Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Tue Mar 28, 2017 8:18 am
Hi guys I just join the forum today. For myself I am as a big fan of Mao, and I always wish anything thats best for her. I know next season, probably will be the last season of her competitive skating career, and I guess the only that she would ever want, like the last gift for her is another Olympics but it seems like she, idk, maybe wont be able to go for it as she didnt attend World's this time?? Idk if there will be any events to get her qualified as least in this year when she gets back with her new program. I will still love her like always but I really want her to be there at the Olympics like to see her one last time before she retired, wait for her to bring out a splendid performance as she was like Sochi LP, to see her cries in happiness again. Tbh I know it will be a sad thing if she can't go. I hope to receive you guys' answers soon, thanks.
Mao_Asada_sunrise Dedicated Mao Fan
Posts : 1029 Join date : 2010-09-30
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:02 pm
SaikoMaoMao wrote:
Hi guys I just join the forum today. For myself I am as a big fan of Mao, and I always wish anything thats best for her. I know next season, probably will be the last season of her competitive skating career, and I guess the only that she would ever want, like the last gift for her is another Olympics but it seems like she, idk, maybe wont be able to go for it as she didnt attend World's this time?? Idk if there will be any events to get her qualified as least in this year when she gets back with her new program. I will still love her like always but I really want her to be there at the Olympics like to see her one last time before she retired, wait for her to bring out a splendid performance as she was like Sochi LP, to see her cries in happiness again. Tbh I know it will be a sad thing if she can't go. I hope to receive you guys' answers soon, thanks.
Welcome SaikoMaoMao! This forum isn't as busy as it was before, especially with Mao not competing. We all have the same hopes as you. We want Mao to reach her goals.
There are times when I really wish she had Instagram or some form of social media. Hehehe!
WowMao Triple Flip
Posts : 423 Join date : 2014-04-07
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Thu Mar 30, 2017 5:04 pm
SaikoMaoMao wrote:
Hi guys I just join the forum today. For myself I am as a big fan of Mao, and I always wish anything thats best for her. I know next season, probably will be the last season of her competitive skating career, and I guess the only that she would ever want, like the last gift for her is another Olympics but it seems like she, idk, maybe wont be able to go for it as she didnt attend World's this time?? Idk if there will be any events to get her qualified as least in this year when she gets back with her new program. I will still love her like always but I really want her to be there at the Olympics like to see her one last time before she retired, wait for her to bring out a splendid performance as she was like Sochi LP, to see her cries in happiness again. Tbh I know it will be a sad thing if she can't go. I hope to receive you guys' answers soon, thanks.
Welcome SaikoMaoMao and thank you for the wonderful comment. Mao is my favorite skater. I don't want to go into detail about my true feelings about her scoring and how her performances affect me other than to say that she is the main reason I follow skating and she is my favorite performing artist and that I feel very fortunate because I actually met her once at Ice Legends in 2016 and got to see her incredibly beautiful skating really up close there and even closer at Finlandia Trophy. I was so overwhelmed by her charismatic and beautiful presence that I froze and only said a few words. She had far more gifts and flowers in her hands than anyone else and I gave her a present of a drawing and some poems and writings about her performances. Mao's impact on those people who see her performances isn't dependent on scores or placements because she has an incredible ability to impact people's sense of beauty and emotions so directly because she is such a great artist, athlete and dancer and because she is able to translate the hardships and joys she has experienced in her life as if they were the same ones watching her performances had experienced in theirs. I hope Mao is full of satisfaction with her performances next season like in her Sochi LP, Nocturne 2014 Worlds SP, her Worlds LP 2016, Japan Open 2015 and Cup of China SP 2015 and that she establishes an exhibition tour or appears in exhibitions like Ice Legends after she retires so she can express and develop her artistry for all to see and not be the subject of judgement any more.
I also hope that all Mao fans will wish her the very best because I think she is going through a difficult time trying to overcome her injuries.
One way people are showing how much they love Mao's skating is by posting so many high quality 1440 Ultrahigh definition videos and 1080 videos of some of her best performances.
Here is a great 1440 ultra HD copy of Mao's magnificent Madame Butterfly performance at Worlds 2016. I am beginning to see this performance as one of Mao's very best. I can't make it through without breaking into tears when Mao hits the triple flip / double loop / double loop tano, and then into the triple loop and step sequence, spread eagle and what to me is the most expressive and intricate ending pose I have ever seen. A rich tapestry of genuine melancholy woven delicately with threads of painstaking ballet that nonetheless appear effortless, as if her consummate grace were innate because it had accumulated from such a young age. To me, though athletics is the medium of expression, this transcends the empirical dimension of muscle and transports me into an ideal world of beauty where spirit is embodied in lovely fluidity: a precious rarity to be treasured forever.
I posted this great performance of Mao's last week: Bells of Moscow at Worlds 2010. Today is the 7th anniversary of this one of may favorite performances with an aesthetically stunning assault of spirals, spins and step sequences and the incredible two triple axels, which makes it even more overwhelming. There was the magnificent cross grab Biellmann as Mao carved beautifully serpentine arcs across the ice with really nice edges, a gorgeous fan spiral and arabesque, a totally unique and intriguing one handed Biellmann with one hand cupped elegantly against her chest. Then, Mao does my favorite extended leg sit spin with a beautifully low position below parallel as she grabbed the end of her boots which I have never seen anyone else do and then she made a dramatic pose with her hand shaped like a halo held over her head as she did a dramatic frontal extension. Then, there were the wonderful whipsaw twizzles and fabulous sliding steps in her entrancing and passionate step sequence. I really loved the classiness of Mao's fiery costume as well. And of course, I can't forget to mention the incredible two triple axels again.
silenceisgolden Triple Flip
Posts : 434 Join date : 2012-06-10
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:14 am
I am happy for Mai Mihara! Mai is a huuuuge Mao fan and she said that she watched Mao's Sochi LP countless times
Welcome to the fourm, SaikoMaoMao!
BelieveInMaoself
Posts : 70 Join date : 2014-06-09
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Fri Mar 31, 2017 1:08 pm
Mao would have been a better Worlds substitute than Rika Hongo (an extremely questionable choice after the 4CC). She had 100% chance of finishing higher than Rika's 16th place and Wakaba's 11th place. The 3rd entry slot would have been safe with her instead of throwing it away.
SaikoMaoMao
Posts : 3 Join date : 2017-03-28
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Sun Apr 02, 2017 4:33 am
thank you so much WowMao for sending some stunning Mao's performance, I will manage to watch them. Also can I ask you something, Had Mao ever performed in a competition that both of her program cleaned? I truly want to see it. And also, today I just rewatched Mao' 2016 world fs that she skated to madame butterfly, truly beautiful as everytime I watch it, she just delivered so much of her passion in that perfomance, and the ending is wow. The sad thing is that her Lutz turned to a double and her PCS, idk, was honestly underscored, which is such unfair for her, but the artisty of her incredibly stands out of the night. Some ppl in the comment said she was underrotation but i dont see it at all except for the 3Lz she missed on that one but there were no underrotation at all, no double-foot landed, 2A 3S is totally fine... I dont understand why they considered it as underrotation hmmm or its the judges are underestimating her too much as they want to bring her down...
@BelieveinMaoSelf yes I agree with you, if Sakoto didnt withdrawn then Ladies would have 3 spots and maybe she could have won a medal, I feel sorry because she got injured such close to World's. And maybe Mao is practicing her best for the new program so she will have to stay quiet a little time to make a comeback. The thing that now Japan ladies only have 2 spots which means Mao has to be really steady keeping up her manners till the last of the year, Im a little bit afraid. My guess for the 2 spots at the Olympics, somehow, maybe Sakoto-Mao, or Sakoto-Mai, or Mai-Wakaba (idk if Wakaba is gonna make it), but I'm still pretty solid as around Mao, Mai, Sakoto, Wakaba. I'm looking foward to it, and most is Mao's next program <3
@mao_asada_sunrise I believe she has an instagram but its private, I see many other skaters follow it too, I do send a request to her but lol I guess we have to keep privacy so she wont open lol
silenceisgolden Triple Flip
Posts : 434 Join date : 2012-06-10
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:53 pm
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:23 pm
SaikoMaoMao wrote:
thank you so much WowMao for sending some stunning Mao's performance, I will manage to watch them. Also can I ask you something, Had Mao ever performed in a competition that both of her program cleaned? I truly want to see it. And also, today I just rewatched Mao' 2016 world fs that she skated to madame butterfly, truly beautiful as everytime I watch it, she just delivered so much of her passion in that perfomance, and the ending is wow. The sad thing is that her Lutz turned to a double and her PCS, idk, was honestly underscored, which is such unfair for her, but the artisty of her incredibly stands out of the night. Some ppl in the comment said she was underrotation but i dont see it at all except for the 3Lz she missed on that one but there were no underrotation at all, no double-foot landed, 2A 3S is totally fine... I dont understand why they considered it as underrotation hmmm or its the judges are underestimating her too much as they want to bring her down...
@BelieveinMaoSelf yes I agree with you, if Sakoto didnt withdrawn then Ladies would have 3 spots and maybe she could have won a medal, I feel sorry because she got injured such close to World's. And maybe Mao is practicing her best for the new program so she will have to stay quiet a little time to make a comeback. The thing that now Japan ladies only have 2 spots which means Mao has to be really steady keeping up her manners till the last of the year, Im a little bit afraid. My guess for the 2 spots at the Olympics, somehow, maybe Sakoto-Mao, or Sakoto-Mai, or Mai-Wakaba (idk if Wakaba is gonna make it), but I'm still pretty solid as around Mao, Mai, Sakoto, Wakaba. I'm looking foward to it, and most is Mao's next program <3
@mao_asada_sunrise I believe she has an instagram but its private, I see many other skaters follow it too, I do send a request to her but lol I guess we have to keep privacy so she wont open lol
Hello SaikoMaoMao
As for when Mao was clean in a competition, Mao was clean in the World Team Trophy 2009, Nationals 2010, Worlds 2010. Mao was also pretty clean at NHK Trophy 2013 though she didn't do all of her jumps I have the HD videos for this but some have been removed from youtube now.
Mao Asada World Team trophy 2009 Claire de Lune SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=327n8Gue9Ic Mao Asada World team trophy of LP: this one has been removed from youtube. I have a copy but I am concerned about my account being deleted if I upload it. Does anyone know if this is what happens if you upload a video that has been removed?
I think two of Mao's best performances in a row, and two of my all time favorite, were Sochi LP followed by her Worlds SP 2014, which I posted in the previous post and Japan Open LP followed by her Cup of China SP 2015.
Here is the Japan Open LP. I posted the Cup of China SP above . I suspect that Mao's knee injury may have happened during the Cup of China LP 2015 because it was very hot in the arena that day and the ice was very soft and Mao fell on her triple flip and loop after doing one of her greatest triple axels. The triple flip and loop requires quick reflexes and action of the skate on the ice that would have been seriously affected by very soft ice. Furthermore, Mao was seen icing her left knee after the performance. So, I suspect that the negligence to maintain good ice conditions may have caused Mao's injury. No other woman attempted the triple flip and loop and Mao's jump miscues began immediately after this. Finally, Mao turned down an offer to skate at Cup of China this past season. The ice conditions were also bad when Mao skated the LP at Trophee de France and this may have been one reason why she was so cautious in doing triple jumps with an injury especially after what happened at Cup of China with bad ice conditions and the heavy sweating that Mao experienced because of the overheated arena.
It is your choice of course SaikoMaoMao. But as for me after analyzing the scoring carefully since Sochi including most of Mao's past performances, I am certain that there has been an effort to deflate Mao's scores because she has always been a threat to more favored skaters, in the ISU and even within the JSF, and because I think there is a high degree of score fixing in figure skating as there has been in other judged sports, like boxing. Rotation on jumps is one factor including the fact that tech crews do not calculate total rotation from take off to landing and give certain skaters beneficial calls on urs and edges and harsh and or bogus calls to skaters like Mao. I have noticed that Zijun Li is also very underscored just as Chen Lu was in the past, though I think Mao and Lu Chen were a lot better skaters overall, and Mao the very best. This is what my eyes have seen on many occasions. I have written a lot about it in earlier posts and a whole lot under Mao's youtube videos. Mao usually has less than 180 degrees of pre-rotation on take off while many skaters including two who are considered in position to go to the Olympics on the Japanese team have over 180 degrees of pre-rotation. These same skaters often bend their knees on landing to disguise hooks so that urs are less noticeable. This means that they don't have to rotate their jumps as much as Mao does which is a very unjust in my opinion while also getting higher GOE than Mao. And higher tech scores are unjustly connected to higher PCS scores, even though the COP criteria give no indication of this.
I am just stating what I have seen with my own observations. Furthermore, Mao has sharp, deep edges and changes directions rapidly, with massive rink coverage, and has erect posture and little extraneous hunching or pumping to gain speed and outstanding dramatic presentation and dancing skills, which should earn her the highest PCS scores yet she doesn't get this either and never has no matter how great she skated. PCS scores appear to me to be used often as place holders to give preferred skaters higher scores so the final placements can more easily be arranged. Worlds 2016 PCS scores and Sochi LP PCS scores are a classic example of this but this was even true at Worlds 2014 where Mao was in first place after the SP and again Mao had the greatest rink coverage, most transitions, and the most one legged skating with the most demanding step sequence and near constant motion with a lot of one-legged and swaying movements in her skating yet still did not receive first place PCS. Corruption exist in politics and figure skating is a reflection of politics both within and between federations in my opinion. I am not saying that Mao never underrotates but that her calls are consistently harsher and her PCS and GOE consistently deflated compared to other skaters. By spreading deflation over all categories and inflating others, it is much easier to make a huge difference in the scores. It does make me feel a little better that Mao is able to make such a big impression on people despite this. I personally think she gave the most beautiful performances at Nationals even injured and this is backed up by the fact that her performances at Nationals were the most watched and that Mao received the most flowers and gifts after her performance. I know Mao has made a lot of mistakes since her injury, but the scoring system does not value the many great qualities that Mao has.
I still dearly hope that Mao makes the Olympic team and that we get to see her beautiful skating many years into the future.
Also, when Mao decides to retire I hope she will branch out and do creative and challenging exhibitions in other countries to give viewers a chance to see her skate outside the narrowly defined confines of the ISU, JSF and COP systems. This will enable her to express herself freely. I am very tired of the COP system and view it as the high price I must pay to watch Mao skate. So, I won't watch the Olympics if Mao is not allowed to go. No matter how great Mao skated or would have skated, she was never given any chance to win the Olympics anyway, as the bogus scoring of Mao's Vancouver SP and Sochi LP show both of which Mao should have been in first place and in my opinion set world records in. Instead, other preferred skaters were given a big advantage by the judges and Mao was not allowed to go in 2006 when it would have been easier to win. Besides in my mind, Mao did win with her Sochi LP because it was the greatest performance by a woman I have ever seen, and in other Olympic events like track and field and swimming, athletes are give gold medals for one race, so I think skaters should be given gold medals for the long program and overall, since it is one performance that people go back to watch the most and it is worth 2/3 of the competition. The reason the ISU doesn't do this could likely be because it is easier to fix results this way by arranging scores for the LP based on the SP. The fact that the IOC posted a message over a year ago that they had removed Mao's most viewed Sochi LP performance video with almost 3 million views is an admission of guilt. It shows their attempts to throw the great admiration and outrage at the deflated scoring for Mao's performance down the Orwellian memory hole. Another video of Mao's performance with well over 1 million views was also removed. Yet, preferred skaters that were more generously scored still have their HD copies posted. It shows that the IOC and ISU's "fixes" view counts just as they fix the scores, which they continue to do.
Last edited by WowMao on Thu Apr 06, 2017 2:50 pm; edited 18 times in total
WowMao Triple Flip
Posts : 423 Join date : 2014-04-07
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:32 pm
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:37 pm
I think I have posted some of these, but here are some interesting and really beautiful fancam clips that give you a feeling of what it is like to be really close to Mao as she greets the fans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAP9fZ1rEI
Here is an HD copy of Mao being served a gourmet meal with some comic interludes just after she won Worlds in 2008. I thought Mao was really charming and so were the chefs and the other hosts.
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:04 am
Mao Asada has unexpectedly decided to retire. She will always be my favorite. I just hope that I get to see a lot more of her lovely skating in the future. Thanks you so much for all the incredible performances, Mao. Here is the statement. Thanks to gladiolusc for the translation.
Although it’s sudden, I, Asada Mao, have decided to end my competitive career. I think I have been able to skate for so long, and overcome so many things up until this point due to the support from many, many people. I have been able to bring my best performance and results at the World Championships in the Sochi Olympics season. Had I ended it then, I might have been wondering about returning as a competitive figure skater even now. Actually, there were many things I wouldn’t have known had I not tried to go back to competing. After I returned to competition, I wasn’t able to bring the performances and results I had hoped for, and troubling things increased. Then, after Japanese Nationals last year, the goal that had supported me until that point disappeared, and my energy to continue as a skater was gone. It was such a decision, but I have no regrets in my figure skating life. This was a big decision to me, but I think it’s still just one point in my life. I want to find new dreams and targets for the future, and keep moving forward without forgetting to smile. Everyone, thank you so much for your support until now, truly, thank you. http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/1805741.html
WowMao Triple Flip
Posts : 423 Join date : 2014-04-07
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:51 am
I can't express how much I love Mao's skating and how much of an inspiration she has been for me. I can't believe she has the charisma and beauty in her skating to make me take such a long plane ride to see her at Ice Legends and Finlandia when I could have never even imagined going to an ice skating performance before. I feel so fortunate that I got to meet her and see her at Ice Legends and that I got a chance to give her some things I wrote praising her performances. There are so many qualities that stand out to me: Mao's mesmerizing step sequences that seemed to get even more impressive the older she got which didn't seem possible, the best dancer and ballerina on ice with such a unique combination of subtle power, grace and flow in her skating, her incredibly picturesque spirals and spins, especially the one handed Biellmann and sit spin, the fan spiral, cross grab Biellman, arabesque and frontal extensions, her triple flip and loop, triple axel and triple flip double double loop done with such lovely and erect posture and such gorgeous symmetrical air position. Then, there was the effect of it all combined with her overwhelming emotional expression that just made me melt and even weep many times because of its sincerity and great beauty. I am grateful that I was around at the same time as Mao and she will always be my favorite. I just hope I get to see her skate in many marvelous exhibitions in the future. Thank you Mao. Your performances spoke to and opened my soul to truly feel the magic of your skating.
SaikoMaoMao
Posts : 3 Join date : 2017-03-28
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:43 am
I feel like I could cry like like now, right now tbh. Just after a few days I joined, today, our Mao has finally announced her retirement.
I'm just really, I can't hope for more but I just don't know what to say. Asada Mao, she has dedicated her blooming ages to competative figure skating, with so many feeling she's giving from the ice, the greatest one, who has to endure so much during her career, but in between, it was also her moments of joy, tears. You have devoted to us fans so much until you have nothing to lose. It was a bittersweet for now but I hope she can at least feel ease for herself.
Thank you so much, Asada Mao, as a person, a champion we will never forget. <3
richster106
Posts : 10 Join date : 2011-07-30
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Mon Apr 10, 2017 7:34 pm
Thank you, Miss Asada! Brava!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
BelieveInMaoself
Posts : 70 Join date : 2014-06-09
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:25 am
An announcement almost as shocking as death, because it is the death of a career.
I can barely believe it, but I understand it. The timing is the biggest shock to me. I guess it will take a while for this to sink in, but I will never get over this loss caused by what the system did to her.
zarinaballerina Dedicated Mao Fan
Posts : 3545 Join date : 2011-04-29
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Tue Apr 11, 2017 7:05 am
I'm in a complete shock. Just a few days ago I was thinking about what kind of programs she'll choose for the olympic season, and now I hear about her retiring. It's not completely unexpected, considering her problems with injuries, but as selfish as this sounds, I was hoping for one more season. Sadly, it's not to be. I wish her all the very best in life and future endeavors, and can't wait to see her gorgeous skating in (hopefully) many shows. Thank you Mao for all those amazing years you have given us.
BelieveInMaoself wrote:
I can barely believe it, but I understand it. The timing is the biggest shock to me. I guess it will take a while for this to sink in, but I will never get over this loss caused by what the system did to her.
THIS. I can't help but to think, what if. What if the IJS and the judges hadn't been against her so much, what if they hadn't so blatantly favoured Yuna, or pretty much anyone else over Mao, what if her training arrangement heading into Vancouver was better (more stable), what if her "pushing the boundaries" had been welcomed instead of rejected, what if the tech specialists weren't trying to find an UR through a magnifying glass and at times downright invent it...so many what ifs. I often wondered if she had the ISU on her side, how different her career might've been. Would she be a different skater, more confident on the ice... Sometimes you could see her overthinking every jump, especially 3A, worrying... But then, what I admire most about Mao is that no matter how many obstacles you'll throw her way, she will ALWAYS find a way to pick her self up. So many would've given up years ago, were they in her position, but she just stubbornly pushed on, trying to do her thing. I can't put it in words, how much I admire Mao.
Mao_Asada_sunrise Dedicated Mao Fan
Posts : 1029 Join date : 2010-09-30
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:28 am
I am speechless.
I don't know what to say.
I'll just post this, my favorite video of her on YouTube.
Mao_Asada_sunrise Dedicated Mao Fan
Posts : 1029 Join date : 2010-09-30
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:30 am
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:31 am
We need a new thread about her retirement.
WowMao Triple Flip
Posts : 423 Join date : 2014-04-07
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:14 pm
I don't know if this has been posted or not, but here is Mao's press conference. I get super emotional during the last part when Mao starts crying and turns around a couple of times to compose herself. Painfully beautiful and so genuine and noble . Thanks to rosewood for posting.
The system is broken, obviously corrupt and manipulative and I believe it is one of the key factors the drove her to retire. Mao even said that her low placement at Nationals was a factor in her deciding to retire when she had gone all out in the competition, though of course she had an injured left knee. There is even a cliche about it called driving out the veteran, but Mao is the only veteran being driven out. Ashley and Carolina relatively speaking are enjoying very generous scoring. This is about the judges though and not the skaters who are just trying to do their best. Ashley and Carolina have been kind to Mao and I know that Ashley wrote Mao a lovely tweet about her retirement. Instead, I can Mao's treatment a "low balling" placement. 15 points in ur calls when two of the calls at least were bogus when compared to the rotation on jumps for other skaters who were not called, a feeling that she was forced to land the triple axels instead of just doing double axels because of her deflation, which cost her another 6 or 7 points, and an obvious deflation in PCS scores including the low down trick of tying them to tech scores, a little deflation in GOE on jumps also makes the difference. Couple this with scoring other select skaters more generously and we are talking about well over a 20 point relative difference in scores which is huge. But, did these people insulting Mao so harshly even look at her supreme skating skills, step sequences and spins were among the best she has ever had. The glamor, grandeur, sophistication, passion and elegance she brings outshine all others completely.
Besides, the JSF is merely the Japanese wing of the ISU, even its website starts with isu.com. I will do everything I can to spread the word about the manipulation whenever people show interest or are willing to to watch Mao's performances, which I think are some of the best ever since she is my favorite skater. One person can't make a difference but many definitely can especially for an organization with such poor records for just scoring. The amazing thing is that even with the deflation Mao was not only a contender but even won many times which is a testament to her extra perseverance all while doing the most difficult elements. Mao's victory in 2010 Worlds stands as one of the greatest athletic and artistic achievements I have ever seen because she received close to 30 points in relative deflation and still won by almost 10 points. EVERYTHING was done to make Mao lose that competition including placing her in a shocking 2nd place after the SP and 2nd place in the LP.
What competitions should Mao have won that were taken away from her? 2007 Worlds, 2007 Grand Prix Final, 2012 4CC's and Finlandia Trophy 2016. I won't go into detail here but I have on Mao's videos. And of course the deflation at 2014 Worlds and 2016 Worlds was obvious as well as it was in the Olympics. The goal of the ISU and JSF is to hide manipulation in so many different places and to make radical shifts in scores commonplace which serves two purposes. First, it shocks the nerves of those who are the object of deflation so that they have extra stress on top of their already deflated scores, which creates a doubling deflation effect. Second, "chosen" skaters know that they will have exemption from many mistakes which lead to an exponential increase in score because they don't have to worry as much about technique and can just do the elements half way decent and get astronomical scores.
This effect becomes even greater for the new generation of massive pre-rotaters who can in effect rotate their jumps up to 90 degrees less that what is supposed to be allowed, bend their knees to disguise hooks, and still get tech exemption. I don't think it is a coincidence that the biggest pre-rotaters are the most consistent jumpers because they rotate less and have less speed through a jump which makes them considerably safer to land. This also gives these types off jumpers a better chance to partake of the bogus consistency bogus which is doing the same performance with no improvement over and over again and getting higher and higher scores for it. In fact, many benefit from this even with mistakes or are allowed to actually rotate less or have more obvious wrong edges as time goes on simply because they don't fall. Plus, they can also earn inflation in GOE with no improvements. Also, the radical shifts in scores within a season become "normalized" for select skaters while normalized static or falling scores for the unchosen continue season to season, which gives the effect of habituating at least many people to perpetual alterations in scores, which just so happen to benefit the favored skaters.
I have learned a lot about discrimination and unfairness in analyzing how Mao was underscored for the incredible combination of great qualities she brought to her skating. To me, it is kind of a mirror for what has happened throughout history to many great charismatic people who are able to inspire and move the emotions of many others like a mountain but who have not enjoyed institutional or government approval or lack connections in the right place to protect them from discrimination; and therefore, attempts are made to "put them their place" while they are punished extra harshly for mistakes and often even those they do not make.
I am heartbroken by Mao's retirement, but I am also very upset that a skater with such incredible talent is forced into retirement by a worldwide nationalistic system based on tiny quotas that are manipulated by preference and scoring that places almost all the focus on jumps (80 percent of the tech score), which happens to be manipulated by extremely biased tech crews all while often contradicting the view of a performance by those who are watching.
In my opinion, only exhibition skating with no scoring remains legitimate and it would give Mao a chance to be set free of the system. Unfortunately at the present moment, it appears that Mao isn't that eager to continue after The Ice in 2017. I hope that it is just replay of what happened to her in 2014 and that her desire to continue with innovative exhibitions will return. But in all honesty, considering what she has been through, I can understand her attitude and she has already done far, far more than enough. The soulful beauty in her performances overflows like a great cornucopia that enriches the spirit.
WowMao Triple Flip
Posts : 423 Join date : 2014-04-07
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:04 pm
Full test of Mao's interview in Japanese. When the page loads, icon will appear in the top right corner to translate the page into English.
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:22 am
WowMao wrote:
Some may say that it is cruel to current skaters to undermine the system that skate in
Everyone will ultimately benefit from a more credible system. A doubtful win is not worth anything. No one ultimately benefits from an organization with no credibility.
The impossibility of reforming the current regime is not it's strength but it's fatal weakness: It can be made totally irrelevant by a revolutionary new system. The current model is a relic from the late 19th century, nationality biased bureaucracy. In many other sports, it has been replaced by independent, privately-hosted events, such as the Winter X Games.
Had such an alternative existed, it is conceivable Mao would have produced competitive programs into her early thirties - the age of the top female athlete in almost every other sport. A half-decade of potential programs have been stolen of their conception.
WowMao wrote:
Besides, the JSF is merely the Japanese wing of the ISU, even its website starts with isu.com. ... I am heartbroken by Mao's retirement, but I am also very upset that a skater with such incredible talent is forced into retirement by a worldwide nationalistic system based on tiny quotas that are manipulated by preference
In the end, it was not the IOC or ISU who pushed Mao out, despite their endless crimes. It was her own federation.
Placing her in a career low 12th at the nationals, when she really should have been no lower than 5th, was an incredibly cowardly way of telling her to resign instead of facing the consequences of firing her. Many of her Nationals performances have been a similar quality (2013 LP), but it didn't stop her from medaling. 12th place is nothing more than a message to resign. The JSF got their karma with only two olympic slots for ladies. They will continue to reap karma through loss of sponsorships and respect. They exist only on the misguided belief that they are needed.
In robbing Mao of competition itself, humanity was robbed of the rest of her skating. Those who stop the creation of cultural heritage, are no better than the terrorists who destroy it.
The IOC, ISU, and JSF were vicious abusers of Mao's talent, and like her tragic Madam Butterfly character she choose to end the relationship by ending it all (in terms of her career). Hopefully though, Mao's intent of retirement is really just the end of a horrifically abusive professional relationship, not the end of her skating.
WowMao Triple Flip
Posts : 423 Join date : 2014-04-07
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:57 pm
BelieveInMaoself wrote:
WowMao wrote:
Some may say that it is cruel to current skaters to undermine the system that skate in
Everyone will ultimately benefit from a more credible system. A doubtful win is not worth anything. No one ultimately benefits from an organization with no credibility.
The impossibility of reforming the current regime is not it's strength but it's fatal weakness: It can be made totally irrelevant by a revolutionary new system. The current model is a relic from the late 19th century, nationality biased bureaucracy. In many other sports, it has been replaced by independent, privately-hosted events, such as the Winter X Games.
Had such an alternative existed, it is conceivable Mao would have produced competitive programs into her early thirties - the age of the top female athlete in almost every other sport. A half-decade of potential programs have been stolen of their conception.
WowMao wrote:
Besides, the JSF is merely the Japanese wing of the ISU, even its website starts with isu.com. ... I am heartbroken by Mao's retirement, but I am also very upset that a skater with such incredible talent is forced into retirement by a worldwide nationalistic system based on tiny quotas that are manipulated by preference
In the end, it was not the IOC or ISU who pushed Mao out, despite their endless crimes. It was her own federation.
Placing her in a career low 12th at the nationals, when she really should have been no lower than 5th, was an incredibly cowardly way of telling her to resign instead of facing the consequences of firing her. Many of her Nationals performances have been a similar quality (2013 LP), but it didn't stop her from medaling. 12th place is nothing more than a message to resign. The JSF got their karma with only two olympic slots for ladies. They will continue to reap karma through loss of sponsorships and respect. They exist only on the misguided belief that they are needed.
In robbing Mao of competition itself, humanity was robbed of the rest of her skating. Those who stop the creation of cultural heritage, are no better than the terrorists who destroy it.
The IOC, ISU, and JSF were vicious abusers of Mao's talent, and like her tragic Madam Butterfly character she choose to end the relationship by ending it all (in terms of her career). Hopefully though, Mao's intent of retirement is really just the end of a horrifically abusive professional relationship, not the end of her skating.
This is a great post. It was the overly harsh ur calls and deflated PCS that pushed Mao down at Nationals. She clearly has the best skating skills, artistry, interpretation and the most smooth and musical transitions in the competition and she wasn't even close to first in this category.
The irony with Mao for me is that she gained her following at least to a large degree through having such huge success in the system despite often receiving very harsh scoring, which shows the exceedingly rare level of her excellence. Many of my favorite performances didn't result in overall victory such as Worlds 2007 Czardas and Grand Prix Final 2007 Fantasie Impromptu even though I thought they should, and as time went on it seemed her greatest performances were scored even lower and lower relative to the "standard," even as her expression became more compelling and her skating skills and step sequences more impressive and even when her tech standards were outstanding as well.
Though she didn't, I thought Mao should have placed first in the Vancouver SP and the Worlds 2010 SP or 2010 LP because they were astounding performances that were archetypes of greatness. Mao's 2011 4CC Liebestraum was another one of my favorites performances by Mao that didn't win, and then there was Mao's Rach II at the Olympics and Worlds 2016 Madame Butterfly which I thought were the best of the competition that didn't even come close to winning, which is incomprehensible to me based on the profound impression it left and still makes on me. And I think her 4CC's 2012 and Finlandia 2016 performances should have also resulted in victory. I can't separate these impressions from the way I feel they should be translated into results, especially when I think much of the scoring depends on preference and connection.
At Nationals 2016, there were certainly jump mistakes mainly because of injuries, but there were also very harsh urs calls and low PCS scores for some of the greatest skating skills and step sequences I had ever seen with massive rink coverage and some of the most passionate artistry and interpretation. And what about the stunning theatricality of her outfit and makeup and the way it factored into the dramatic impression along with her dynamic expressions, which along with her underscoring has been mentioned many times under her videos? And now that I know her results there are one of the reasons for Mao's retirement, there is just too much of a disconnect between that kind of great skating and expression and acceptance of a biased system of preference that denigrates such qualities, which is why I am now a rebel against the system. I feel that Mao has given me some of the greatest works of performance art I have ever seen in any medium and expressed it with every ounce of her being and even sacrificed the health of her body and suffered through injury to do it.
She has endured harsh criticism from announcers and newspapers that were often biased against her, including someone yelling loudly at her during her second triple axel during her World 2009 LP performance, which could clearly be heard over the music and caused her to fall with no recourse to justice or acknowledgement from the announcers or press. The JSF denied Mao's team's request to prepare for the individual Sochi competition in Japan first and then refused her team's request to go to Moscow with excellent training conditions; and instead forced her to prepare for the Sochi individual competition in a sandy and very cold rink in Amenia, where her blades had to be sharpened which is highly unusual and where the elevation is much higher than sea level in Sochi requiring getting accustomed to the lack of oxygen. All of which resulted in great difficulty training. The JSF also forced her to skate in the team event in early February after she had just recovered from back pain after Nationals in mid January, giving her even less time to train and focus when the Japanese team had a low percentage chance of medalling. Then, to top it off the foot and mouth former Japanese PM had the nerve to publicly ridicule her after all this poor treatment by the JSF was likely a contributing cause to her difficulty in her SP. Yet, still after all this Mao was still able to give what I think is the greatest Olympic performance I have ever seen and to me worth more than a gold medal because it is more extraordinary. Then, the fact Mao's most watched video of her Sochi LP was taken down by the IOC once it reached close to 3 million views while other performances were allowed to remain shows the desperate attempts to numerically manipulate both scores and view counts. Mao has endured and accomplished all this and more without complaint and with graciousness, while suffering through a lot of underscoring and extra intense scrutiny for what she delivered, so I feel I owe her a defense in return.
Other incidents include the small brush thrown on the ice during Mao's freeskate in Worlds 2010 LP. Overall at Worlds 2010, with two clean performances, 3 triple axels, superior spins, spirals and step sequences, Mao received a heavily deflated 30 points less than Yuna Kim's performances at the Olympics, even though similarly clean performances between Mao and Yuna Kim resulted in Mao scoring 3 points more in their final feeskates before the Vancouver Games. This is where my 30 point rule of deflation for Mao comes into play, though really Mao's score at Worlds 2010 should be higher than Yuna Kim's at Vancouver.
The idea of the ISU and even the JSF seems to be to manipulate the scores so much that even to dare propose the reality makes one seem crazy compared to the actual result. This has given many of those who know Mao's scoring is unjust a kind of Cassandra Complex or resignation in which they foresee Mao's deflation but refuse to announce the prediction fully because they must contradict the bogus "authority" of the manipulated score sheet and those who defend its subterfuge so thoroughly. Ironically, hope for justice in scoring in the future also plays a role in protecting corruption. The result is a thick "cushion of corruption" so that even those who are "bold" enough to question will be half way maneuvered into a full blown farce and still accept the overall result because they refuse to see into all the nooks and crannies where the manipulation has been hidden on the score sheet. This results in the "But the overall placements are right so I will just go along with it" response and slowly bit by bit these "soft-core rebels" are often brought into the fold of tacit acceptance.
That said, watching exhibitions has become more and more enjoyable for me and I certainly hope that Mao can continue to share her expression and passion in this medium free of the system. But whatever she decides is fine, because she has done far more than enough.
Here is the article about the JSF: http://jsaiji.com/?p=1498 the transltion is a little hard to understand in places
Last edited by WowMao on Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
WowMao Triple Flip
Posts : 423 Join date : 2014-04-07
Subject: Re: Mao News - The 2016 - 2017 Season! Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:52 pm
Here is a lovely article
The attraction of Mao Asada, the innocence of living in the world TL Asada which tears at the last greeting of retirement interview (photography · Kazuki Eguchi) Asada which tears at the last greeting of retirement interview (photography · Kazuki Eguchi) Throughout the entire interview, it looked like a fresh look like a graduation ceremony.
At the press conference "What supported herself?" "What motivated you?"
While seeing Mao Asada who thinks while replying while thinking about the reason to repeat, I actually thought that I did not feel a clear reason for himself.
Generally, in our world, there is a reason for human behavior, and it is believed that there is a reason to make efforts. Especially if it is a top athlete with many hardships, I think there should be a reason for continuing the competition.
If athletes are asked, I will answer the reasons for doing the competition. In fact, however, there are things you do not know well why you are playing athletes and why you retire when retiring. Because I want to leave my name in the age, I want to give my dreams, so I will try various things, but none of them will come nicely. If you can forgive, you can be caught in the desire to answer like this.
"There is no reason, I just caught something in front of me, and I just came here.
Can you truly bear the hard practice and pressure without a reason? There will also be a question. Of course not everyone is that way. There are sometimes hard for any player, there is a source of motivation as it is depending on the timing. Nevertheless, there are occasionally athletes who are trying hard without a good reason at the very bottom. No, I think that I am trying hard only in the surroundings, maybe I am crazy for himself. There is air enough to say that such a player surely. It is innocent and innocent (Raman) Sada.
Players with innocence and innocence live in the present. Do not regret your past and do not despise the future. In front of such athletes, it seems like a bad day to look back, plan for the future, and listen to the intention of action. As for any question, I can only answer "I just thought so." In the past, the same impression was given to the director Shigeo Nagashima of baseball.
"I was happy that I was able to achieve my goal with my childhood camp."
It is a reply from Asada who told old memories. I chased the interestingness of skating I felt when I was a kid and the pleasure I learned, I was innocently just like skating. That is the attraction of Asada, I think that it was the skating of Asada himself. We shared that story.
Ice show is scheduled in July. We may be the only ones that are upset by retirement as players. Just because victory or losing is gone, Asada's skating continues. Perhaps the future performance was a conversation that seems to be more full of herlike. (Tsutomu Taisui)
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Tue Mar 28, 2017 8:18 am
Sadly, it's not to be. I wish her all the very best in life and future endeavors, and can't wait to see her gorgeous skating in (hopefully) many shows. Thank you Mao for all those amazing years you have given us. 