Update from Daisuke
Sorry I've been a lazy-mod these few months... to make up for it, here's my translation of a new article from Sankei Express (organized by Naoko Kashiwagi, photo by Shin'ichi Watanabe). Please don't repost without permission, thanks!
I started taking ballet lessons since this summer. Ever since I had my injury, I've been feeling that I had no axis in my body, and that I wasn't using it like I used to. So, even though I didn't feel like it at first, I asked Coach Nagamitsu what I should do and decided to work with a ballet teacher.
It's more like I'm fixing my posture and my body axis, rather than taking a proper ballet lesson. My arms and shoulder blades are in the opposite position of where they should be in order to look graceful while dancing. I can't even take basic ballet positions. They tell me that ballet is the basis of all kinds of dance and that I need to stand as though the top of my head is pulled from above by a string but it's difficult. I am impressed by how well ballet dancers know about the names and locations of each bone and muscle. I do not know much about those things but these days I'm always trying to stay aware of my posture.
Every night after I take a bath I do stretch exercise for 1.5 hours, concentrating on the muscles and joints that they taught me. I practice deep/slow breathing while I'm stretching, so sometimes I fall asleep in the midst of it (lol). It's become so much of a daily routine now that my body feels uncomfortable when I skip it, even for a day. I used to only shower but now I take time to bathe, and maybe those things made my metabolic system improve. I'm getting skinnier even though I'm eating a lot, I'm such a health fanatic these days (lol).
I'm feeling that my neck and shoulders have become more flexible and stretchable, but when I'm skating they don't move as smooth as they can, maybe it's because I'm thinking about my muscles too much. I used to un-fix my axis on purpose while I was dancing, but now I do. I'm trying to link every part so it might seem a bit stiff now, but I'm hoping that I get to master it without knowing.
This summer I went abroad all by myself for the first time in ages. I've never driven a car overseas before, so it made me so nervous to drive alone in Detroit! And in Toronto, David Wilson made me laugh so hard, it was intense! (lol) I went out to eat alone, the Thai curry I had four days in a row in Canada was very good but the croissant in Lyon was even better, I had it every morning during the two weeks. The city of Lyon has a different atmosphere compared to Paris, it's pretty and the food is good. I want to make a visit again and spend more time there.
In Lyon, I had Olivier Shoenfelder, my hero in ice dance, and coaches Muriel Zazuoi and Roman Haguenauer teach me skating skills. There were some techniques that were opposite from mine, I discovered a lot of new things techinically and program-wise, such as the points I need to focus on in my step sequence.
As for my free program, the track was narrowed down to three in the end, but I couldn't make the choice so my choreographer Pasquale Camerlengo decided for me. The tone of the music feels different compared to my previous programs, and I'm not able to fully grasp the music just yet.
This season, the battle to win one of three spots to compete at the World Championships will become even harder. I tend to get upset when the competition starts but i'll try not to rush myself and get hung up on immediate results, I'll keep on doing what I set out to do, one step at a time. Now I feel most motivated to broaden my spectrum, in and outside of skating.