Bits from Chapter 2 of ‘Aoi Hono II’ (Yuzu’s 2nd autobiography)

~2012 off-season~ (from interviews in Aug 2012)

After Worlds 2012 where he got a bronze medal, he had to stop on-ice training for one month to let his foot heal.  (He had sprained the right ankle during official practice the day before SP.)

Body fat

“(After that period of rest) My muscles diminished and my thighs were only two-thirds of what they are now. But my fats increased. (laughs)  At that time, my body fat percentage was 8%.  Normally, during ice shows, it’s about 4%. During competitions, it’s about 5%. Ice shows are sometimes twice in a row, so my body fat gradually decreases. The 5% during competition time is best I think.”

Moving to Toronto

During this period of recovery, Hanyu Yuzuru made a big decision.  He decided to move his training base to Toronto, Canada, to be coached under Brian Orser.

[My own note- I read this in another book ‘Yuzuru Method’ Page103:  After his amazing free skate performance at Worlds 2012 in Nice, while he was in the skaters’ waiting room, his coach Nanami Abe told him that for next season, he should look for an overseas coach.  Having just finished his performance, it was not the right time to be thinking about next season, but her words were imprinted in his mind.]

To leave Coach Nanami and Sendai where he grew up, and go to Toronto where he could not even understand the language well, to move for the sake of skating……  It was really not an easy decision.

Hanyu procrastinated.  He wants to train in Sendai all the way;  he wants to continue skating near the people who have helped him, people whom he is indebted to.  To leave his hometown Sendai which is still on the road to reconstruction, isn’t that an act of betrayal to the people who have been supporting him? he thought.
      
But inside him, there was the strongest desire of “I want my skating to become much better” and he became honest to that.  The environment where that wish could be fulfilled was found in Toronto.

[My summary of some points: Looking at overseas coaches, he thought of Russia where he had received some coaching from 2 Russian coaches on skating expression before, but in the end, he chose Brian Orser because of the training environment of Cricket Club where coaches and trainers work in a team, and also because of the presence of Javier Fernandez whom he saw during competitions in the past season.]

17 years old, spring time, Hanyu took courage, and in May, he moved to Toronto.

“When you think about skating and training environment, Coach Brian Orser is really good.  One big trigger was the high success rate of quads done by Javier Fernandez.”

“With Javier in the same team, I can get a good image (of jumps) and it is easier to do them.  In interviews, Javier says ‘because Yuzuru is working hard, I must work hard too.’” 

With Fernandez and Nam Nguyen (still a junior then), even though Hanyu’s English was not fluent, they became friends who worked hard together in a state of friendly rivalry.

Training in Cricket Club

“I am enjoying it.  Just as I thought, it’s good to be with people who can do quads.”  [He goes into a lot of details.  In summary, it’s good because he can have a clear image of the jump.  He said it’s like changing from ‘analogue TV to digital TV’.   And also their presence feeds his competitive spirit and he works harder because he hates to lose.]

“Now I also do skating practice.  It’s really ‘skating’.  Like strokes and three turns.  The feeling when you push, the height of the upper body, the lines. […] Things that you’ve always thought you could do, being told you can’t do them is very frustrating.  But I can think of it as “I can do it more beautifully”.

“Skating coaches are Tracy and Brian.  They will correct my skating part by part in the programme. […]  So that I can skate smoothly (like the number of strokes and the speed).  If I can visualise in my head all that I learned, it will be very different I think.  But ‘do I really have to focus to that extent?’  Before this, I had to pay attention to 5 or 6 things, but now it feels like it has gone up to 30.  I can’t do them properly yet, they don’t come out at once, then Tracy will say, ‘Now, you were being sloppy, isn’t it?’

My strokes and crossovers and such, they have changed a lot, I think.  [….] When skating, shifting the centre of gravity in the lower half of the body is important, but in order to shift the centre of gravity, you have to pay attention to various things in the upper half of the body.  Like the position of the hands, I have to be conscious of things like that.  It is really enjoyable.

Around me, everyone is so good.  When we do skating practice, it makes me think ‘my skating is so poor’.  But that is the happiest thing because it means I can become as good as them when I continue to train here.  Until now, I have been competing with my jumps, but I do not want to lose out in my skating too.  It’s the first time that I have this thought and it’s a fresh feeling.”

English

He talked about how hard it was at first to understand instructions in English. He would base it on the feeling and make detailed notes in Japanese.

“And also, I have the muscle diagram in my head.  When I was in elementary school, I read an illustrated encyclopedia and I really liked it.  Recently, I got a MacBook Air, and using an application, I look at what is attached to where in 3D. (laughs)  In this way, I can link up what I studied with my own senses.  It is very different when you move a muscle while thinking ‘oh it is this muscle that is moving’.   In the Evernote of my MacBook Air, I write down in English all the muscles that I am concerned about.”

Biellmann spin

“I want to continue doing the biellmann.  It’s my trademark!  And also because Evgeny Plushenko, a skater I have always admired, does that.   But he had an operation in his back and he has stopped doing this spin.”

He talked about how the body gets more rigid as one grows older and there was a recent period where he found it a bit hard to do the biellmann spin.  There is a trade-off because when he was very flexible, it was harder to have stable jumps.  But now, he feels it is alright.  He has found the right balance between being flexible and having strong muscles for jumping quads.

[next chapter: First victory in Japan national championships]

-my sharing from the book.  Section headings are added by me.  Not a proper translation, many parts are left out. 
-pics from internet, thanks to original owners.

translated by Angelic Yuzuru