In search of "wonderful" rather than "perfect" Yuma Kagiyama To a new world November 11 23:16

"I feel that I am gradually getting closer to the expression I want to achieve and the ideal skating, and I want to show my individuality through my performance," said

Yuma Kagiyama, who confidently expressed his enthusiasm for the NHK Cup Figure Skating Championships on the 18th of this month, which is scheduled to take place in a week.

After winning a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in February last year, he returned to international competition for the first time in two seasons after a long absence due to a left ankle injury. We are significantly rethinking the way we think about skating and aiming for further growth.

Where was the "turning point of my mind"? We will look for hints from the words of Kagiyama and those who support him by his side.
(Director of Mito Broadcasting Station, Masahide Onizawa)

From "silver" at the Olympics to a long-term absence due to "disappointing injury"

He became the youngest Japan figure skater to win an Olympic medal at the age of 18.

In October last year, a little more than six months after the jubilation in Beijing, Kagiyama posted a message on social media. It was noted that he would miss the "Grand Prix Series" in which the world's top skaters compete due to a left ankle injury.

Kagiyama was unable to practice as much as he wanted. Until then, he had been practicing on the ice 365 days out of 360 days, so he was very impatient to not be able to skate and wanted to participate in competitions.

At the All Japan Championships in December last year, where he participated without recovering from his injury, he made a series of jumping mistakes and finished eighth. However, Kagiyama said that this tournament was an opportunity for him to learn about his current situation and what he needed to do in the future.

Since then, I've completely changed my way of thinking about conditioning and started spending time reflecting on my body and my previous performances.

Outside of skating, she spends more time learning about nutrition and sleep. In addition, we decided to fundamentally review our daily lives, such as getting the necessary nutrients from our diet properly by appointing a registered dietitian, and actively taking walks in the sun to promote calcium absorption in order to strengthen our bones.

In addition, the number of times I checked after my injury increased was "videos of myself acting". As he continued to watch, he realized how rough his acting was.

Kagiyama:
"When I looked back on the video and looked at it objectively, I realized that my body wasn't moving as much as I thought it would, and that I could have done a better job of slowing down here. There were times when I felt that the choreography that the choreographer taught me and what I wanted to express were not reflected in the performance at all. I've come to want to understand the songs better and improve my expressiveness."

Since then, the way I approach practice has also changed.

In the past, I used to practice 1 times a day, and skating for about 3~5 hours at a time, which was one of the most practiced figure skaters.

However, after his injury, he became more conscious of the content of his practice than the amount of practice.

Kagiyama:
"In the past, I didn't have that much of a goal in mind for training, and I just wanted to do a few things, so I didn't have that much planning, and as a result, I just kept going, and as a result, I had good days and bad days. Now, on the contrary, I am practicing with a careful awareness of "one shot at a time", so I have been able to practice a lot in about 1~1 hours."

New Coach Kostner's words are a turning point

Kagiyama has grown up with his father, Masakazu, who has participated in the Olympics twice, but this season he has tried something new.

In order to further refine her expressive skills, she hired Carolina Kostner, a bronze medalist from Italy and the Sochi Olympics, as her new coach.

During his playing days, he had a smooth and beautiful skating, winning the 2 World Championships and participating in four consecutive Olympic Games.

This is the first time that Mr. Kostner has been appointed as a coach for a top athlete. Kagiyama's main role is to improve his expressiveness in order to win the gold medal at the Milano Cortina d'Ampezzo Olympics in three years' time.

At the training camp in Italy in April, we watched an opera with Kagiyama, and we also took an approach that enhanced artistry in areas other than skating. I will pass on all the knowledge and experience I gained during my time as an athlete.

Kostner:
"My strength is that I have competed at a high level as a player for many years. I've experienced pressure, and I've experienced the struggles of the Olympics in my home country. The accumulation of these experiences has been a great experience, and I would like to share this experience with Yushin. My father, Masakazu, can concentrate on teaching jumping techniques, and I can concentrate on skating and expressiveness. I feel that the exchange of various opinions will help us create a highly competitive program to become the best in the world."

In November, at a practice session held at Chukyo University in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, the choreography was revised while receiving instruction from Mr. Kostner on how to use his body.

For example, I was learning how to raise my arms, not just raising my arms up, but using my shoulder blades and the entire upper body to make my performance look bigger.

Kostner says
: "It's important to use all the space around you to express yourself, not just to compete for points in front of the judges, but to perform for the audience that surrounds them 360 degrees. I tell them that I express myself in a way that conveys excitement to the children at the top of the venue."

Kagiyama:
"I haven't been able to use my eyes and fingertips and toes until now, and I feel that this is where I have grown, because I am now able to skate with an awareness of detailed expressions, even though I was only conscious of jumping until now. I'm grateful that they teach me from the same (athlete's) perspective as I do."

In the middle of the practice, Kostner said something to Kagiyama.

"When you're practicing for a competition, you tend to look for 'perfect.' Seek "Excellent" rather than Perfection. That's enough."

Seek "great" rather than "perfect." It was advice based on his own experience during his active career.

Mr. Kostner spent his days immersed in practice to hone his expressive skills to the limit. However, even though he sought perfection but practiced much, he was focused only on "what he was not doing," and he felt that the practice was "a boring and 'cold' time." He says he doesn't want Kagiyama to go through the same experience as he did.

Ms. Kostner says, "It seemed to me that Yuma was acting in a hurry, such as doing this jump, then this choreography, then this spin, and so on.
Even if there are a few mistakes, I think it's important to be able to find 'excellent' in the performance."

Kagiyama:
"I feel like I have to do it 100% perfectly, so I was grateful to have someone to talk to me. I think I'm getting closer to the expression I want to do."

Not only is it a quadruple jump with a high degree of perfection, but also an expressive ability that he has honed to improve because he has been injured.

It will be interesting to see what kind of performance Kagiyama will show in the final round of the Grand Prix series, which starts on the 4th, and in preparation for his goal of winning the gold medal at the Olympics in three years' time.

Biography of KAGIYAMA Yuma

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, 20 years old,
he is good at three types of quadruple jumps and spins with beautiful and stable icing. The coach is his father, Masakazu, who has participated in two consecutive Olympics in Lillehammer and Albertville. Influenced by his father, he started skating at the age of three, and in 3, at the age of 4, he finished third at the All Japan Championships. At the Beijing Olympics in February last year, he won the silver medal with a high score of 2 points. At the age of 3, he became the youngest male figure skater in Japan ever to win a medal.

Kagiyama will advance to the Grand Prix Final to be held in Beijing, China in December, if he finishes second or higher at the NHK Cup and scores 2019.16 points or higher.

Kagiyama's special feature will also be broadcast on "Good Morning Japan" (11 o'clock) on Friday, November 24.

NHK Cup Figure Men's Singles Broadcast Schedule

November 11 (Fri) SP=Short Program
NHK-BS24 1:19 ~ (Live Broadcast) NHK General 00:19 ~ (Live Broadcast) November 30 (Sat) Free
NHK General 11:25 ~ (Live Broadcast) November 19 (Sun)



ExhibitionNHK General 30:11~ (Live Broadcast)

NHK Cup Figure Special Site

Mito Broadcasting Station Director
Masahide Onizawa
Joined the station
in 27 when Kagiyama was in his first year of high school, and in Ibaraki, he eats Kagiyama's favorite food,
dried sweet potatoes