Continuing Kikuchi-sensei’s book ‘Strongly, beautifully,….’

Continuing Kikuchi-sensei’s book ‘Strongly, beautifully,….’[some parts are left out or summarised]  Chapter 4 - Calm the heart, face the tension4.1  Pain is energy source(main point: Yuzuru treats pain and pressure as a source of strength, and adversity as an opportunity for growth.)4.2  Say out your dreams(main point: from a young age, Yuzuru has been very frank and tells the media exactly what he wants to achieve.  It is one way in which he pushes himself to achieve the dreams that he has spoken about.)The above 2 aspects of Yuzu’s character are well known to fans, so I won’t translate these parts for now.  Will come back to them later.But I summarise here another point in Part 4.1 because it will be mentioned in 4.3. (The original Japanese was like a biology lesson, haha) :  Yuzuru has a well-regulated autonomic nervous system.  This system has two parts: the sympathetic nervous system which is like the accelerator of a car, and the parasympathetic nervous system which is like the brakes of a car. These 2 parts are in very good balance in Yuzuru.  (t/n. In English, we often say one system is in charge of “fight or flight” and the other is for “rest and digest”.)4.3  A smile calms the heart/mindYuzuru is warm and friendly and has an incredible power to charm the people around him.  This is probably because that child expresses his feelings to everyone, no matter who the person is.  Especially when he makes a request with his lovable smiling face, you will end up thinking, “Ah~  there’s no other way, I will do it.”Yuzuru smiles a lot.  Even during warming-up, when his condition is good, he is often smiling.  Before a competition, anyone would be nervous.  Moreover, performing in front of such a large number of people, it would be strange if one is not nervous.  In such a situation, perhaps Yuzuru naturally smiles to calm his heart and mind.Speaking of this, 'Team Yuzuru’ was united as one to give support to achieving Yuzuru’s dream, I think this is deeply connected with Yuzuru’s smile.  'Team Yuzuru’  refers to the coaches who support Yuzuru, the choreographers, the people of JSF, the staff who takes care of his meals, and I was also a part of this team.I felt comfortable working in 'Team Yuzuru’;  the atmosphere was very good. There was nothing of the sort where each member was just thinking “I, myself”.  Of course, Yuzuru is the most important.  But everyone also paid attention to the needs of other staff.  At PyeongChang Olympics, when I was not feeling well, they were all concerned and asked me questions like “Sensei, are you taking enough nutrition?” and “Do you have a fever?”I think that Yuzuru’s smile is the backdrop of 'Team Yuzuru’ being so well unified.  Smiling not only helps with your own autonomic nervous system, it also has the effect of relieving tension in the people around you and making the mood calm and peaceful.Yuzuru before a performance has a very stern face, but once the performance is over, he is relieved and smiles.  His face is completely changed.After the performance, he bows to thank the fans and he is bathed in the Pooh-shower.  At this time, in his autonomic nervous system, the “fight mode” sympathetic nervous system sits back, and the “relax mode” parasympathetic nervous system is activated.   I think the 'on’ and 'off’ switch for that is Yuzuru’s smile.(I love the above photo of part of 'Team Yuzuru’ with beautiful smiles.  Photo credit: marked on pic, much thanks to the photographer.)————-Important note: When you see my translation as 'heart/mind’ and sometimes just 'heart’, the original word in Japanese is 'kokoro’ 「心」.  This is the kanji for 'heart’ but it means “heart, mind, spirit, mentality, emotions, soul”.  I found this article that explains a bit more:“Kokoro is well understood in Japanese, but difficult to explain in English,” says Yoshikawa Sakiko, director of Kyoto University’s Kokoro Research Center. Conceptually, it unites the notions of heart, mind, and spirit: It sees these three elements as being indivisible from one other. […….]One of the problems of discussing kokoro in English is that by linking words—heart and spirit and mind—with “and,” we imply divisions that simply don’t exist in Japanese. But in this Eastern culture, the three aren’t intrinsically linked as one: They are one.https://qz.com/946438/kokoro-a-japanese-word-connecting-mind-body-and-spirit-is-also-driving-scientific-discovery/————4.4  Feelings of gratitude calm the heart/mind“Before a competition, I always do my best to tidy up my hotel room.”  Yuzuru has said this before, at a press conference.And for sure, on trips abroad, whenever I go to Yuzuru’s room in the hotel,  I am impressed that it is always kept clean and tidy.  His luggage is also always neat. When going for a competition, he always makes his bed before leaving the room.It has been said, that just keeping things tidy around you has an effect on regulating the balance of your autonomic nervous system.  It seems that a person who keeps his room and things in order is also good at keeping his heart/mind in order.So in that way, some things that Yuzuru naturally does, is actually regulating his own heart/mind.Skating with the support of many people—.  Yuzuru is very conscious of this, and so he never forgets to be grateful.Even though he has accomplished so many great achievements, there is not a single bit of arrogance in his attitude towards others.  To me, after each treatment, “arigatou-gozaimashita” he always thanks me politely.  To his parents and to any staff too, words of thanks come naturally out  of his mouth. To the rink of course, but also when he leaves the warm-up area, he lowers his head to that space.  To his fans, his skate boots, his own legs…..  To everything, he holds feelings of gratitude.  And he says, “Thank you.”“Thank you”, just saying these words, a neurotransmitter called dopamine is released in the brain.  This dopamine is also called the “happy hormone”  and the “hormone that creates the enthusiasm for living”.   When a lot of dopamine is released, it gives positive energy and also raises the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system.Translated by me from Akira Kikuchi-sensei’s book https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%BC%B7%E%…  (please consider buying it to show support) -- source link

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