Skip to main content

My review - 2016 World figure skating Championships - Men


 Here is my review for some of men's world figure skating championship below,

Men 

Overall Results 


1. Javier FERNANDEZ ESP 314.93 

2. Yuzuru HANYU JPN 295.17 

3. Boyang JIN CHN 270.99 

4. Mikhail KOLYADA RUS 267.97 

5. Patrick CHAN CAN 266.75 

6. Adam RIPPON USA 264.44 

7. Shoma UNO JPN 264.25 4 

8. Max AARON USA 254.14 

9. Michal BREZINA CZE 237.99 

10. Grant HOCHSTEIN USA 237.25 



Congratulations on all the medallists ! 


In this men's world championship, 


Shoma Uno 

My favorite is Shoma Uno's performances, both SP and FP.



   


Yes, he made some errors but the way he moved on ice was charismatic and impressive.

I've watched both of his performances a few times already. 

I love the short program music, it's very unique and the choreography is interesting. His movements are well-balanced.  His first spin combo , especially bent let lay back camel spin looked hard though.  
Great 4 T and 3A , and love his steps a lot. 

For his free program, I love his expression and the choreography and movements. 
But it will be better if he uses more hands and finger tips movements sensitively to make beautiful artistry.   


He is still 18 years old, so he has a lot of potential in the future. 

I just love seeing him, even just crossing on ice. 

Whenever Jason Brown is not in the competition, he is the only skater who makes me watch men's skating. 

I'm so happy to have found my new favorite skater this season. 



Javier Fernandez 

Overall, I thought Javier Fernandez deserved to win. 

I'm not a fan of his skating but I like his Free program performance in this competition. 

He looked nervous in his SP, maybe it was from pressure as defending Champion ? 

but in his free skate, he looked fully on and relaxed , and being himself while skating. 

 He is not an artist, and I find no beauty in his skating, but his skating skill and jumps technique are amazing. and the choreography itself was interesting. 

How he uses his body and arms and hands are not my taste but the rhythm with music was good. I think that kind of Free program fits him.

I think mentally, his girl friend Miki Ando's devoting support has been helping him. It's very important to have a partner or family who can give skaters confidence to be successful. 

I'm also wondering why many of Brian Orser's students are successful ?

Is it because he is lucky to have students who are very talented ? 

 But Fernandez and Hanyu started getting high scores since they started working with Orser. 

So I suppose he must have something to pull out talented students potentials and also he is practical and smart to make programs which can benefit from the system. 

Of his students, I only liked Yuna Kim's Danse Macabre performance in the past. 

His programs are practical and may be excellent for this scoring system, but I rarely felt impressed from my heart. 



Yuzuru Hanyu 

I love seeing his triple axel jump. 
It's always perfect with smooth landing. 

 He and Fernandez look like great rivals for each other, they have been working under the same coach. 

They push each other so both are improving a lot. 

Figure skating is a mind game, so whoever sets up their mind perfectly wins. In this competition, Yuzuru lost mind balance during the practice time. 

 But in his Short program, he fought for it and made a successful result with clean skate, landed all the difficult jumps. 

However, I was not so crazy to watch the ending part , he shouted using not polite words in Japanese with angry face. 

 I don't know who he was shouting to, but it was a competition event where there are many audience. 

So I feel showing appreciation to the audience is very important. 
Also the program music was Chopin's ballade which is very elegant and refined. 

I love the music, so his informal words ruined my feeling at the end. 

That kind of energy can not get good result so I was not surprised to see his score in the Free skate. 

He has huge reputation since he won Olympic title, so it didn't affect to get world medal, but lost to get a second world title. 

I suppose he knew about it, he regrets that he got upset with Denis Ten who he had issue with during the practice time, while Yuzuru's program music was playing. 

No matter what, those energies affect the result. But in his free skate, he showed deep appreciation to the audience. 

He usually always says "thank you very much" to the audience when he finishes his performance. 

I respect his mind toughness and he is a great motivational skater for me. Technically, he is a wonderful skater, especially his jumps. 
and very brave to challenge difficulty. 

Artistically, I think he needs to work on his rhythm and artistic movements. 

but since he has been getting high PCS, he may not have noticed this.

 The choreography of his SP Chopin's Ballard was empty to me.
 There was not any particular choreography , it was mainly arm movements , there was no pantomime, no impressive expression and body language. 

My husband said he feels the same way. 

For Yuzuru's free program, he lost mind balance and had some error with jumps.

Artistically , there was also not a clear choreography , there was arm flapping, and doing element to element, had only power and speed.

It could be a story telling choreography, but there was no body language and expression based on the story using the music. 

I think the problem of his movement is that his shoulders are stiff when his arms are moving. He is better than Jeremy Abbott's shoulder stiffness though. 

But if he can figure out how to use his shoulders better during arms movement, his artistry will get better. 

Of the current men's skaters, Jason Brown's movements are very well-balanced, so it looks beautiful to watch. 

But many skaters don't care for it and they care only about arm movements, but careless for the shoulders. 

It sounds like a small thing but it influences the total balance of artistic movements. 

I actually agree with what Rohene Ward ( who is a choreographer of Jason Brown ) said about Yuzuru's artistry. 

Hopefully, Yuzuru will find out how to improve his shoulder movement , or maybe his choreographer Jeffrey Buttle will teach him. 

I don't understand why Jeffrey was not teaching him and Patrick Chan about this, while teaching their choreography. 

Surely Jeffrey knows how to use the body, shoulders, arms and hands, even though he is not using his finger tips much. 

Maybe since they have been receiving high PCS, he doesn't feel it's necessary to teach them about it (?) 

I like Yuzuru Hanyu's "one wolf type of personality", and always going his way. 

I do respect him a lot for his braveness and having a strong desire to get what he wants and achieving it. 

Not many skaters can be like him. 

Also somehow, his taste of his favorite skaters are similar to me. 



About men's skating, 


Honestly, we were both not so excited for this year's men's competition since the US Nationals event, after hearing Jason Brown and Joshua Farris withdrew from the competition due to injuries. But we did enjoy with several skaters performances. 

International Men's figure skating competitions are becoming more and more quad jumps competitions this season and quad jumps are like required jumps for both programs, SP and FP, for men's skating. 

and the scores are even more skyrocketing for some of top skaters. 

PCS are also automatically higher for skaters who have good technical reputation if they skated clean. 

I see PCS are also part of technical scores for figure skating competitions. 

Skating skill and transition. and when those two scores get high scores , other parts of PCS they also give higher. 

Or if skaters ( who have reputation ) landed all the jumps including quad jumps, they get all high PCS. What most judges value is different from what we value. 

For us, figure skating is a sport and an art , not only a sport and not only an art. This is why it's considered as one of the most difficult Olympic subjects. 

Artistry is subjective. 

But there is a basic level of skill to master before one can be considered an artist. 

And I believe that dance skills ( including ballet, jazz, tap, etc.. ) , acting skills, pantomime skills are required to make good artistry in skating. 

But when I see like arm flailing with no particular choreography, no well-balanced line of movements, and then even these performances are judged as artistic and getting high scores, and audiences then call those skaters as artists, because the judges gave them those high scores, then I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. 

 If there is speed and power, many skaters get high PCS. ( for what ? ) and when skaters get high PCS, they are not improving their artistry anymore because maybe they feel they don't need to improve anymore ? 

Top skaters are thinking about only quad jumps , not hearing about how to improve their artistry by taking a dance class or anything they are lacking. 

This is how this judging system is influencing figure skating competitions. What everyone is watching is the result of all this. 

My husband and I both are not so crazy for quad jumps competitions. 

The point for us is whether the performance is interesting or not. 

If the performances are interesting, we would watch them over and over. 

So for a while we were not watching skating competition anymore and instead were watching Charlie Chaplin 's movies which we found have many art and entertainment. 

Many people may not know this, but Chaplin was a great dancer. 
He was a natural at it. 

I don't know why but I'm always interested in movements. 

In the past men's skating competition was always my favorite event. 

However, somehow my passion has gone since a few years ago, I don't remember when. 

The Golden generation for me was when I started watching men's skating and it was from the 2006 Torino Olympics

But I had watched many older seasons events as well after that. 

and my favorite times are still from 2003 - 2004 season to 2007 - 2008 season.

I have watched those generation's skating performances videos so many times, over and over almost every day. 

Because many of the performances never bored me and my husband. 

The technical level at that time was much lower than present generation based on the judging system. 

But artistically, there were so many interesting performances in those days and it made me to watch over and over and they inspired me a lot. 

After 2010's Vancouver Olympics, I was not so interested anymore to watch men's skating except for a few skaters . 

A few years ago, we found our new favorite skater Jason Brown. 

He is the most beautiful artistic skater now, who has charismatic movements and has his own style. 

Sadly he got an injury and could not attend US Nationals competition and so he was unable to get the ticket to World championships. 

In this season, we found another new favorite skater, Shoma Uno. 

Besides these, present men's skating is all about quad jumps. and I found I'm not interested in a jumping contest. 

My husband is even more picky as to who he watches , and his taste in skaters is basically the same as me. 

These two skaters Jason Brown and Shoma Uno, their skating has charisma, artistry, and technical as well, so it really inspired us. 

Artistry is subjective, so the judges and our taste of artistry are often different. Scores don't matter to us. 

 I am looking forward to seeing next season to find my new favorite skaters and performances. 

Popular posts from this blog

Who was The Mysterious Masked Messenger who visited Mozart ?

Perhaps the most mysterious legend about Mozart is that of the " Masked Messenger ". This mysterious masked messenger is also known historically as the "Man in Gray" , "The Mysterious Messenger" , "The Gray Messenger". The story of the masked messenger was featured prominently in the movie “ Amadeus ".           Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart How much of this story is true ? When Mozart died in the early morning hours of December 5, 1791, he left his final masterpiece, the Requiem , unfinished. A few months later, a completed score of the Requiem was delivered to its anonymous commissioner. How was the Requiem completed and how would Mozart have completed it had he lived? These mysteries have tantalized musicians for over two centuries. Mozart received the commission to compose the Requiem from the “ Mysterious Messenger" in the summer of 1791.  The Messenger paid half the commission in advance,

Health tips from an extra-terrestrial named Bashar - from a planet called Essassani

photo credit: skyseeker Mt. Fuji via photopin (license)    Today,  I would like to write about health tips from an extra-terrestrial being named Bashar who is from the Essassani Planet .     He is channeled by Darryl Anka. Planet earth used to have beautiful clear air, but since a long time ago the air has been polluted everywhere.    and the cause of most illnesses comes from the poison in the environment we are in, with the polluted air. Nowadays, it's hard to find places where there is beautiful clean air. and in this unfavorable environment, he is suggesting how to live healthy.   Health tips 1.  Clear Oxygen  According to Bashar,  the air after storms and typhoons have gone away, is the most clean ( purified ) and is good for our bodies. However when there is an overdose of artificial oxygen by using tools such as oxygen tanks , this can cause a lack of water, and will weaken cells.   So clean natural water needs to be used in a balanced amo

Sweet Food which does not get fat - Warabi mochi

I recently love eating this sweet food that Japanese call " Warabi mochi " which is made of 0 calories food psyllium in my coffee break time.   It's sweet food but I use Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener instead of sugar when I make it. Lakanto Monk Fruit sweetener is 0 calorie s and 0 glycemic and very similar taste as normal sugar. It is said it's derived from monk fruit, which looks like a small green gourd native to regions of China and Thailand.  It's not artificial so it is not bad for health so I feel comfortable eating it. Warabi mochi is a food which is normally made of Kinako ( soybean flour) & sugar & warabi powder and it's one of my favorite foods. However it's high calorie foods so if I eat a lot, it's easy to gain weight.   Because Warabi mochi flour is Starch and has sugar in it and is high calorie.  So I was not eating it. and then recently I found the recipe of diet Warabi Mochi which is made of Psyllium

Beauty skin care, Ninon de L'Enclos ‘s Secret of her young skin

Besides extra virgin olive oil, I’ve been doing a mixture of another great natural formula since two weeks ago. This information came from Ray who happened to find about Ninon de L’Enclos ’s amazing story concerning her youthful skin. According to the article, Ninon de L’ Enclos is known as a famous French beauty from the late 1600s. She kept her youthful skin until 85 years old when she passed away. Even in to her 80’s she was attracting many young men who fell hopelessly in love with her. She never published her secret of her youthful skin until the end , only telling her special friends about her secret formula. There is no photo of her, but seeing her painting in other websites, she looks in her 30’s when she was 85. According to the article, her face was as smooth and free of winkles in her 80’S as it had been at 20. She hated wrinkles and successfully kept her skin youthful , using her special secret formula. This information blew me away, and immediately

Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin’s friendship Part 1

Frederyk Chopin   I’m a long time fan of Chopin’s music since when I was a teenager. Started loving his music from hearing his Polonaise , then Noctunes , Etudes … Frederyk Chopin I was using one of Chopin’s Nocturnes as my background music for my answering machine when I was in my 20s. In Japan, many of his music is famous and used in many TV dramas, commercials, movies, and mostly wealthy bourgeois family scenes. My image of many of Chopin ’s music that I’ve listened to is of a cozy, bourgeois world. From almost all his music I’ve ever heard, I often pictured an elegant, wealthy family’s world or a story about a family who are living in a luxury antique style house. Many of Mozart ’s music reminds me of a social life in an older generation, a story about bourgeois world in a gorgeous luxury palace. For Liszt ’s music, his music is very variety, ranging from an image of a sweet passionate love story for couples, all the way to nightmare horror story type of mu

Franz Liszt’s dangerous love

  Franz Liszt was quite tall in his generation, standing 6 feet 2 inches tall , long blonde hair , piercing sharp eyes, pianist' long narrow and delicate hands and fingers. His body build was very slender. People who knew him described his personality as full of charm, charisma, and very knowledgeable.  And he loved brainy women. He was the consummate artist. It seems that Liszt loved dangerous love , which thrilled him and gave him excitement rather than a stable, peaceful , safe love. Franz Liszt While reading about his biography, I was wondering why he fell in love with two princesses who were already married. Marie D’Agoult He seems to have had a lot of love affairs in his life, someone found out that he had at least 26 serious relationships in his life ( besides countless other affairs ) but the only ladies he thought about marriage was with these two princesses , Marie D’Agoult and Carolyne Sayn Wittgenstein ? Charlotte Von Hagn L

My favorite ways of Law of Attraction Part 3 - Successful Wishing - Pierre Franckh

Pierre Franckh’s books “ Successful Wishing “ are another of my favorite books.     There are series, 1 to 6 , and are not published in English , but I did find them in a Japanese book store,  translated by a Japanese translator.   Pierre Franckh is a German actor ( Movies & TV) from 1959 – 2003, and is also a movie director and a writer.  Since 1996, he published many books and became a best selling author.  Franckh wrote based on his personal experiences from when he was a child . I love the way how he writes , it’s very easy to read and direct to the point, very clear how to do it with step by step instruction. Also importance of finding what you truly want.    Many people are actually not realizing what they really want and then when they get what they wanted,  still not feeling satisfied. Pierre said that before making your wishes and order to universe, it’s important to clear up what you really want and ask to yourself, why you w

Organic foods and healthy living “ You are what you eat ? “

We‘ve been enjoying organic foods since a month ago.   Because we care for our health and also organic foods taste more delicious than normal vegetables.   Recently, I really feel the famous quote  “ You are what you eat . “   is true.   Although healthy life comes from balance between mind, body, skin care, good night sleep and activities besides food life .   Health is a treasure.   Also I realized that “ good blood circulation ” is one of the most important key to keep healthy and look young skin.   After being amazed to see Styx’s ageless Tommy Shaw on TV, I started searching about “ secret of youth “.  He looks so much younger than his age.  Also, there was an interview with Styx on CNN in the morning about a week ago and they talked about what they think are the keys to longevity and a healthy life. http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/04/23/exp-kyra-phillips-age-against-the-machine.cnn  

”The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” - Albert Einstein 

Originally we were all creative because all children are creative. While growing up, many children lose their creativity by seeing, reading, hearing what many grown ups do and teach. According to a book called " Goal " by Brian Tracy, "Fully 95% of children tested between the ages of three and five are rated as highly creative. Of the same children tested again as teenagers, only about 5% rated  as highly creative. What happened to them in the interim ?   As they went through school, they were taught that if you want to get along, you follow the crowd. They learned not to question or challenge the teacher or to suggest unusual ideas. In their attempts to be liked and accepted by their peers, they allowed their creativity to die down, like a fire without fuel.  " "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grows up."  -  Pablo Picasso But if we don't use creativity, we lose it. It means that the more we use cre

Charm of Kenichi Hagiwara - Shoken

From Japanese Movie " Ame no Amsterdam (Rain in Amsterdam)" I've been into the late 1960s to 1970s generation since several years ago. I don't know why but I'm very interested in older generation's people, trends, lifestyle, scenery, habit, TV drama, music, films, etc..   and not so interested in new things much.  There are many new discoveries through checking out old stuff while reading and watching it, which I didn't know before. and about several months ago, I happened to find a youtube video of  a famous Japanese actor called Kenichi Hagiwara who was my favorite actor in 1970s when I was a kid. His nickname is Shoken and he is also a singer of Rock/blues music.                      Shoken( 18 years old) singing ”Legend of Emerald” Shoken was one of the super stars in Japan mainly from the late 60s generation to early 80s. When he was 15 years old,   he joined an amateur music group band called The Tempters as a vocalist.   A