- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
No wish to restart the Cold War but the North American style if you will produces skaters who have better choreo, skating skills and costumes that won't be laughed at years from now.
I don't agree Mao is a superior artist or athlete to Grace or Ashley. She is very very inconsistent in her jumps and in performance.
I think a clean Gracie Gold should beat a clean Ashley Wagner based on what I view as her superior athleticism (better height and more power in jumps) and skating skills. I also admit I like Gracie Gold's style a little better. I will say though that I have been impressed with Ashley's respectful comments and kindness towards Mao and I can only assume that Gracie has been kind to Mao as well otherwise she wouldn't have been invited to The Ice. I hope they have good seasons.
But, I really just dropped into this thread and couldn't resist chiming in when I saw the dismissive attitude towards Mao's achievements and the alleged "superiority" of the North American style. To avoid controversy, I won't talk about what I think is Mao's history of underscoring which I have come across in so many threads, youtube videos, and heard from commentators, but even without this consider that Mao has shown consistency and an exceptional combination of elements and a very high level of popularity among skating fans. Mao:
1. has won her last 6 Grand Prix events in a row.
2. was the first woman to score over 200 points in succession under the COP scoring system.
3. was the first and only Asian woman to win the World championships 3 times, and if the value of the triple axel had been the same in 2007 as it is today, she would have won 4 titles.
4. has the current SP record
5. won the Grand Prix Final and Worlds in her last season
6. is the only lady in history to have combined the qualities of a flexible ballerina skater like the one handed Biellmann spin, cross grab Biellmann spiral combined with qualities of a power skater like the top notch skating skills, the most consistent triple axel ever, the unusual triple flip and loop combo, and the best overall step sequences.
7. To testify to her popular appeal beyond placements, Mao is the only figure skater other than Yuna Kim with a video of over 2,000,000 views (her Sochi LP on a small screen skating from the 3rd group with little publicity after another video of the performance with over 1,000,000 views had been deleted).
But, I think I understand where the source of your attitude towards Mao comes from. Mao does not skate in the Western or North American style as you referred to. She definitely has an artistic expression that is more eastern mixed with a Russian influence, but to me she seems to incorporate all styles with American jazz as in "I Got Rhythm" mixed in. I personally prefer her predominately eastern oriented style much more which I regard as being more subtle, focused on slow flowing extensions in the body movement which are so impressive in her spirals for example. A zen like zone and meditative feel punctuated with flashes of passion and a slow build up to climatic release as in her Sochi LP.
I don't like the current North American style as much, though Kristi Yamaguchi is one of my favorite skaters who I think of as as East meets West kind of skater, but I don't feel I have the right to pass judgement on that style as you have done on the non-North American style. I feel the use of the word I believe or feel is less confrontational and more accepting of diverse opinions. But, it is erroneous to say the western style teaches better skating skills, since as Newbiespectator said Mao has the best in terms of edges and speed of any current skater, not to mention one legged skating, transitions and minimal crossovers to build speed. Also, what would you say of Midori Ito? It would be easy to argue that no lady has ever had skating skills as great as her and again she is from Japan and does not have a North American style.
By the way, I am an American.
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