2022 Four Continents champion Kao Miura finds himself competing at 4CC again but this time in Seoul, South Korea! He placed 6th with a total of 230.48. Kao reflects a bit on his season while discussing and analyzing jumps!
Special thank you to Mei (@_kaocubed_ on Twitter) for Japanese transcription and translation. Photos by Gabb (@gabietab).
You said that you wanted to do the best you could right now. Looking back at your performance yesterday, how do you feel?
I really did everything I could, and I only have things to take back and work on. I got 496 (world standing) points as well so I’m glad I was able to come here. I also got a higher score here than at Nationals, even though I was only able to train for one week coming here. So I kind of thought to myself; what was I even doing before Nationals (laughs)?
This is the end of your season (if we exclude alternates), but have you already made any decisions regarding next season?
We haven’t fully made a decision yet on the music, but the choreography is slowly coming together, I’ll be going straight to choreo once I get back. This is my last competition, but I want to think of it as a good thing, since it means I’ll have a lot of time that I can use for choreography and other preparation.
Healing your leg will be the priority but what elements do you aim to have in your programs next season, specifically in the free?
Of course I want at least 4 quads. I want to put in the loop but I’m practicing the flip as well. It’s just a guess but I feel like the flip will get better GOE, so I hope to continue training both jumps.
So, four different types of quads?
I want to at least bring myself to that level. I’ll start with building my body, I don’t want to pressure myself too much.
Shaidorov was doing a 3A1Eu4S but how do you feel about that?
I don’t need to do that (laughs). It’s insane. If I use that much energy on just one jump there will be no more jumps left for me. So it’s ok, I’ll pass on that.
How do you feel about Shaidorov being the new 4CC Champion?
He’s a real jumper. From his jumps you can just tell that he doesn’t make many mistakes. They’re always controlled, his axis is always straight and he’s able to pull himself in to make the rotations. It’s his strength and I really think he’s a great skater. I have a lot of respect for him, but I also can’t just be losing. As a former 4CC Champion I need to be able to fight back (laughs). So I hope to get back at him next season.
As a fellow skater what is it like to put a quad as your last jump in a combination?
Simply put I think it’s just tough, in terms of stamina. The combination uses so much energy, and then he does a 4Lz after that? It’s ridiculous! He’s truly incredible. Him and Ilia too. I guess they aren’t using as much energy as I think, that’s why they’re able to do it. No matter how much stamina you have there’s always a limit, your legs will get tired, so. I feel like they’re really efficient with their jumps. I use a lot of energy in my jumps, so I want to learn from them.
Is it a different way of jumping? What do you mean by efficient?
I use a lot of speed in my jumps, but he doesn’t really utilize speed. If you use speed you can get a lot of distance, but with skaters without speed you can get more height. So I guess with skaters like that, even if they don’t use a lot of energy, they’re able to get that height to rotate the jumps. I think that’s a benefit of skaters like that. Ilia is also that kind skater, although it depends on the kind of jump.
When you say they can jump without speed, are you saying that they have a good spring, or explosive power?
Hmmm… I think their setup time is really fast. For example, if you jump like this on land, without rotating, and then you immediately jump again once you’ve landed, you have that set-up time in-between. I think their time there is really fast. I’m really slow there, even compared to other Japanese skaters, it’s something I need to work on. I can tell that Shaidorov and Ilia are really fast there by looking at their jumps.
By the way, what Japanese skaters have that ‘fast set-up time’?
Japanese skaters? Hmm… I wonder who…? Oh, Shun (Sato), Shun is really fast.
It’s getting tough to compete without difficult jumps, I feel like the required level is really high nowadays. From your perspective, how do you feel about this current state?
To be honest I can’t do this anymore (laughs). The level is so high! But as someone who’s competing in the same sport, I want to continue to fight so I have to jump. But even in this state Aymoz, and Junhwan here, are getting high points with GOE and PCS. Junhwan had a popped jump but got 185 with one quad, Aymoz got 190 with 2 quad toes at Skate America. Their combinations don’t have particularly high base values, so when you consider that I think that those aspects will also be really important. Shaidorov scored 190 now, and will probably also work on his PCS, so when you consider all of that I think it’s interesting that there are so many different ways to fight. I hope to balance both aspects.
The set-up time data you were talking about earlier, do you all measure that time somewhere?
It’s part of the testing that we do at the national training center with the federation. We jump from a box and then jump again once we land on the ground. We measure how fast it takes for that second jump, and how high we jump.
Are you able to compare that data against other sports?
It’s just amongst skaters, but I think it’s one of the most important metrics for figure skaters.
Your jumps have a lot of speed and distance, do you think that that’s a selling point of yours? How do you see it?
Of course there’s benefits to my jumps too, especially with GOE. If you look at the GOE for the jumps I was able to land, I’ve been given higher GOE than others, so I think that’s one of my qualities, but it’s also risky. It’s like walking a tightrope. I’m always on the edge. I really have to think about how to balance it. If I look back at the footage from Prince Ice Cup in July where I scored 200, I’m actually not skating that fast. Compared to my performances here I wasn’t as fast then. So I think that’s something I need to think over. But back then I had a lot of muscle and so even without the speed I was able to do all that. Well I guess I was faster than other skaters, but. Looking back at yesterday it was quite tough after even just 2 jumps, since I was skating so fast, so I want to work on that this off season.
The set-up time data you mentioned earlier, are you able to see everyone else’s data?
You get your results back, and then the average measurements for all skaters is listed as well. So you can compare yourself to the average. I’ve been working hard training and conditioning my body so I improved compared to myself the previous year, but even then I was still slower than average. I also asked other skaters if I could see their data. Shunsuke (Nakamura) was actually slower than me, I think looking at his jumps it makes sense. But it’s not all bad. If your set-up time is fast you have to really get down and save up for the jump. I hope to have a good balance between the two. But when you get tired and your response time is slow, your jump timing gets slow as well, and so your rotations get iffy and it can lead to falls, so I think it’s really important to get that good response time even when you’re tired.
I can see you enjoy looking at data and analyzing.
Yeah, I always ask around and compare my data with others. I really like doing that.
What kind of training do you do to get that quick set-up time?
I think it’s the same as how we measured the data. Jumping from a box and then jumping again once you hit the ground. I incorporate something similar in my off-ice warm ups, doing rebound jumps. I think repeating this exercise can really make changes. I also think having balanced muscles is important.
Could you elaborate on the balanced muscles?
For example, if you have too much muscle on your quads it slows your response time, but if you have good muscle on your hamstrings it can help with having a quicker response. I think if you have too much muscle on your quads it kind of weighs you down.
When you said that Shun (Sato) had a good response time, do you mean he has well balanced muscles?
I think it’s also about his jump style and how he utilizes his muscles, but yes, I think he has well balanced muscles as well.
In sports I think there are people who get a bit concerned about the risk of injury due to increased strain when they modify their training to be more scientific and based on data. I understand that you yourself suffered from an injury this season so how do you feel regarding the two ends: honing in your body based on scientific training methods, and taking care of your body?
Not everything is the answer, you have to find what works for your body. For example, with me, my injury is healing now, but if I were to just go for it and do a 4T once I regain muscle, I would injure myself again. Because the quality of my muscles aren’t good. How do I say it? I have to have better, more flexible muscles, or else I’m going to injure myself again. I was talking about this with my doctor yesterday and he mentioned how in Japan right now, that’s likely to happen with me for men, and Mao Shimada for women. So that’s something I need to work on, it’s not like that’s what will happen to the skaters around me. Because I use so much speed with my skating style, and I use a lot of power with my jumps, I have to change a lot of things. So I want to find a way to change things that work for me. I think it’s best to talk things through with your doctor and find out what works for you, not just blindly following others.
You mentioned yesterday how you were running on sheer will power, but talking like this, I feel like you’re quite a logical thinker. Was there something that happened that made you start thinking this way?
Well, it all started when I injured myself 3 years ago. When that happened I realized how important it was to think for myself, even if I don’t always come up with the right answer. But through that path I found a lot of things that felt right, and I think that’s thanks to all the time I spent with my thoughts. I also started thinking like this because I realized that this skill would be necessary for me to raise my performance level and become a better skater.
