Rafael Arutunian Interview on Marin Honda

[Danny T]

There is a new article on Japan Times with Raf about his recent charge Marin Honda. Lori Nichol will choreograph her free programme. He also touched on the issue of Nathan Chen going to university and the recent news of Medvedeva's coaching change. Some interesting quotes:

“It was in Osaka (at the NHK Trophy in November),” Arutunian stated. “It was a small conversation with Marin’s father. He approached me. I had never met him before.

I [the author] wanted to know if Arutunian had any kind of mental training for Honda in his plans.

“I focus on technical and physical, and when they come together, the mental strength shows up,” Arutunian commented. “I think this is the way it works for everybody. If you train well, and are physically strong, then sooner or later your mental strength will show up. Sometimes it happens late.”

Re: Nathan going to Yale,

“He wants to try to study and skate, which in my opinion is very, very hard,” Arutunian stated. “But this is the only time he can try to do it. He told me, ‘Rafael, if it doesn’t work, we can do something about it.’ He will recalculate his life and start to do what would be necessary. Again, it’s his life, not my life.”

 

[yume]

Build these muscles Raf, build.
Interesting to know that Marin went to see Raf in November. She was frustrated and concerned by her results. This contradict those who said that Marin doesn't care about her results.

 

[OS]

Marin is a superb talent yet to realise her potential. Lori, please give her a good original contemporary program, not another hand me downs generic war horse. No Star War funny bits please.

 

[yume]

A change of style would be great.

 

[Danny T]

Just checked the dates. NHK Trophy is from Nov 10 to 12. The IN article in which Hamada called Marin lazy was released Nov 26 (well, not sure when the interview took place, but the article came out on the 26th)

So Marin wasn't changing coach because she and her family was pissed Hamada trashed her work ethics. They already decided to ditch Hamada before. Interesting ~

 

[yume]

So Marin wasn't changing coach because she and her family was pissed Hamada trashed her work ethics. They already decided to ditch Hamada before. Interesting ~

Yes, interesting.

 

[crazydreamer]

Build these muscles Raf, build.
Interesting to know that Marin went to see Raf in November. She was frustrated and concerned by her results. This contradict those who said that Marin doesn't care about her results.

Who could have said that? Wasn't she always sobbing in the kiss and cry?

 

[yume]

Who could have said that? Wasn't she always sobbing in the kiss and cry?

When that "she's lazy" comment came out from Hamada, some said that Hamada was right and that Marin only wants cameras and fame, and doesn't care about her skating.

 

[MaiKatze]

Oh, what he said about Marin's new LP sounds so interesting!! I'm so looking forward to next season, my hope is a lot of experiments! Thank the heavens Olympic Season is history!

 

[mikeko666]

So, she was already losing her faith in Ms. Hamada at Nats. No wonder her performance looked so small.

 

[Arriba627]

She appeared disinterested to me. She is SO talented. I saw her at Sk Can and could see her potential, but something was definitely missing. I'm hoping that will change with Raf's team and a Lori program.

 

[Shayuki]

Hopefully she will be able to turn it around. She has a lot of potential still, even though her last season was a complete disaster. Raf's comments seemed sensible and his goals seem ambitious but on the realistic side, which is always a good thing. It'd be a great accomplishment if Honda actually managed to make the grand prix finals next season already.

 

[pearly]

“I focus on technical and physical, and when they come together, the mental strength shows up,” Arutunian commented. “I think this is the way it works for everybody. If you train well, and are physically strong, then sooner or later your mental strength will show up. Sometimes it happens late.”

This is interesting and, in my opinion and experience, not very true. (Unless by "late" he means 5 years after your competitive career when you have very good understanding of what was wrong and hindsight is 20/20.)

 

[dansams]

This is interesting and, in my opinion and experience, not very true. (Unless by "late" he means 5 years after your competitive career when you have very good understanding of what was wrong and hindsight is 20/20.)

I think he's referring to the idea that if someone does not train well or is lacking technically, she will not be confident or show mental fortitude. I find this to be true.

 

[pearly]

I think he's referring to the idea that if someone does not train well or is lacking technically, she will not be confident or show mental fortitude. I find this to be true.

I think he meant the other direction - if they train well, the mental aspect will also appear. I disagree with this. I think the mental aspect of elite sport is separate from the physical. (Even if you can do everything physically in practice, you can still mess up your performance if you don't dedicate time to mental training.)

 

[Shayuki]

I think he's referring to the idea that if someone does not train well or is lacking technically, she will not be confident or show mental fortitude. I find this to be true.

Indeed. If a skater prepares well and has a strong technical basis, they likely are more confident in succeeding and will not stress about it as much.

But I still believe that skating functions a little differently from studying for exams, for instance... A skater can be amazing technically yet still get nervous all the same. And in training, you really cannot prepare for the large stage like the world championships. When the stakes are high, it's a different situation altogether.

 

[Ophelia]

^Carolina Kostner disproves the idea that training well and strong technical foundation leads to mental strength.

 

[charlotte14]

^Carolina Kostner disproves that the idea that training well and strong technical foundation leads to mental strength.

Headcase, can't help.

 

[Danny T]

I think he's referring to the idea that if someone does not train well or is lacking technically, she will not be confident or show mental fortitude. I find this to be true.

But I don't think that's what he said though? You're saying "not training well, bad technique => lack of confidence", which is true. What he said is "training well, good technique => confidence", which in figure skating clearly doesn't apply to everyone.

 

[dansams]

Raf is an old school coach, I'm not sure if he believes in sports psychology.

I think many countries have a saying similar to this: "Skill engenders bravery." Though I think some ppl have mental blocks that require psychological help, a far greater number lack confidence simply because they are not physically able.