Boot and Blade

It was fascinating to watch the new scoring system at work in the Olympic gymnastics event. As expected, it was the topic of much controversy and debate throughout the Games. The scoring system is no longer based on a top mark of 10; just as skating has dropped the 6.0 perfect score. The perfect 10 scoring system that was used for 80 years was replaced a couple of years ago by a point system without a ceiling.

In this New York Times article, world-renowned gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi doesn’t hide his feelings about losing the perfect 10: “It’s crazy, terrible, the stupidest thing that ever happened to the sport of gymnastics. How could they take away this beautiful, this most perfect thing from us, the one thing that separated our sport from the others?” Famous American pixie gymnast, Mary Lou Retton, also “hates” the new system.

Here’s my prediction… they’ll like it in the end. I predict that just as the new scoring system in figure skating has pushed skaters to achieve both athletically and artistically, gymnastics will also experience a Renaissance. The new scoring system provides an opportunity to shake things up, to reward ingenuity and perhaps encourage better artistic work. It’s been a bumpy road in figure skating, but many coaches and skaters and fans (including myself) think that the new points-based scoring system is pushing the sport forward.

August 23rd, 2008 | Category: olympics | Leave a comment

For those of you planning your life around the 2010 Olympic figure skating schedule (yes, some of us are very ridiculous indeed) the daily schedule has been posted. You can download it here. The competition will wrap with the Ladies Free Skate, which I think means the ISU is anticipating a fierce ladies event.

If you want to be updated on 2010 figure skating info, subscribe to the mailing list on the www.vancouver2010.com website.

August 12th, 2008 | Tags: 2010, Olympic figure skating, olympics, Vancouver | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

With compulsory figures still on my mind from my last post, I came across this fascinating TV clip from the 1988 Winter Olympics with highlights from the women’s compulsory figure event in Calgary. There are two especially interesting moments in this 10-minute clip, narrated by American figure skating bigwigs, Dick Button and Peggy Flemming.

First, starting at minute 4:52, there’s discussion (likely one of the first) about the International Skating Union deciding whether or not to remove figures from World and Olympic competition. This was monumental news at the time. I’m very intrigued by the US skaters’ opposition to that move. Scott Hamilton goes as far as to say it would ruin the sport. To be honest, I felt the same way at the time. In part, because school figures were my strong suit. However, I think it’s fair to say the opposite has occurred. Many of the hours devoted to practicing school figures has shifted to improving artistic elements of free skating like spirals, spins and footwork. Plus, improved jumping has increased the thrill of the sport for spectators.

The second item in the video that fascinates me starts at 9:05. It’s an American view of Katarina Witt’s training regime and relationship with coach Jutta Muller. Given the ‘Battle of the Carmens’ between Witt and American Debbie Thomas at the Games, this reporting feels a lot like war time propaganda.

July 23rd, 2008 | Tags: , 1998 Winter Olympics, compulsory figures, Debbie Thomas, Dick Button, Katarina Witt, olympics | Category: Events, Nostalgia, Skating History | Leave a comment

One of the most frequent questions I get here at Boot and Blade is whether I have, or know where to find, diagrams of compulsory figures. It’s remarkable to me that there are so very few instances of compulsory figures on the web. I suppose the answer is simple: the rise of the web coincided with the decline of figures. And so the once favored discipline has left behind few artifacts to remind us what the differences are between a rocker and counter, or a bracket and a back loop.

Thanks to JJ87 for sending along a link to Combined Figure Skating, a historic book by Montagu S. F. Monier-Williams, published in 1883. The book has been scanned and indexed in Google Book Search and is available for download here.

For those interested in compulsory figures and their unique designs and techniques, this volume is a wonderful snapshot of the sport at the turn of the last century.

July 21st, 2008 | Tags: compulsory figures, figure diagrams, figure skating, Google Books | Category: Skating History | Comments (1)

Yesterday my husband was reviewing his music collection and played a few tunes I hadn’t heard in a long time. One was “Revolution” by The Beatles. I was immediately reminded of the mind blowing “Revolution” dance piece by Torvill and Dean, first performed in 1989. I’ve always loved this piece and remember how very surprising it was to the figure skating audience. It was one of the first times modern dance had been recreated on ice.

This is what Torvill and Dean say about “Revolution” in their autobiography, “Facing the Music”:

Revolution was most ambitious. Its inspiration was a Montréal dance group we had seen in Sydney with the odd name of La La La Human Steps, whose rapid, machine-gun, staccato movements were unlike anything we had seen before. Chris thought the technique might be adapted for the ice, if we replaced the dancers’ lifts and throws with quick-fire upper-body movements. It was long, fast and very testing, not only of our abilities as dancers, but also as actors, in particular Jayne, who had to go completely against character, with vicious movements and displays of anger. That was new, not only for her: nobody to our knowledge had done anything like this on ice before.

For those skating fans who’ve never seen “Revolution”, this is your lucky day.

I’d love to hear about some of your favourite ice dance moments. Do share!

June 11th, 2008 | Tags: Christopher Dean, Ice Dance, Jayne Torvill, Revolution, The Beatles, Torvill and Dean | Category: Nostalgia, Skaters, Skating Thoughts | Comments (1)

I know, I know… I’ve been a terrible blogger of late. In my defense, it is the summer. But, that doesn’t mean nothing is happening in the big bad figure skating world. Here’s a rundown of some rather gossipy off-season news:

• Lauzon and Dubreuil retire from ice dance after a remarkable 13-year career
• Kristi Yamaguchi wins dancing with the stars. Doesn’t seem like a big stretch to me!
  
• Tonya Harding spills all in the new book, “The Tonya Tapes“
• Olympic ice dance gold medalist Oksana Grishuk recovers after being given a date-rape drug

For those looking for something with a little more substance, you may want to take in a practice session at the BC Centre of Excellence at 8 Rinks in Burnaby, BC. You can catch Mira Leung, Kevin Reynolds and Jessica Miller and Ian Moram hard at work over the summer months prepping for the upcoming season.

May 30th, 2008 | Tags: Dubreuil and Lauzon, Ian Moram, Jessica Miller, Kevin Reynolds, Kristi Yamaguchi, Mira Leung, Oksana Grishuk, Tonya Harding | Category: Skaters, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I was reminded about the perils of free skating sessions last week when I read this wonderful short essay from Current Skate of Mind about surviving a busy free skate session.

If you’ve been bold enough to step on to a senior free skating session, you know it takes the concentration of an air traffic controller, the guts of a tight rope walker and agility of a simian not to get mowed down. I recall watching one disastrous pairs practice session where the tip of a pinky finger was separated from its owner in a spinning collision.

Despite some gruesome tales, it’s incredible how rarely bad accidents happen. More often than not, free skate sessions are beautiful chaos.

May 1st, 2008 | Tags: figure skaters, free skate, skating rink, skating session | Category: Skating Thoughts | Comments (2)

When I taught an adult figure skating class at Canada Ice Dance Theatre, one of the big challenges for students was learning how to centre a one-foot spin. In truth, it’s more about practice than advice, but here are some tips that should help you out:

1. Step into the centre of the circle to start your spin. The tendency is to set up a one-foot spin with a nice, long entry edge, and then to step outside of the natural circle that entry edge is making. Fight the habit and step right into the centre of that circle to get the spin started.
2. Hold the right hip (or left hip if you spin to the right) back longer than you expect. If you bring the free hip around too soon, it will knock you off balance and the spin will start to travel.
3. Spin on the ball of your foot. If you place your weight too far towards the front or back of the blade, it will start to teeter and your circles will get bigger and bigger. This throws you off-centre.
4. Keep your chin up. Some skaters have a tendency to look down towards the ice during a one-foot spin. Keeping your chin level with the ice will help you to maintain your balance and keep the spin turning.
5. Practice till the dizzy goes away. Sadly, there’s no magical cure for spin dizziness. Unlike ballerinas who ’spot’ during turns, figure skaters learn to trick their brains into not getting dizzy during spins. The only way to do this is to keep spinning.

Do you have any good tips on how to centre a spin? If so, please share them!

April 16th, 2008 | Tags: , centering a spin, centre a spin, one-foot spin | Category: Spins, Top Technique Tip | Comments (3)

Figure skating isn’t all just toe loops and twirls. Figure skaters fall. A lot. When learning a new jump or lift, they fall hundreds, even thousands of times. Most falls are harmless, but occasionally, things get ugly. Here are eight recent examples from the world of competitive figure skating (in order from bruising to downright traumatic)

8. Ice dancers have a flare for the melodrama. Melissa Gregory manages to injure herself after only falling two feet to the ice.

7. It usually is, but it’s not always the woman who suffers the worst in pairs falls.

6. I don’t know who this is, but their overhead lift needs some work.

More »

April 6th, 2008 | Tags: Falls, olympics, video | Category: Falls | Comments (14)