- Joined
- Dec 25, 2012
This was such an in-depth interesting, and long translation it seemed a pity to let it be buried in the landslide that is the Yuzu Fan-fest.
Yuzuru Hanyu explains how he constructed his programs with Jeff, why he loves edge jumps so much, the humiliation of not getting a level 4 spin and more. Very detailed and technical sometimes.:thumbsup: -From the Ice Jewels Magazine that is published in Japan
Yuzuru Hanyu explains how he constructed his programs with Jeff, why he loves edge jumps so much, the humiliation of not getting a level 4 spin and more. Very detailed and technical sometimes.:thumbsup: -From the Ice Jewels Magazine that is published in Japan
This is going to be way long, and a major labor of loveProps to fishheadanon for proofreading and telling me when something isn't really English. :luv17:
About the interview: I love that he's a huge nerd about jumps, specifically axels. He also talked at length about how he added hand movements to LGC during the spins. Also people who were hoping for a more pronounced H&L, I don't think it's what he is going for. But who exactly knows what a program that envelops the arena looks like? He may yet show us in Helsinki
Enjoy!
http://imgur.com/a/uWbp2
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Ice Jewels Vol.5 (Feb 2017) Special Interview: The Formula of Evolution.
This season, Yuzuru Hanyu successfully landed the first 4L in ISU history and showed us a great performance at his first competition, the Autumn Classic. However, bringing 6 quads together and building spins, steps and transitions upon them increases the difficulty considerably, and it’s not that easy honing both programs to perfection. Let’s review the first half of the season for a look into Hanyu’s evolution. (Ice Jewels)
GPS Series: Skate Canada
Total 2nd 263.06 | SP 4th 79.65 | FS 1st 183.41
Good training brought confidence
— To Hanyu-senshu, the first GPS competition this season was Skate Canada. Same as last season, it was a battle with Patrick Chan.
YH Lost this time as well. I placed all three silver medals from Skate Canada at my bedside.
— Seeing the medals must have been very motivating. About the new SP, how did you feel skating to it?
YH I felt that I could be clean this time. Unlike in the FS, there weren’t any uncertainty and it’s also a program I have great confidence in. But I still messed up. I know why I messed up too, but in order to be clean, I can only practice more.
— What do you think about the 4L at the beginning of both your programs?
YH I think I can do better. The landings in Autumn Classic weren’t clean enough, be it SP or FS. This time too, the execution of the landings were far from satisfactory. So, about the 4L, I believe it was more of a technical issue. I haven’t settled on what aspects during the jump to pay attention to yet, and that was the biggest problem. Once I improve my technique and can complete run throughs upon that basis, the 4L will become my own.
— At the same time, you also do the 4S. There are two types of edge jumps.
YH When I had Jeff choreograph for me, what I was most concerned about was the fact that I was doing all edge jumps in the SP. If we build the entire program upon the tracks of edge jumps, it’ll all come across as the same, identical curves no matter what. To counter that, I added the salchow entered horizontally and the axel from a counter. I think these accents add flavor to the program. In addition, I also want to jump salchows more consistently. Currently, I’m landing salchows 90% of the time, regardless of the situation, be it when I’m wearing my jacket or something else. So the task here, is to see how much I can deliver while skating and jumping to music in the nervous state of a competitive environment.
— For the short program, after the initial 4L, do you feel you are able to execute all the rest of the elements smoothly?
YH This program is condensed and packed with a lot of elements. If I can’t do the 4S3T with good timing, I am out of sync with the notes. If I can’t do the 4L, I won’t be able to fit with the music. I messed up the rhythm of the program this time due to the jumps, neither the loop nor the salchow worked. And it’s not just the jump, if even a single element is disrupted, all the parts become scattered and the program loses structure.
In this sense, I find it a very difficult program and it’s worth a watch. But really, there’s no way to bring this program to completion without beautifully landed jumps. Skating skills and performance are really important but unless the jumps stick, the program doesn’t stand. That is my honest opinion.
Brian pointed out that “the performance wasn’t there” this time. I think this is only because I am stretched on the jumps. If I had spare capacity, the performance will improve accordingly. It was this way with Seimei and with Ballade. I had no extra capacity, and I was forced to my maximum extent. So, I must first improve upon my ability to complete the jumps before I polish my performance.
— In terms of drawing the audience in and taking them along with the rhythm, this is a really good program.
YH Of all my competitive programs to date, this one is the easiest to go along with. Because it’s well-known, it’s easy to engage the audience and draw them into the mood of the performance. I also get really immersed, but this makes the program harder because it is not an ice show and all the jumps need to be perfectly landed. Conversely, as long as I land all the jumps, it’ll definitely become a great program.
— About the quads. Four in the FS, two in the SP, for a total of six which is more than last season’s. You have yet to land all the jumps in the FS so far this season. What are your training plans going into NHK?
YH In my mind, I don’t believe I have ever landed the 4L perfectly yet, so I’d like to probe deeper and broaden the range of situations when I can land the jump. As long as I’m not caught up with the loop, I should be able to skate comfortably into the second half of the program. As for the second half, in my mind I believe my current approach is correct.
— What sort of approach?
YH Run throughs from beginning to the end. I’ve started to do a bunch since the Autumn Classic. Though of course there are times when I’m unable to keep up until the very end, the second half this time around feels quite different than in AC. Upon this foundation, I was wondering if I could do two quads. Technically, there is pretty much no problem with the 4S and the 4T. I’m almost always able to land them in a normal situation, or even under less-than-ideal conditions. I want to improve upon the consistency, precision and quality of the 4L. I have yet to land 4T in the second half really crisply with a “su-pan!”, although the landing was fine. It is especially the case with the first 4S, but nothing makes me go “finally, I am able to own the jumps in this program” more so than when I’m able to maintain running, flowing edges after the landing in all my jumps. The landing of that 3A in the SP, too, was no longer boring (only you, Yuzu...)and I was able to execute it smoothly, flowingly with a “su-ton!"
— As if you’ve gone one step further?
YH I was able to feel this way because of my exhibition number. Skating to Notte Stellata made me rethink the importance of skating and the extent of jumps’ effect on performance. Although it’s basically a program with only skating, I received a lot of praise from Tracy which gave me confidence in my skating. Thanks to that, bit by bit, I was able to think about what constitutes my own style of skating.
— Specifically, what has changed?
YH I think I really came to grasp the music—the intervals between each beat. Instead of simply pushing at the ice each time, there’s also how the free leg retreats after each push, the flow and progression of the skating leg… I became very conscious of these different aspects.
There is a strong emphasis on skating in the exhibition program, so I received a lot of training in that regard. If this had been during the off season, I might have been able to perfect it sooner and more quickly. Regardless, I practiced well each time, from which I gained confidence.
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GPS Series: NHK Trophy
Total 1st 301.47 | SP 1st 103.89 | FS 1st 197.58
Depending on the hand movement, the speed of the spin changes
— What’s the main focus of your training heading into the NHK Trophy?
YH First was the task of correcting my jumps. With Shae-lynn helping me on the brush-up, I paid attention to the connection between jumping and skating, treating skating as part of jumping. To put it the other way around, I was able to make the jumps a part of skating in my training.
— You’ve polished the transitions going into and coming out of the jumps.
YH Actually, for the two weeks between Skate Canada and NHK, I hadn't really planned on adding transitions. The way we talked about it at the time, there must be something before the second-half 4S, so I added a little bit of transition leading into the jump. There are almost no crossovers at that spot. After the pose facing the front, I put in two crossovers, then a stop, then three turn back three mohawk, three turn to the back, then just one crossover!
I paid a lot of attention to each bit of skating, and because the crossover wasn’t long, I was able to focus my attention, which was good for the salchow. After the rearrangement, I was able to execute the jumps without a hiccup at practice the next day
— Your SP was the season’s best. The first 100-point performance this season.
YH I should have been able to execute it with more ease. The reason why I wasn’t able to was probably that I thought I could do it with momentum alone. This time, I had enough stamina, mentally I felt fine as well, so I tried to give it my all and just go with the flow. But there are also times when that doesn’t work, so I have to remember how to maintain control as well. I believe that’s something I can accomplish before GPF.
— You added some new poses with your hands during the spin?
YH It would be great if I could extend my hand movements a little more.
— The reason for that choreography?
YH Not getting positive GOE on the sit spin is a humiliation to me. As is written in the rule book, movements that clearly match the music is a plus. The higher the quality, the better the evaluation. Because the spin is really fast, I had to work bit by bit to fit all the moves to the music. In my mind, that's when Prince is yelling, so I didn’t accent the beat. It felt weird initially, but once the moves all came together, it fit surprisingly well.
— It was quite refreshing.
YH It’s just that the hands always end up blending in with the legs, (to the judges and to the audience) so the moves may be hard to differentiate.
— The movements were really different so I think people can discern.
YH When I did Chopin, it was easier to grasp that space and timing between the notes, and I used a lot of hand movements. That’s not the case with this program. In fact, the last steps take up a fair amount of time, so I’m fairly crunched for time with the transitions. If I don’t hit the axel at exactly the right point, I wouldn’t even be able to do the spin.
That was what happened at both Skate Canada and Autumn Classic. Once I miss a jump, I become pressed for time to reach Level 4 on the flying camel spin. Because this is a program that cannot be perfectly interpreted without everything perfectly embedded within the music, those hand movements were all I could afford to do in the spins. Well, there are many ways to direct movement, such as what Ms. Natalia Bestemianova taught me before… but after much thought, that was what I decided to do. I’m good at working my arms during spins, and more importantly, I enjoy it, so I figured I should just keep hacking at it. (Natalia Bestemianova and husband, Igor Bobrin, helped polish RJ1 in 2011-2012)
— After all sorts of work, there’s going to be further improvements.
YH Exactly. Depending on how the arms are used, the speed of the spin changes. I think it’ll become something even better once I work more contrast of speed into the spin over the rapid beat of the music. And then, if I can hit both spins and jumps even more on the note, the program will evoke the best feeling ever. When I’m completely immersed in the program, the music plays in my head even when I can’t hear it, so I think it’s mostly ingrained into my body at this point.
The most important thing is to enjoy skating
— About the free skate, what parts have been completed by now at NHK, and what’s still missing?
YH I think it’s most important for me to feel happy when I’m skating to the free program. Above all, I’m starting to build a connection with the audience, which is a big step forward in my performance.
— This season, you weren’t able to participate in ice shows because of the foot injury. I guess when you participate in shows, you get a feel for the pulse of the audience and you also respond to the audience’s reaction. Do you think not being at shows was a reason why you weren’t able to make that step forward?
YH I think I was able to do it during the exhibition. But up until this point, I had to focus my attention on landing the jumps during the FS, so I wasn’t able to connect with the audience. So being able to make a connection, even if just a little, is a huge deal to me.
— Your music selection in the FS is a new direction in terms of genre?
YH I guess you can say it’s classical, with the piano as its focus. There’s some Japanese flavor to it, as well as the unique musical touch of the composer, Mr Joe Hisaishi. Skating to all these different aspects combined is quite a different sensation for me.
— How does it feel to hear this music in big spaces, such as arenas?
YH In “Asian Dream Song” by Mr Joe Hisaishi, the music doesn’t carry the melody, rather, the singing does. If you go and listen, you’ll realize the music is an accompaniment and not an assertive piece on its own. I told Brian and Shae-lynn about my thoughts, but I’m not the main character in this program. For example, I was clearly the main character in “SEIMEI” and therefore I stood out a lot. The program was made with a clear image of the music. But my intent with this program—because Mr Hisaishi’s music envelops the entire arena rather than overly emphasizes itself—in my mind, I only exist as a part of that space and I want to perform the program as such. The wind over the rink, the coolness in the air, the moisture, the splashing crystals of ice… to bring all these things into one with myself and the music. If I can put together such a performance in the end, I think that would be the best.
— But ultimately as a sport, there is going to be various spins, steps, jumps, etc.
YH I’ve discussed this with Brian as well, but only after successfully landing a jump, can you fit into the music. And if the jumps weren’t successful, then the flow is disrupted. Then the points from interpretation and skating skills are lost as well. A close to perfect performance is one of my goals with this program. It’s tough with a quad loop and two quads in the second half of the program, but at the very least I want to maintain the level of performance I achieved this time at the NHK Trophy. Otherwise, I don’t think I can go on from this point.
About the quad era
— Younger skaters are jumping quad after quad these days. Now that the quad loop has been secured, have you ever considered adding another quad?
YH Of course it’s important to jump quads, but isn’t the quality of quads just as important? That’s what I most strongly feel.
— So instead of increasing the types of quads, you mean to improve on quality in order to raise GOE/PCS?
YH Although everyone is going on about quads… Jumping the 4T right at the start, and once successfully landed, the arena goes “Waa!” as if the competition has been won… Up until this point, many competitions had such an atmosphere. But, if you really think about it, the jump you absolutely have to put in is the axel.
— That has always been the case.
YH Even under the old system, your score won’t go up if you don’t do the axel. As for why, it’s because the axel is forwardly launched and its posture doesn’t announce “I’m about to jump!”, unlike all the other types.
— It's a well-known fact that you can’t avoid jumping the axel.
YH That’s why I spent 80% of my training time on the axel when I was in elementary school. In a single hour, I would spent at least 45 minutes training the axel.
— In the badge test too, there’s always an axel.
YH You must be able to do the 2A in order to pass grade 6. (as in yuzu might not pass grade 6 now)
— It’s been said that “if you can do the axel very well, it’s possible to fudge your way through with mistakes here and there on the other elements.” Also that “the axel is a must."
YH That’s how I’ve been taught.
— That’s the reason why you do two axels in the second half of the program?
YH You end up leaving a deep impression! That’s the case in “Notte Stellata” as well. I’ve always said things to the effect of “jumps are transitions," and I think the axel demonstrates this very well. Precisely because it’s forwardly launched, the axel conveys a special “sense of turn.” Toe jumps tend to put a stopper on the flow each and every single time, although I’ve always made it not look that way. Since the axel is forwardly launched, the sense of speed is similar to that of steps and turns.
— The charm of the axel persists through the ages.
YH The axel just gives off a special vibe. Returning to the previous topic, no matter the number of quads, no matter the number of types of quads, in the end, my biggest weapon remains in how consistently and beautifully I can manage to do my axels. I believe that is something I’d like to hold onto firmly, even towards my biggest goals. For example, even if I were to do the 4A, two 3A’s would still be an absolute must.
— Notte Stellata, song chosen by Tarasova, choreographed by David Wilson. While it shows off your skating skills, in terms of jumps, there are only two axels. The characteristics of Hanyu-senshu as a skater is well displayed in this program.
YH My SP is all edge jumps, and my exhibition also ended up only consisting of the axel. I think it best shows my style of skating. Because I was able to execute jumps of my own style and of quality to such an extent, I’m feeling really confident right now. Although toe jumps can really convey a "sense of jump," I still think that executing edge jumps beautifully is where it’s at for me.
— It’s been said that how to control and use your edge is the most important task in figure skating. You’ve been paying great attention to this aspect.
YH No, no. Tsuzuki-sensei taught me all of it. He really shaped my jumps.
— Tsuzuki-sensei's ideals (referring to jumps) have been met?
YH Because he had me bring my own thoughts and methods into shaping them, I was able to grow until now. Coincidentally, various other aspects such as muscular quality and physique all came to fit together, and I became good at edge jumps.
— Skating is the foundation.
YH You can’t jump the loop without being good at skating.
— If skating improves, jump consistency goes up?
YH Yes, it’ll stabilize. Before Skate Canada, I had to improve the consistency of my Loop, just as Brian had said, so I gave a lot of thought to many technical aspects. After Skate Canada, before NHK, I finally felt that I’ve reached the stage where my skating and jumps become one. This is only the beginning! From now on, skating meets jumping, and I hope that in the end, all the elements can pull together to complete the program. It’s not only “great, all jumps landed!” Instead, jumps are successful, skating too, then more jumps, and spins… it’s best to keep an undisrupted flow!
— There’s little more than a week left before GPF, how do you plan to adjust?
YH It’s not really about specifically training certain aspects, or practicing certain things. Rather, it’s about figuring how to build in days without jumps so that I may relax physically and mentally. There are also days with only skating practice, or spin-centric days. I think it’s fine as long as you learn how to sort out different areas for training and adjustment. Just as in Sochi Olympics, after Team event there was Individual competition. Situations when your body conditions go down / slide is inevitable. So adjusting (to fit with the schedule of this competition), is the greatest goal this time.
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GPS Series: Grand Prix Final
Total 1st 293.90 | SP 1st 106.53 | FS 3rd 187.37
Must become stronger
— What was your impression of GPF held in Marseilles, France?
YH About the quality of the ice, um, how do you put it… (probably wasn’t too good). Depending on the quality of the water, the quality of the ice is completely different. So I was a bit concerned about that aspect before arriving in Marseilles.
— So how was the ice actually?
YH It’s hard to say that it’s good. The ice resurfacing itself was not great, the schedules for official practice and the actual competition were also somewhat of a mess.
— Yes, scheduling wasn’t great.
YH The schedule was not well-planned, the Zamboni broke down so the ice was melting, a variety of situations came up. But it wasn’t that we couldn’t skate due to this reasons. I thought I’d struggle with these aspects more, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected.
— NHK Trophy, GPF, and the Japanese Nationals happens pretty much one after the other. How did you adjust your stamina and condition for GPF which was right smack in the middle?
YH I wasn’t pressed for stamina. Quite the opposite. Coming out of NHK into GPF, I felt pretty fulfilled emotionally and that I had enough physical strength, so I had good peace of mind. It felt something like “Should be fine, I think.” Although the condition of my jumps fluctuates depending on the training situation, it has somewhat stabilized. So, stamina and energy are both at sufficient levels.
— You’ve come to the point where you are reliably completing the short program.
YH The success rate of the SP has gone up. FS wasn’t bad either, but I have yet to work it well in competition. I probably haven’t competed enough. Although I’ve been doing clean run throughs quite consistently in practice, in competition the performance isn’t quite perfect yet. I had a higher clean run through rate during Seimei though.
— Because putting quads in the second half is harder?
YH I’m not completely used to two quads (4S, 4T) in the second half just yet. Although the 4S was in by World Championships last season, it wasn’t well incorporated. Since then, I’ve kept quads in the second half, but I have yet to execute them well. It didn’t feel like I had a good grasp on the second half salchow yet. When I was training in Toronto, the second half salchow was actually better than the 4T. Rather, I often made mistakes on the second toe loop, to the extent that I wasn’t even tightening my body sufficiently. There were more pops too. On the contrary, during competitions I would miss the salchow but land the toe loop. It would be great if both would come out at the same time.
— Another point I was interested about, your axel...
YH Not executing the axel well is a big issue to me. Both axel and salchow get pretty high scores. Making mistakes on them for two competitions in a row really affected my spirits. I thought I couldn’t possibly let that go on, and I practiced a lot to address that.
— It seemed to me that your mistakes were all concentrated on one side of the rink.
YH I have more edge jumps, which is probably the reason why the mistakes were concentrated on one side. Toe jumps include the lutz, flip and toe. In my program, there is only one of each. In exchange, I had the loop, axel, axel, salchow, salchow for edge jumps.
— You also did all jump types in previous competitions?
YH Yes
— The lutz at the very end was a shame...
YH That’s because I lacked speed going into the Lutz, and ended up missing a step out of the crossover. If it wasn’t for that, there wouldn’t have been any problems with the Lutz. And I skipped that step because I wanted to catch up to the music. Going into the GPF, I wanted to match the music no matter what, so I practiced that way. In that sense, perhaps I do lack stamina. I must build up on more training.
— You would have been first had you executed the 3L.
YH I don’t think I would have lost had I done it.
— In order to win, there’s also the option of cutting yourself some slack in terms of the music in order to properly execute the jumps...
YH Yeah. Well normally, I could have done it. So if possible, I’d rather bring that normal condition to competition.
— Maybe it’s not hard for Hanyu-senshu, but (normally speaking) the quad loop is pretty hard. Plenty of people find the loop jump particularly difficult.
YH Because the Loop jump isn’t something you can push through with force. You can’t do it without controlling yourself well, and if you fail you can pop.
— And these are what make the loop so difficult?
YH In terms of the FS, I’ve landed it in all competitions apart from Skate Canada. My first goals were to land the loop well and to improve on the success rate of the second half. Many spots in the program still lack quality. The toe loop for example. Falls and pops are beyond discussion, but I think I can further raise the quality of the axel and the toe loop. When I return to Toronto after the new year, I would probably have Shae-lynn take a look and make changes on jump entries, etc.
— Last but not least, congratulations on winning the GPF title four consecutive times! If you win next year, you’ll be tied with the 5-peat record in Ice Dance!
YH Although I won four consecutive times, this victory left a terrible aftertaste with me. I try to tell myself in my mind that a 4-peat is a 4-peat, but...
So many different things happened each and every year, GPF was really hard for me. Last season I was almost crushed by the heavy pressure coming from the NHK Trophy. Another season ago, I took a hit from the injury at CoC. Yet another season back, it was my first GPF before the Olympics. Since it was held in Japan, I received power to challenge the Olympics. I was able to gain confidence from the experience every single time, but none of it was easy. If I think that way, four consecutive wins does carry a lot of weight and meaning. But at the same time, I still wish I could have won with first places in both the short and the free. (I'll say it for you, kuyashiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii)
I guess this isn’t the first time that I’ve won without 1st + 1st. But I won with 1st + 1st both last season and the season prior. In that sense, this 4-peat victory really did leave somewhat of a bad aftertaste, but at the same time it was one that really made me feel I must become stronger.
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But Patrick's 3F is very nice. and better than quad flips I've seen so far due to height and quality. 
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