Mao News - Off-Season 2011!

Still no info when Mao is arriving to Moscow? I hope she will attend an official practice at 27th of April, I think I can go there!

Still more than 20 days? I can't wait!

Me either!
It seems so long! I can't wait for the skating - for MAO!
Nervous as well -_
Lack of news :s
Polosatik - You are our hope for some awesome Mao pics!

Someone at GS forum posted a translation of an article on Nobuo Sato. The article talks about how he became a coach and his teaching style & methods. I found the article interesting because it confirmed a lot of what I had thought about Sato's coaching style. He approaches skating as a step by step process and improvements are gradual to the point that it may not be obvious in the short run. This might explain why some people don't see improvements in Mao's skating. However, in the article, Sato believes Mao has improved a lot. I was also pleased to learn that Sato sometimes consults Yuka on matters like choreography. This gives me hope that Yuka will help Mao in that area in the future.

Here's the link: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?34113-Talkin-Bout-Coaches-Their-Styles-and-Approaches

There's also a translation of an article on Dai's coach. It's interesting to see the contrast between their two coaching styles.

Wow, aoi, thanks for the article! You must forgive me since this just constitutes some general bits of figure skating "news" that I have because of Mao's "absence" so I need some time to digest all this here. Heh.

This one part got me though:

Quote :

He finds it hard to relax now that two of his students are top skaters of the world. Kumiko, however, admits how lucky they are as a coach. Some already look forward to the double gold medals in Sochi in 2014. Nobuo says he would not be able to face going to the rink to coach them, once he started thinking about such a huge responsibility.

Funnily enough, he’s never placed too much importance on the final placement, as a coach or even as a competitive skater. ‘It may be something to do with my lack of confidence, but in baseball, you are great if you’re a .300 hitter – so I think it is good if I can smile from the heart three times in every ten competitions.’

Coach Sato isn't really the type to rush, but goodness, the thought of having two of your students finishing gold in Sochi should at least send goosebumps eh? Fortunately, Coach Sato doesn't let all that pressure get into his head by stressing that placements aren't important. Yep, Mao is in good hands!

Thanks aoi!

It was a very insightful interview.
I respect his stance a lot. Glad he isn't hasty for results.
I think he's pacing Mao very astutely. She's in good hands.

Morozombie has written a wonderful post on Mao's Ballade Exhibition. The program is ranked as a masterpiece (the only Ladies program so far this season!

http://morozombie.blogspot.com/2011/04/ballade-no-1.html (I really enjoy reading the insights he/she provides on choreography).

aoi88 wrote:

Morozombie has written a wonderful post on Mao's Ballade Exhibition. The program is ranked as a masterpiece (the only Ladies program so far this season!

http://morozombie.blogspot.com/2011/04/ballade-no-1.html (I really enjoy reading the insights he/she provides on choreography).

Nice find again, aoi!

I love Morozombie, he's a compelling writer who knows how to incorporate humor in his writings. His review of Ballade is a treat to read, more so if you are a Mao fan! I remember the Christmas wishlist where his gift was a hug to help Mao in those difficult times. Well, Mao's certainly doing better nowadays!

aoi88 wrote:

Morozombie has written a wonderful post on Mao's Ballade Exhibition. The program is ranked as a masterpiece (the only Ladies program so far this season!

http://morozombie.blogspot.com/2011/04/ballade-no-1.html (I really enjoy reading the insights he/she provides on choreography).

Thank you for posting this! We get so little Mao news these days, I was happy to see something, especially this positive
I agree that this program is a masterpiece and I have a real proof - I have friends who couldn't care less about figure skating, they know nothing about it and they don't want to know, they spend all their free time drinking beer and smoking Once I decided to show Mao's Ballade to them and they couldn't look away, they even forgot about their beer for a while! I was actually very surprised. Inspired by my success I decided to show them another figure skating program by someone else and they lost interest immediately.

babayaga wrote:

aoi88 wrote:

Morozombie has written a wonderful post on Mao's Ballade Exhibition. The program is ranked as a masterpiece (the only Ladies program so far this season!

http://morozombie.blogspot.com/2011/04/ballade-no-1.html (I really enjoy reading the insights he/she provides on choreography).

Thank you for posting this! We get so little Mao news these days, I was happy to see something, especially this positive
I agree that this program is a masterpiece and I have a real proof - I have friends who couldn't care less about figure skating, they know nothing about it and they don't want to know, they spend all their free time drinking beer and smoking Once I decided to show Mao's Ballade to them and they couldn't look away, they even forgot about their beer for a while! I was actually very surprised. Inspired by my success I decided to show them another figure skating program by someone else and they lost interest immediately.

Haha! That's what happened to my niece when she was only a year old. She got so engrossed watching Mao skate on my lappie but fell asleep when she saw others skate. Now at three she still says she wants to be like Mao.

Saw this posted earlier on twitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbyzQUrdP0s - Mai and Mao supporting Disney on Ice.

aoi88 wrote:

Someone at GS forum posted a translation of an article on Nobuo Sato. The article talks about how he became a coach and his teaching style & methods. I found the article interesting because it confirmed a lot of what I had thought about Sato's coaching style. He approaches skating as a step by step process and improvements are gradual to the point that it may not be obvious in the short run. This might explain why some people don't see improvements in Mao's skating. However, in the article, Sato believes Mao has improved a lot. I was also pleased to learn that Sato sometimes consults Yuka on matters like choreography. This gives me hope that Yuka will help Mao in that area in the future.

Here's the link: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?34113-Talkin-Bout-Coaches-Their-Styles-and-Approaches

There's also a translation of an article on Dai's coach. It's interesting to see the contrast between their two coaching styles.

Thank you so much for the article! I'm with klarification that this bit of news already makes me excited. Hahaha! I love the part when he said,"She is a talent indeed." Yes! Mao is a talent indeed!

Thank you aoi for the links. I agree with you and hope that Mao will have a chance to work with Yuka, hopefully soon after this season is over. Since Mao became a student of Sato sensei, she has been training with Taka-chan and I suppose it has helped her improve a lot. And now she may have a chance to work with Jeremy and Alissa during off season. I think interaction with other athletes, even though it may last only several days, is useful. She may be able to learn something new, not necessarily technical matters but something that enlighten and further sophisticate her. And it's not only for her skating. I just want Mao to have fun with them.

has anyone translated this yet? what is going on in the video? is this recent?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mao-Asada-%E6%B5%85%E7%94%B0-%E7%9C%9F%E5%A4%AE/134021983284414

Swan - I can no longer see the vid?!
Just the fan page...

(Note - All of us on FB please do join the Mao fan page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mao-Asada/10875554708 - It went from 9000 to 13000 in four months - Mao fans are increasing ..)

MaoChan756 wrote:

Swan - I can no longer see the vid?!
Just the fan page...

(Note - All of us on FB please do join the Mao fan page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mao-Asada/10875554708 - It went from 9000 to 13000 in four months - Mao fans are increasing ..)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkBZ-QsFYuQ&feature=youtu.be does this link work? it is uploaded by zyem33

swan wrote:

MaoChan756 wrote:

Swan - I can no longer see the vid?!
Just the fan page...

(Note - All of us on FB please do join the Mao fan page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mao-Asada/10875554708 - It went from 9000 to 13000 in four months - Mao fans are increasing ..)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkBZ-QsFYuQ&feature=youtu.be does this link work? it is uploaded by zyem33

Thanks Swan!
The vid has been uploaded quite a few days ago -
Nothing new - But it was fun - they were trying to uncover what is Mao's strength?
Some trivia details like where she comes from - how she came to choose her puppy - what she likes to eat - her tons of gifts - that she had alcohol on her birthday...
and finally they had a quiz on what is Mao's fav condiment! (am not 100% confident of my translating skills - But this was basically all what the vid was about)

MaoChan756 wrote:

Swan - I can no longer see the vid?!
Just the fan page...

(Note - All of us on FB please do join the Mao fan page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mao-Asada/10875554708 - It went from 9000 to 13000 in four months - Mao fans are increasing ..)

I already pressed "Like" a long time ago! Please everyone spread the news!

roma wrote:

babayaga wrote:

aoi88 wrote:

Morozombie has written a wonderful post on Mao's Ballade Exhibition. The program is ranked as a masterpiece (the only Ladies program so far this season!

http://morozombie.blogspot.com/2011/04/ballade-no-1.html (I really enjoy reading the insights he/she provides on choreography).

Thank you for posting this! We get so little Mao news these days, I was happy to see something, especially this positive
I agree that this program is a masterpiece and I have a real proof - I have friends who couldn't care less about figure skating, they know nothing about it and they don't want to know, they spend all their free time drinking beer and smoking Once I decided to show Mao's Ballade to them and they couldn't look away, they even forgot about their beer for a while! I was actually very surprised. Inspired by my success I decided to show them another figure skating program by someone else and they lost interest immediately.

Haha! That's what happened to my niece when she was only a year old. She got so engrossed watching Mao skate on my lappie but fell asleep when she saw others skate. Now at three she still says she wants to be like Mao.

Saw this posted earlier on twitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbyzQUrdP0s - Mai and Mao supporting Disney on Ice.

Yay

Morozombie totally gets Mao just like we do! A good little read!

I just found this today: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20110420f1.html

Anybody here wants to join and see if we can win some copies of "Stepping Higher"? I already sent them email... I want a copy of Mao's book!

I sent them an email too Roma! Thanks for the link I would love a copy of the book. Although I'm not sure who the author is...

I'm excited to see from how many countries people send emails this time. Jack Gallagher commented last time that he was surprised to see how widespread Mao's fans are. Hopefully we'll see fans from more countries this time!

roma wrote:

I just found this today: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20110420f1.html

Anybody here wants to join and see if we can win some copies of "Stepping Higher"? I already sent them email... I want a copy of Mao's book!

I just sent an e-mail too! Although I doubt I can manage to win again... I already won a year long subscription to IFS last year. (It had cool pictures, but not enough Mao!)

roma wrote:

I just found this today: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20110420f1.html

Anybody here wants to join and see if we can win some copies of "Stepping Higher"? I already sent them email... I want a copy of Mao's book!

I've read this book. It's very good. Actually, I sited a part of the book and posted a translation last month.

Quote :

In a book on Mao published recently, Mao is asked what her ultimate dream is. When she is thinking about it for a while, Sato sensei joins the interview. He says he expects Mao to become a figure skater who will win despite one jump mistakes or two. (like Patric ??? ) He believes Mao will become a much higher skater if her skating skill, the basis of figure skating, improves. She will become a supreme figure skater. That is his dream. Mao is his dream.

Then, Mao says with a wicked grin that her ultimate dream is to make Sato sensei's dream come true.

I wish I had time to translate the other parts I'm very much impressed. I've been very busy recently.

I wish good luck to you all!!

Thank you for the links, aoi88 and roma!

I bought the book at amazon.jp; my first ever Japanese book. It is also targeted at children readers, so they have katakana written beside the kanji as well. I've only learnt Japanese for half a year, and I could understand around 50%-60% of what the book is saying.

The book, 浅田真央 さらなる高みへ mentioned by japan times, is an inspiring, insightful and faithful book about Mao's skating career, the ups and downs she faced that did not make it to the press, her passion for skating and the reasons behind her training/coaching decisions.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who's a skating fan, who wants to understand Mao Asada as who she is, not how the media or even fans have portrayed her to be.

The part about Mao's olympic season is one of the best parts of the entire book: heart-wrenching at times; I even shed a couple of tears at some points but filled with such strength of character at the same time.

snowdrops24 wrote:

Thank you for the links, aoi88 and roma!

I bought the book at amazon.jp; my first ever Japanese book. It is also targeted at children readers, so they have katakana written beside the kanji as well. I've only learnt Japanese for half a year, and I could understand around 50%-60% of what the book is saying.

Really?! Wow! How do you do it? I'm studying Japanese for 4 mos now but still has trouble understanding most of the time that's why I want Japanese books (Mao and Japanese Manga) for practice. I think I must practice 2x/3x as hard as Mao else I'd fail my exams end of next month.

I do have a book on Mao here but I still have to find the time to try to read it (more than half are in Kanji).

You guys are so lucky to be able to understand at least some of the book's content! Unfortunately, I can only hope that the book will be translated into English in the near future.

Btw, Christine Dzidrums, a children's writer, has shown an interest in writing a biography on Mao. She has already written books on Joannie and Yuna. If there's an English-language book on Mao, I'll be sure to buy it!

You can write suggestions to her on her formspring http://www.formspring.me/Cdzidrums or the comment section of this page
http://christinedzidrums.com/?p=227&cpage=1#comment-48 (Just ignore the first comment from someone who thinks Mao doesn't deserve to be written about. )

Perhaps, she will really write a book on Mao, if she sees there's a lot of reader interest on the topic.