be if her leg was horizontal instead of pretty much vertical. However, I don't think it can be anywhere near as effective if it's overused. Kind of the "one-trick pony" thing. Most people raved about her Romeo & Juliet exhibition, but I don't really get it. She does almost nothing but spirals and flexi-moves in it. Even when my (non-follower-of-skating) little sister watched it, the first thing she said was "she does that too many times", referring to the spiral.

Don't get me wrong, like I said, I love Sasha's skating and I think her spirals can definitely wow a crowd (although if you're nitpicking, she could improve the edges on them). But I think if she puts too much emphasis on them, there is less emphasis on the other elements that she also does well.

For the record, I also thought Kristi Yamaguchi's and Oksana Baiul's spirals were very pretty. 180 degree free leg is not necessary for an aesthetic or effective spiral.

Edited to add - sorry to go off topic!

Fumie is a great skater with or without super extension on her spiral. I love her energetic footwork sequences. Here's hoping for another world medal

(and I totally can't wait to see her SP, which I haven't seen yet, but the music rocks and people have been raving!)

**BravesSkateFan** · 03-20-2004, 06:43 PM

However I think that forcing the hip outward to get that extension on a spiral isn't really good for skating jumps. I was reading a book on stretching and it said that the when people stretch their hips to achieve a straddle split, they lose a lot of stability in the hip joint. To do all that stretching to wow an audience with a fantastic spiral seems kind of pointless esp if it takes a toll on the hips.

I wonder if this is a contributing factor to Sasha's inconsistency with her jumps?

icenut. Fumies SP is awesome! Its by far my favorite one this year. A

**soogar** · 03-20-2004, 07:25 PM

I think that it's interesting how Sasha and Naomi Nari Nam , both coached by John Nicks and both had great extension, both wound up with hip injuries. I remember when NNN won the silver medal and Dick Button was pointing out the turnout NNN achieved in her layback spin with the free leg. I think that they both wound up with the same kind of hip injury as well and Sasha was just lucky that she was able to come back from the injury while NNN wasn't so lucky.

One thing I notice is that Sasha seems to be putting even more emphasis on her extension and it appears to me that she is often forcing the flexibility. It may very well be that this is affecting her jumps, esp later in the program b/c her hips aren't strong enough to withstand the landing.

Fumie is like a Sarah Hughes in that I think she's pretty non-descript but she's very consistent. I would put some money on Fumie winning the OGM in two years b/c it seems as if she's quietly lurking around waiting to strike. I like Fumie's skating but I think she needs to add some spark. She reminds me a lot of Angela Nikodinov in that all of her elements are good but the whole is not compelling to watch. Maybe Fumie can work with Sandra Bezic. Sandy did a lot of nice stuff for Lu Chen and Brian Boitano, she might work some magic with Fumie.

**BravesSkateFan** · 03-20-2004, 07:55 PM

Sasha didn't have a hip injury she had a lower back injury. I can't remeber what it was exactly, but prehaps someone here who knows more about sasha could tell you.

**sk8ing_lady2001** · 03-20-2004, 07:55 PM

I like Fumie a lot and think that her spirals, like Michelle and Sasha's, are beautiful. See Fumie in person and she is just awesome! :D

**jesslily** · 03-20-2004, 08:20 PM

Spiral became a huge thing after Nicole Bobek put out that high-free-leg spiral. Afterwords Michelle stretched hard and got her inside edge outside edge spiral.

Michelle's flexibility and spiral depend her frequent stretch. But I haven't heard that she has hip problem.

I don't remember Sasha ever had hip problem. NNN's hip injury was result of a fall from 3 lutz.

My daughter has very great spiral, but she never stretches much.
She also has very good layback spins and Y spins.

**BravesSkateFan** · 03-20-2004, 08:22 PM

jesslily...this is OT, but what program is that pic of Sasha (I'm assumiing that's her) in your siggy from?

**jesslily** · 03-20-2004, 08:28 PM

I can find out later. My daughter put it on for me. It's Sasha's but I don't know what program. We have many tapes of Sasha's programs, but not this one.
We like Fumie, Sasha, and Michelle's skating, hope all of them skate their best.

**2WhereUR** · 03-20-2004, 08:31 PM

That's Really sweet of Fumie to say that about Michelle. It shows that she is not only a great competitor but a nice person as well. I really like her skating and have enjoyed seeing her improve.

**Verbalgirl77** · 03-20-2004, 08:36 PM

For the record, I also thought Kristi Yamaguchi's and Oksana Baiul's spirals were very pretty. 180 degree free leg is not necessary for an aesthetic or effective spiral.

I agree. Kristi had a pretty spiral, esp. the one she did in Malaguena where she's moving slowly and stretches out into it.

Originally posted by jesslily
Spiral became a huge thing after Nicole Bobek put out that high-free-leg spiral. Afterwords Michelle stretched hard and got her inside edge outside edge spiral.

Exactly, people seem to forget that the spiral sequence didn't become a required SP element until fairly recently (1990'ish?). There wasn't a need for skaters like Jill Trenary or Kat Witt to have stunning spirals, but other 80's skaters like Caryn Kadavy for example had nice spiral positions.

It didn't really become a showy, held-out move until Nancy came on the scene with hers, then Bobek took it to the next level, etc.