Yuzuru Hanyu: 2014-15 Season

[hamaguri]

He doesn't need flexibility to hold Ina Bauer, IMO. He can just do upright Ina Bauer, just like Jeffrey Buttle always did. I actually prefer upright Ina Bauer to layback Ina Bauer

Thank you! I did not know ina bauer does not need flexibility. Every time I saw audience enthusiasm with his ina bauer, I thought “ he really is a rock star!”. So I love it. Upright ina bauer is also good.

 

[hamaguri]

What future physical change?

I don't think he can loose his flexibility in a 3-year-span especially if he keeps training it.
I am an ex classical dancer and I stopped dancing around 4 years ago. Though I lost some of my flexibility from when I was really training a lot, I am still very flexible. I don't think it is something that goes away.

I thought his muscle would somewhat stiff and lose flexibility as he grows up to a man-like body. But I know he won’t by keeping constant training. Thank you (Wow, you are an ex classical dancer!!).

 

[daphenaxa]

I thought his muscle would somewhat stiff and lose flexibility as he grows up to a man-like body. But I know he won’t by keeping constant training. Thank you (Wow, you are an ex classical dancer!!).

I mean it was never my job! But I was in ballet school.

 

[Meoima]

I mean it was never my job! But I was in ballet school.

Since you're an ex ballet dancer, I hope you can help me with this question. Do you think Yuzuru has improved his posture and extension this season? I think he has, sometimes I feel that he even tried to point his toe a bit. But it was too fast.
What do you think?

 

[alia jackson]

To celebrate, here's a new update with Yuzu. He did a video message for Tour de Tohoku, cheering for the riders and encouraging the victims of 2011. No video yet, just a picture

By the way, he looks really good in the green/white/black sports shirt that's shown in the Tour de Tohoku tweet.

Will yuzu participate?

Tour de Tohuku is on 12-13 Sept, I don't think he is joining as he needs to concentrate on the new season. On the other hand this is the only picture that I see him on a bike , there is a video to this that I've seen before.



Edit, additional info by Echo Cheng from Yuzu's FB group:

"Yuzu's jersey (autographed) will publicly be in auction. The money will be donated to Yahoo! Foundation (Tour de Tohoku Foundation)."

"Tour de Tohoku" is an event cycling in Tohoku. The organizers are Kahoku Shimpo Publishing and Yahoo Japan. There are 3,500 participants this year and they will ride to five courses in Tohoku areas. All courses are designed for participants to fully embrace Sanriku’s magnificent nature with beautiful sceneries along the coastline while witnessing the current situation of the disaster affected areas."

 

[ahkeekee]

Tour de Tohuku is on 12-13 Sept, I don't think he is joining as he needs to concentrate on the new season. On the other hand this is the only picture that I see him on a bike, there is a video to this that I've seen before.

Is there a link to the video? Or is there a name of the event the video was taken in? Thanks

 

[alia jackson]

Is there a link to the video? Or is there a name of the event the video was taken in? Thanks

I'm not sure whether I can find it still, I'll post if I find it or if anybody can help as well it will be great.


Sharing some sweet posts of Yuzu's fans:

A son card for a mother (check the words under the signature )

A husband birthday gift to the wife, so sweet

 

[daphenaxa]

Since you're an ex ballet dancer, I hope you can help me with this question. Do you think Yuzuru has improved his posture and extension this season? I think he has, sometimes I feel that he even tried to point his toe a bit. But it was too fast.
What do you think?

His posture yes definitely. His arms movements are more refined. He doesn't seem to swing them in all directions like before. The moves are smoother as well. And I quite like his fingers. His port de bras isn't very good though.
His back and shoulders are also better. His main problem was that he let them completely fall when he was tired before. It was mainly because he let his core go completely soft and stopped pulling his stomach in. His stamina improvement helped him a lot here because it was mainly breathing issues that were at fault I guess. Now I see a real effort to maintain his back more upright and his shoulder more back (I don't know how to explain but less hunched over). I think he is still leaning forward a bit instead of being straight above his hips however I have to say that in figure skating standards, I think he posture is actually ok. The fluidity of his moves, the smoothness and harmony of the movement and the commitment to his music and choreography really help to make up for the slight posture problem.
My main problem with Yuzu is his neck and the way he carry his head (port de tête). He is really lacking there. It is always very forward and it is not in continuity with his torso and back.
But I have to say that seeing how he carries himself outside of ice and his "normal" posture, I am very impressed with what he does on the ice! And I am also really surprised he has that kind of posture off ice!!

For his extensions yes I think they improved as well. I would say his feet are still mostly flexed though.

 

[Meoima]

His posture yes definitely. His arms movements are more refined. He doesn't seem to swing them in all directions like before. The moves are smoother as well. And I quite like his fingers. His port de bras isn't very good though.
His back and shoulders are also better. His main problem was that he let them completely fall when he was tired before. It was mainly because he let his core go completely soft and stopped pulling his stomach in. His stamina improvement helped him a lot here because it was mainly breathing issues that were at fault I guess. Now I see a real effort to maintain his back more upright and his shoulder more back (I don't know how to explain but less hunched over). I think he is still leaning forward a bit instead of being straight above his hips however I have to say that in figure skating standards, I think he posture is actually ok. The fluidity of his moves, the smoothness and harmony of the movement and the commitment to his music and choreography really help to make up for the slight posture problem.
My main problem with Yuzu is his neck and the way he carry his head (port de tête). He is really lacking there. It is always very forward and it is not in continuity with his torso and back.
But I have to say that seeing how he carries himself outside of ice and his "normal" posture, I am very impressed with what he does on the ice! And I am also really surprised he has that kind of posture off ice!!
For his extensions yes I think they improved as well. I would say his feet are still mostly flexed though.

Thank you so much daphenaxa, my friends also said he needs to fix his head and arms. But other than that he has improved a lot. I remember his NDP in 2012-2013 season, the posture was almost unwatchable for me, except the one at GPF 2012. His RJ2.0 at Finlandia and SC 2013 were the same! By that time I was like "please someone send him to a dance coach". It was uncomfortable to watch as I know he could have done better.

This season he has improved a lot, not just in skating skill. I don't mind that his posture is not perfect yet, the point is he knows that he should fix his posture and he is paying attention to it. Love the attitude I hope he will continue to amaze us.

 

[ahkeekee]

Thank you so much daphenaxa, my friends also said he needs to fix his head and arms. But other than that he has improved a lot. I remember his NDP in 2012-2013 season, the posture was almost unwatchable for me, except the one at GPF 2012. His RJ2.0 at Finlandia and SC 2013 were the same! By that time I was like "please someone send him to a dance coach". It was uncomfortable to watch as I know he could have done better.

This season he has improved a lot, not just in skating skill. I don't mind that his posture is not perfect yet, the point is he knows that he should fix his posture and he is paying attention to it. Love the attitude I hope he will continue to amaze us.

True! We can't expect him to fix everything within a summer (with loads of ice shows and cms etc)/ a season full of injuries and misfortune, as long as he realises his problem, I'm confident that Yuzu would do his best to fix them!

 

[hamaguri]

Tour de Tohuku is on 12-13 Sept, I don't think he is joining as he needs to concentrate on the new season. On the other hand this is the only picture that I see him on a bike , there is a video to this that I've seen before.

Is there a link to the video? Or is there a name of the event the video was taken in? Thanks

I'm not sure whether I can find it still, I'll post if I find it or if anybody can help as well it will be great.:

Hey guys! I found the　article of these pictures:yay:.
http://www.zakzak.co.jp/entertainment/ent-news/news/20140501/enn1405010830006-n1.htm
This article describes the episode where these pictures were taken by the writer Mr.Takasu. Here is a rough translation.
-----
It was at the end of February in 2011, a bit before the Tohoku disaster, I(Takasu) carried out a test on the ice rink Sendai for a 2WD bicycle preparing putting it on the market.
The bicycle was satisfying and I was smiling. At the time, a skater (yuzu) seeing me asked me to give him a try. I said OK, so he rode it and stepped the pedals happily.
At that time (and for 3 years since then) I had no idea this boy was actually Hanyu.

After three years, watching Hanyu at the gold medal parade in Sendai, I realized that boy had been Hanyu! I was looking for that pictures taken three years before, and found only two original pictures. These are the pictures.
……


Such a miracle story was there behind these precious pictures! :shocked:　Yuzu was very friendly and adorable boy.

 

[ahkeekee]

Hey guys! I found the　article of these pictures:yay:.
http://www.zakzak.co.jp/entertainment/ent-news/news/20140501/enn1405010830006-n1.htm
This article describe the episode where these pictures were taken by the writer Mr.Takasu. Here is a rough translation.
-----
It was at the end of February in 2011, a bit before the Tohoku disaster, I(Takasu) carried out a test on the ice rink Sendai for a 2WD bicycle preparing putting it on the market.
The bicycle was satisfying and I was smiling. At the time, a skater (yuzu) seeing me asked me to give him a try. I said OK, so he rode it and stepped the pedals happily.
At that time I had no idea this boy was actually Hanyu.

After three years, watching Hanyu at the gold medal parade in Sendai, I realized that boy had been Hanyu! I was looking for that pictures taken three years before, and found only two original pictures. These are the pictures.
……


Such a miracle story was there behind these precious pictures! :shocked:　Yuzu was very friendly and adorable boy.

So cute!!! He's so sweet and so, he knew how to ride a bike.... It's a miracle itself that this reporter actually remembered that boy (whom he/she doesn't know is Hanyu) and found that picture....

 

[daphenaxa]

Thank you so much daphenaxa, my friends also said he needs to fix his head and arms. But other than that he has improved a lot. I remember his NDP in 2012-2013 season, the posture was almost unwatchable for me, except the one at GPF 2012. His RJ2.0 at Finlandia and SC 2013 were the same! By that time I was like "please someone send him to a dance coach". It was uncomfortable to watch as I know he could have done better.

This season he has improved a lot, not just in skating skill. I don't mind that his posture is not perfect yet, the point is he knows that he should fix his posture and he is paying attention to it. Love the attitude I hope he will continue to amaze us.

Oh I totally agree with you! He really is working on his posture and it is paying off because he keeps improving more and more. These kind of things don't happen in one day. And I also think that his skating skills improvement are partly due to his posture and extensions improvement. The stroking is made more efficient with hip control and leg extensions. The core and posture control enable more control of edges etc. Everything is related

I also agree with you about previous programs. I adore Yuzu however I hated this Notre Dame program with passion . But I think everything was against him there. He had the stamina issue due to greater tech content. That made him lose core and abs control with tiredness hence the bad posture. And he also didn't connect to the music and choreography like he usually does. So what normally hides his problems a bit wasn't there. R&J2 was a bit better but yeah not very good either. But I think it was a needed process. He couldn't just have everything miraculously at once.

 

[Interspectator]

His posture yes definitely. His arms movements are more refined. He doesn't seem to swing them in all directions like before. The moves are smoother as well. And I quite like his fingers. His port de bras isn't very good though.
His back and shoulders are also better. His main problem was that he let them completely fall when he was tired before. It was mainly because he let his core go completely soft and stopped pulling his stomach in. His stamina improvement helped him a lot here because it was mainly breathing issues that were at fault I guess. Now I see a real effort to maintain his back more upright and his shoulder more back (I don't know how to explain but less hunched over). I think he is still leaning forward a bit instead of being straight above his hips however I have to say that in figure skating standards, I think he posture is actually ok. The fluidity of his moves, the smoothness and harmony of the movement and the commitment to his music and choreography really help to make up for the slight posture problem.
My main problem with Yuzu is his neck and the way he carry his head (port de tête). He is really lacking there. It is always very forward and it is not in continuity with his torso and back.
But I have to say that seeing how he carries himself outside of ice and his "normal" posture, I am very impressed with what he does on the ice! And I am also really surprised he has that kind of posture off ice!!

For his extensions yes I think they improved as well. I would say his feet are still mostly flexed though.

Thank you for your thoughtful and informative post. I saw a short video clip of a ballet dance and fitness instructor (though I can't find it now) -She is telling her students that Hanyu has wonderful dancing abilities due to his freedom of movement. -She said ballet can sometimes be restrictive and cause a person to move stiffly at first and that Yuzu's ability to be expressive is something that dancers should strive for. I thought that was interesting.
I'm glad he is working on his posture etc though. That's important.

 

[arran]

It's out! Tour de Tohoku video message

 

[cruzceleste]

Tour de Tohuku is on 12-13 Sept, I don't think he is joining as he needs to concentrate on the new season. On the other hand this is the only picture that I see him on a bike , there is a video to this that I've seen before.



Edit, additional info by Echo Cheng from Yuzu's FB group:

"Yuzu's jersey (autographed) will publicly be in auction. The money will be donated to Yahoo! Foundation (Tour de Tohoku Foundation)."

"Tour de Tohoku" is an event cycling in Tohoku. The organizers are Kahoku Shimpo Publishing and Yahoo Japan. There are 3,500 participants this year and they will ride to five courses in Tohoku areas. All courses are designed for participants to fully embrace Sanriku’s magnificent nature with beautiful sceneries along the coastline while witnessing the current situation of the disaster affected areas."

Hope the auction recollect lots of money and the event goes well

 

[ahkeekee]

Hope the auction recollect lots of money and the event goes well

Lets hope we'll see a record breaking auction recollect!

 

[alia jackson]

^^^ Info provided by Echo Cheng: "Example for reference. With his autograph, this mini towel of Tokyo candidate city for 2020 Olympics was sold 153,000 yen last year. Total 102 persons participated in auction. And its original price just was 600 yen."


On another front, Japan running out of Xylitol gum. Fans cleaning up the shelves to get their hands on Yuzu's files .

 

[daphenaxa]

Thank you for your thoughtful and informative post. I saw a short video clip of a ballet dance and fitness instructor (though I can't find it now) -She is telling her students that Hanyu has wonderful dancing abilities due to his freedom of movement. -She said ballet can sometimes be restrictive and cause a person to move stiffly at first and that Yuzu's ability to be expressive is something that dancers should strive for. I thought that was interesting.
I'm glad he is working on his posture etc though. That's important.

Oh I totally agree with this person. Yuzu is blessed with this kind of natural harmony between his moves, his feelings and the music so that he really expresses himself on the ice, tells a story. I think that is why he has so many fans, especially among people who didn't know figure skating well, because he can touch people.
That is when dance in so beautiful actually. Because the great technique isn't the end in itself. It is to the service of expressing ourselves and sharing the emotions with the audience. That is when technique becomes secondary to emotion that danse makes perfect sense (but you do have to 1st get great technique to then forget about it and make it secondary).

 

[SuzyQ]

Yuzu skating on Jason Brown's music https://youtu.be/YsGTjk0WFOI?t=26m5s it fitted his steps quite well I thought!

I love this music Tristan und Isolde. I wanted to save this for Yuzuru