Nobunari Oda trains in Canada right now

Finally Nobu was allowed to go to Canada and continue his training there. He will have a new SP choreographed during his stay.

I've read that he will work with a new choreographer, but I don't know if it's a fact or only a rumour. I can't search for more information right now because I'm temporarily using a laptop with no Japanese language support installed; so if anyone finds more information before I am able to do so, please share.

I kind of hoped he'll use Miyamoto... I love Miyamoto's choreography. Lori Nichol would be good, too... I loved a lot of her choreography for ladies, but I think she haven't yet worked with a male skater that would bring her choreography to its full potential.

Wow That is good news :bounce:

I was really disappointed at JSF's punishment to Nobunari .....
I thought if Nobunari skated at skate Canada, he would have a very good chance to win a gold medal with Mao-chan like the world junior 2005!!!
I am happy at least he can go abroad now as I was worried about his new programs for this season!
I hope to see his wonderful new programs at nationals

Nobunari he skates at Mariposa in Ontario, Canada. He has been skating there for a while. I have even skated at the same time as him (kinda freaky when he is doing triple axels and quads and I'm just doing double axels at the most!!)

z4mboni wrote:

Finally Nobu was allowed to go to Canada and continue his training there. He will have a new SP choreographed during his stay.

Oh, those are great news! I wonder if they returned him the status of the elite sportsman or he went there for his own means. But whatever, that's great that he is already training 'in full strength'.
And I really hope that he is fine psychologically.

Cheers for Nobunari!

Yumei wrote:

I was really disappointed at JSF's punishment to Nobunari .....

Me too. I really look up to Nobunari; his personality is very much like mine; except we handle it differently. I used to really hate my overexaggerated emotionality, but trying to bottle my feelings only turned me into aggresive and self-destructive person. Seeing Nobunari's pure honesty and emotional outbursts made me accept myself as well.
The way the public media treated him, on the other hand, made me remember the "previous" me. I lost 7 kg just from being nervous and angry.

Quote :

I thought if Nobunari skated at skate Canada, he would have a very good chance to win a gold medal with Mao-chan like the world junior 2005!!!

I hoped so, too. It would be good to see him trying a quad and how he would match up against Brian. I think they would be quite evenly matched in the LP, possibly with Nobu having the edge. If he attempted and fully rotated 4Lz, even with a fall, he could have enormous TES, thanks to his very high GoE and 3A-3T-3L combo. The problem would be SP (I don't think he would go for a quad there yet) and PCS, as they tend to be higher for a skater with more quads.
Anyway, it would be exciting to watch.

Muskoka Skater wrote:

I have even skated at the same time as him (kinda freaky when he is doing triple axels and quads and I'm just doing double axels at the most!!)

You're lucky! I love watching him practice, especially doing things that he doesn't or can't attempt in competitions (3-3-3 combos other than #a-3T-3L, new spins, spiral sequences and such).

BTW, someone posted on a Japanese blog that Nobu started landing quadruple Lutzes in practice (he landed them before, but underotated). I wonder if he practices them in Canada? I would love to see it, nobody has managed to land it perfectly so far.

summervie wrote:

I wonder if they returned him the status of the elite sportsman or he went there for his own means.

I think he'll regain the special athlete status only just before Nationals, so probably his visit in Canada is not fully refunded.

I hope JSF will at least send him to 4CC and Winter Universiade. He needs to regain the points he will lose missing the GP series as soon as possible. He got a nice bonus for placing 3rd in ISU rankings this year, but he'll drop in the standings next year because of the missed season.

Looks like Nobunari won't make it to West Japan championship.

His new SP is not completed yet. He works with someone else than Wilson - I wonder who it is? Lori Nichol, Kurt Browning, Tom Dickson..?Or maybe someone outside of Canada?

A Japanese news site reported that as a part of his "punishment" he was "voluntarily" cleaning the Yodogawa River (if my kanji are right ) area (not good idea - I cut myself during similar work, got blood poisoning and nearly died ) and coaching children at the Kansai Rink (very good idea, he always loved working with children and made a great instructor during the TV shows . I envy the kids who train at the Kansai Rink now... ).

On the whole, the Japanese Nobu fans make me feel warm at heart, while the JSF members and some of the media regularily make me want to hang them on their own insides.
...But that's nothing new. The way they treat some of the skaters is just . The articles about Miki after Torino, or Mao after GPF 06 just make me go

Anyway, to all of the skaters. I hope they don't get distracted by all the pressure and insane media and will be able to have fun while performing.

Quote :

The articles about Miki after Torino, or Mao after GPF 06 just make me go Frustrated

I heard the story of miki after torino but what's the story about Mao ??!?!

bibi wrote:

Quote :

The articles about Miki after Torino, or Mao after GPF 06 just make me go Frustrated

I heard the story of miki after torino but what's the story about Mao ??!?!

Just random rude articles - with even more rude photos.

I think that if a skater does his very best, training extremely hard for many years and does his best to proudly represent the country, he or she deserves respect even if they don't perform at their best. Instead some of them are being heavily bashed, and photos of them falling or being in positions that the journalists find "funny" are being published...

Here is some photos scanned from the article published after GPF:
http://www.yourfilelink.com/get.php?fid=396173

I find publishing photos of a 16 year old girl in such positions very inappropriate.
Although it wasn't a well known newspaper (except maybe known for the bad quality of their articles) or anything, well, I just hope Mao never has seen or read something as stupid at those articles.

Another trick that I hate is going to the skater right after he/she has had a bad performance and asking "How do you feel about your skating today?" when the skater obviously looks very distressed as it is, without being molested by the journalists. (Happened to Mao after Skate AMerica LP).

And I really hate skaters being called "disappointments" - if the media feel that skating is so very easy, perhaps they should just put the skates on and try to get that gold medal!

The sport media are usually good, though - they are respectful towards the skaters and they do not go for the sensation value.

I agree with you so much!
When the skaters perform well the media are all around them for hours and they congratulate them and when they don't perform very well they are all around them and ask them questions like "what happened?"
I hope the skaters don't let those articles affect them!

Any news on Nobu recently? His presence is sorely missed on the GP circuit because there is nobody else like him. He's very unique. The men's event at TEB would have been so much more fun with Nobu. Although Patrick Chan performed brilliantly and I've liked him since last season, I couldn't help but think: 'Had Nobu been there...'

We miss you, Nobu! Come back soon!
Only 1+ month till the Japanese nationals!

I wish I could help you, Caliblue, but I can't read Japanese well enough to search for some news. Okami usually translates articles/blogs for me, but she is in hospital right now. I asked her if she could search for some new infowhile I was out shopping. I took me some time to find keys and get dressed, and just as I was going out I heard a scream. Good thing that I went running to check what was wrong and that the hospital is just a minute away.

They wouldn't let me in on the intensive care ward, as they let family members in there. The nurse just said something about myocardial infraction, chronically high levels of stress, malnourishment...

On the notebook left next to the laptop there was a note: "Canada!!!', so I guess Nobu is training in Canada right now. I really hope that he is fine and not succumbing to stress and pressure.

I'm just so depressed right now.

OMG!!! I hope she's doing good...
Please tell her that I'm with her and I hope she recover well

That's very sad news.

I wish for a speedy recovery.

Good luck to Nobunari, too.

z4mboni wrote:

I wish I could help you, Caliblue, but I can't read Japanese well enough to search for some news. Okami usually translates articles/blogs for me, but she is in hospital right now. I asked her if she could search for some new infowhile I was out shopping. I took me some time to find keys and get dressed, and just as I was going out I heard a scream. Good thing that I went running to check what was wrong and that the hospital is just a minute away.

They wouldn't let me in on the intensive care ward, as they let family members in there. The nurse just said something about myocardial infraction, chronically high levels of stress, malnourishment...

On the notebook left next to the laptop there was a note: "Canada!!!', so I guess Nobu is training in Canada right now. I really hope that he is fine and not succumbing to stress and pressure.

I'm just so depressed right now.

I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to Okami. You must be very worried about her. I was shocked when I looked up "myocardial infarction" to find out it means heart attack. At the same time, she was very lucky that you were around to attend to her right away. Her family must be very grateful for this as well. I can only imagine how you must be feeling and want to send a big hug.

And, of course, please don't worry about Nobu news. I was just wondering. XOXO

I am really sorry to hear about Okami.... I am shocked and very sad to hear she got sick... Really hope she will recover quickly!!! We are all praying for her!!! Hayaku genki ni nattene!

I hope that Okami is doing better now

About Nobunari, according to this article,
http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/winter/news/20071130-OHT1T00234.htm
He will use 'Un ballo in maschera' for his SP and 'mission impossible'(same as last year) for FS. His SP is choreographed by Lori Nichol.

I am not 100% sure of his SP music as article written in Japanese and I just looked foreign name of his SP music on wikipedia, but I think it is 'Un ballo in maschera'.
Edit: his SP music is 'Masquerade' according to Golden skate post, sorry for my stupidity

Go! Nobunari Looking forward to see your nice performance at Nationals

Thank you so much for the info!

Your translation was just fine! "Un Ballo in Maschera" means "Masquarade Ball", it's an opera by Verdi.

It's a beautiful opera, funny and ironic but with a tragic ending. It was inspired by a true story of the King of Sweden, Gustav III, who was wouned at the Masquarade Ball and died soon after.

So happy that he will work with Lori. I think she is an amazing choreographer, and her programs for Mao were just lovely.

...But I'm afraid of nationals, honestly speaking. Right now I'm even afraid to open Golden Skate forum where there might be any news, or open the link which Yumei kindly peovided. I'm just afraid of any info, because I'm afraid it won't be any good.

sunshine wrote:

I think that Nobunari should be fine in Nationals. Even if Kozuka places higher than him, Japan will have three spots! Although there are other talented skaters, I still think that Nobunari has a class of his own. Don't worry too much. He'll be fine Just wish him a smiling finish

I agree. Kozuka has not been doing as well as he could, and Nanri and Nakaniwa were less than impressive at NHK. It would take a herculean effort from them to top Nobu even if Nobu may be a bit rusty from not competing.

Nothing scary in the link that Yumei provided. It just announces Nobu's SP and has a quote from Lee Barkell saying that Nobu decided to skip the West Japan regionals in order to dedicate his time to SP practice as his SP is new this year.

I think Nobunari would be fine at nationals too Dai-chan and Nobunari for sure will go worlds I can't wait to see his new SP :bounce: I just hope the media will treat him nicely! I often feel frustrated with Japanese media...

That's great news -- thanks for sharing it! It's reassuring to see a vote of confidence from people who are not necessarily Nobu fans! In life, we learn much more from our mistakes than from successes. Towards the end of last season, i had the feeling that Nobu had hit a wall. I'm really hoping that this big learning opportunity has helped him overcome it. Go, Nobu!


Like Yumei, I also hope that the Japanese media will treat him fairly. They tend to go overboard either way.

Cutting Edge 2008 (an annual publication focusing on Japanese men's figure skating) is availble now in Japan.

http://iceblue.cocolog-nifty.com/figure/cat7988204/index.html

It has interviews with Takahashi, Oda, Nanri, Nakaniwa, Kozuka, Shibata, Machida, and Mura as well as their coaches. Typically, these interviews take place before the season (July - August).

Thanks for the good news, sunshine!

Caliblue, thanks for the translations!

About the scariness of the articles - well, everything is scary for me now. I'm afraid to read the words "shuken obi", or JSF, or anything law-related. But the most scary of all is how much hate I feel when I read something like that. I read the words "soothing the angry fans" and first it's like a painful punch in the stomach, and then I think the only way to soothe my anger would be delivering to me all the people that said something despiseful, with JSF chairman, the Kansai officials and the media to begin with... and well, let me spare you gory details.

ETA: Sorry for the depressing stuff, it's too early in the morning and I couldn't help myself. I deleted most of it.