Hanyu, Fired up by Competiton: Interview

Interspectator · Nov 30, 2015

I saw this interview on TV with Matsuoka Shuzo yesterday which really showed the other side of Yuzu.
He is extremely polite and kind in his interactions with every one, but his competitiveness is unmatched.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3g8wed_1130-世界最高得点の-きっかけ-とは_sport
Here are some points from the interview and if anyone sees an error in my translation, please do tell me.

About his ending pose at the LP with a smile.
Y:I heard that the ending pose for the SP was too scary, I myself thought, "That's scary"

Matsuoka:
This may be impertinent, but I thought, you don't have to break the record so extremely, how about a little at a time? (Like Sergei, the famous pole vaulter and olympic champion that broke the world record many times little by little)

Y: Honestly, seeing the score, I felt the same way. What am I going to do? After this, what do I do and what do I aim for? My current 'self' can't do any more than this.

Y: At Skate Canada my mistakes were very frustrating, and the score for my SP was quite a shock.
(insert clips of Skate Canada and explanation about being second to Patrick there)

Y: At the medals ceremony, Patrick and I congratulated each other, He said congratulations and I said congratulations, and then I said "But next time, I'm going to win." I said "next time I'm going to be standing there (center podium) you just wait."

Matsuoka: You say such a thing...

Y: Really, from the time of the Olympic season, I'm...actually from before that....2010...I had heard that Patricks skating is wonderful! So I saw it close up, (COR 2010) and I thought, I'm going to study this! Let's steal this! And at that competition I fell to bits and was 7th. -That's where it all began!

(clips of the Gala practice from Skate Canada Yuzu practicing the 4t from Spread eagle)
Y: I thought, I've got to evolve from NOW. -And Patrick was there close by and it was a wonderful motivation. I felt like, "Look at this!" I'll try any jump, I'm going to keep growing. And with the resolve of "I'm going to win next time for sure" I continued to train.

Y:This is on a different topic from Patrick, but this time (NHK) something that got me really fired up, was Boyang Jin scoring 95 in his short program. (clip of Boyangs SP performance and getting 95 points)
The moment I saw he had 95 points I thought "It was a no-miss program! He put out his full potential here!" I thought "Yeaaahh!" (or insert any kind of 'affirmative exclamation' in Japanese 'Oshyaaa!') I thought, it's come!
I've thought this way, always, but I really don't like winning when others do a bad performance. I like being first after every one else has put out everything! I want to push myself that much.
(the rivalries of Patrick and Boyang pushed Yuzu to bring his out of this world performance) I told myself, you've got to be the undisputed champion.

Y: At the GPF, how much will be expected? (of me)
More than winning 3 times, the pressure of my own points is too strong. As a record, I really don't know what to do about it. There is nothing I can see beyond it, but I must go beyond it.

End of interview

shiroKJ · Nov 30, 2015

Thank you for the translation :thank:

He's always been a skater that not only chased after his top rivals but also after himself. Judging by his comments regarding his inability to surpass his WR in his current state, he has a huge mental hurdle to climb over and he might be in a slump for a while. But his competitive fire is 2nd to none so I'm not worried about his future. :coffee:

Tavi... · Nov 30, 2015

Thank you so much for the translation - really interesting!

Interspectator · Nov 30, 2015

Tavi... said:
Thank you so much for the translation - really interesting!

I thought so...it's clear that there is nothing he wants more than for everyone to do their best...but also to be the best himself. It's a fine line that he has to work out in his mind. In skate Canada he said he got too excited about the competition and we saw the result. He is still the same Yuzu with the same strengths and weaknesses, but to be able to really relish the fight and always be aiming higher is what attracts many people to his skating.

Ophelia · Nov 30, 2015

I don't think he should be striving to break his WR. That's going to set a hugggge mental barrier for him. Might be harder than to win next OGM. He should just aim to skate the best he can and those points will rain down.

Li'Kitsu · Nov 30, 2015

More than winning 3 times, the pressure of my own points is too strong. As a record, I really don't know what to do about it. There is nothing I can see beyond it, but I must go beyond it.

Oh no, you are not going to bail on all the people that go to GPF and nats to see you live, you hear me? :laugh:

Seriously though, I hope he doesn't let those numbers haunt him in the end. I'm sure most people know that NHK was special and nobody expects him to do that continuously now. If he manages to stay around 90% clean the rest of the season, that will be a huge achievement and very, very likely give him all the titles.

Thank you very much Specs for posting and for the translation! :cheer:

Tavi... · Nov 30, 2015

Interspectator said:
I thought so...it's clear that there is nothing he wants more than for everyone to do their best...but also to be the best himself. It's a fine line that he has to work out in his mind. In skate Canada he said he got too excited about the competition and we saw the result. He is still the same Yuzu with the same strengths and weaknesses, but to be able to really relish the fight and always be aiming higher is what attracts many people to his skating.

While watching his programs, I actually found myself as fascinated by his concentration as with his actual skating. Not sure how to describe it, but it was watching him will himself to do his best that made his performances incredibly interesting. The more I see him the more respect I gain for him.

It will be interesting to see how he handles the next competition.

chuckm · Nov 30, 2015

What I found hilarious was his fist pump when he landed the 3z as the last jump in the program!

lyndichee · Nov 30, 2015

Who knew that Boyang would be the one to motivate Yuzuru to go for such an ambitious layout at NHK? I really hope that Yuzuru's words to Patrick spurred a competitive fire in Patrick. I really want to see Patrick give it his all and skate with purpose and determination. GPF will be interesting.

Bonesfan · Nov 30, 2015

chuckm said:
What I found hilarious was his fist pump when he landed the 3z as the last jump in the program!

Fans were joking that the 3Lz has taken a holiday for the past 2 seasons. Apparently Brian shouted LUTZ! as he came down the rink and he thought "Just like practice! I better land this jump".

matmuh · Dec 1, 2015

thanks so much for translating Specs! Matsuoka Shuzo's interviews are the best!! i love his enthusiasm, almost like a fan boy and i think he makes Yuzu feel comfortable and brings out the best interviews :laugh:

its so funny when Shuzo said "how about a little at a time?" and Yuzuru's answer haha, he might be overwhelmed by his scores right now but i think Brian and his team will prepare him both physically and mentally and say its okay not to surpass it everytime, and i think his scores will keep him motivated rather than being lost, thinking "okay i got WR score, now what do i do? "

i couldnt believe at 1st what he said to Chan at SC but then i thought "yeah, that sounds like Yuzuru" :biggrin:

,i didnt know about 2010 COR, its great to see how Chan motivated/still motivates him to be better since he turned senior, he even gets inspired by youngsters, he doesnt underestimates anyone and treats them all same, and i think its great motivation for youngsters like Shoma, Boyang and Nam to be recognised by their "Senpai"

treeloving · Dec 1, 2015

Well, if he is going to have mental block because of wanting to break the record, I hope that he find inspiration to improve his performance to be even more artistic.

NoNameFace · Dec 1, 2015

many thanks Interspectator for translation of the interview!!! :thank:

every time I read any interview with Yuzuru, this amazing calm and composure shines trough. I think it makes me appreciate him a a person even more - to be such a young person, yet with big achievements and still looking for motivation, for making himself better. Aside of this composure, there is a fierce character of competitor - that's really fantastic to see someone who can look back, see what was wrong, realise the disappoinment and take the best from it going forward.

Also, regarding looking up to Patrick or Boyang's performances - this really shown that he became the best and achieved such records and fantastic performances learning from the bests. There is a fire for competing and there is a perfectionist in him.

I think the whole NHK thing became so 'naturally' and seamlessly, even with these changes in layouts - this is a signal that he should go forward trusting himself, his body even more, because the success of this outing proved that there is a right time for every change to be planned and then to be made.

yude · Dec 1, 2015

Thank you very much for your translation, Interspectator!! I always like the interview of Matsuoka and Yuzuru since Yuzuru seems to be enjoying it and very honest and conversational everytime :cool2:

danni · Dec 1, 2015

Interspectator said:
I saw this interview on TV with Matsuoka Shuzo yesterday which really showed the other side of Yuzu.
He is extremely polite and kind in his interactions with every one, but his competitiveness is unmatched.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3g8wed_1130-世界最高得点の-きっかけ-とは_sport
Here are some points from the interview and if anyone sees an error in my translation, please do tell me.

Thank you very much for your translation!

apgold · Dec 1, 2015

Thanks for translating the interview.

I agree he shouldn't be intimidated by the numbers he achieved at NHK - be proud of what he achieved but move on. If he tries to beat them every time he competes, it would be too stressful.

He and his team should just focus doing what they are doing, skating the best he can and the scores will follow.

tzazu · Dec 1, 2015

Thank you so much for your translation, and your time :thank:

Interspectator · Dec 1, 2015

It was brought up that the statement, "Soko made oikometai" was aggressive, not passive, as in, want to push rather than be pushed...

Listening again, I think, in context it means he wants to push himself that much. But it is not clear.

NicoleH · Dec 1, 2015

lyndichee said:
Who knew that Boyang would be the one to motivate Yuzuru to go for such an ambitious layout at NHK? I really hope that Yuzuru's words to Patrick spurred a competitive fire in Patrick. I really want to see Patrick give it his all and skate with purpose and determination. GPF will be interesting.

From the interview it seems Jin did not motivate Hanyu to go for this 2-quad layout. Hanyu only said Jin's 95-point score motivated him to put out a clean
performance. Those two are very different things.

lyndichee · Dec 2, 2015

NicoleH said:
From the interview it seems Jin did not motivate Hanyu to go for this 2-quad layout. Hanyu only said Jin's 95-point score motivated him to put out a clean
performance. Those two are very different things.

I saw it as a form of causation, Yuzuru is so competitive and since his SP wasn't working, maybe the competition from others spurred him to go for such a layout. The score here also motivated him to go for as clean a skate as possible. That wasn't true at Skate Canada.

Hanyu, Fired up by Competiton: Interview

Interspectator

shiroKJ

Back to the forest you go.

Tavi...

Interspectator

Ophelia

Li'Kitsu

Tavi...

chuckm

lyndichee

Bonesfan

matmuh

what are levels anyway

treeloving

NoNameFace

GS given name - Beatrice

yude

danni

apgold

tzazu

Interspectator

NicoleH

lyndichee

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