Marin Honda moves to Rafael Arutunian
- Thread starter Mango
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2017
.
I don’t buy this fragile flower narrative you guys are selling, nor do I really buy Mie Hamada’s that Marin is “lazy”. I think it takes a very motivated and strong young lady to move across the world at only 16 years old to a foreign county whose language you don’t speak and without her parents. You guys are acting like RAF is some monster who has burnt through all his students - Michelle, Mao, Nathan, Ashley, Adam all have said positive things about him. Mao started working with RAF at 15 even younger than Marin so I would hold off on judgments until we see how it goes.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2003
Seriously. Just because her skating style is princessy and she smiles a lot during her performances doesn't mean she doesn't have inner toughness or mental strength. People are really funny.
Same. I honestly don't think Hamada is less harsh than Raf. Also calling a skater "princess" is such a disrespectful thing to me, they are athletes and it took crazy amount of physical and mental work to achieve whatever they have done. Just because she has a light style it doesn't mean it requires light amount of work.
This. I don’t think a fragile, lazy, unmotivated person would make the major decision to move to a distant foreign country at age 16 and train while separated from most of her support system. Whatever people think about Raf’s suitability as a coach, it’s clear Marin has learned some tough lessons from last season and rather than being crushed by them, is motivated enough to make major sacrifices to improve her results.
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
Totally agree with the last two posters. You don’t acquire a full arsenal of triples and two Junior world medals(one being gold) in the tough field she competed in, by being lazy. Marin might be “lazy” compared to someone like Satoko who never stops working and does countless run throughs a day. I DOUBT Marin is less hardworking than any skater at Raf’s rink. Seriously.
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2014
I wonder what the relationship is going to be like between Rafael and Japanese media. You know, Japanese media is...noisy. I hope he will keep on good terms with them
How was he with Mao?
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2012
Unfortunately I don't know because I was only a casual fan of the sport at that time. I'm also curious
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2017
- Country
-
Mao and Raf worked very well together. He helped her win world silver in 2007 and the title in 08. She left him shortly after 2008 and went back to Japan because her mother first became sick at the time, and she wanted to be closer to her. They did not end on bad terms, Mao just decided to put her family first, which was the right thing imo.
Wasn't he the one who fired her because of misunderstanding? “I was a little bit stupid, seriously. I was a little bit younger at that time. Not much, but still younger. And I fired her. I fired her" link
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2012
Marin talked about coaching change to the press today. She said she was training in US for short time in March and would move there entirely in April (now she is in Japan for the ice shows). "My coach is Rafael and the practice is hard. There are many things I can not do, so I've been trying to do my best every day to increase the things that I am able to do." She also says she has been training with Ashley and Nathan in the same rink at the same time so she feels she can absorb many things from them, and she wants to work on her jumps in order to keep up with the top ladies.
https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2018/03/31/0011119885.shtml
https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2018/03/31/0011119885.shtml
I remember he thought very high about Mao, he said that the best about Mao was not her 3a but the beauty of her skating, she was a hardworker, sometimes she trained behind his back because she was not used to rest like he asked her . And he did not want fix her flutz. Marin doesn´t flutz, right?
But Tatiana and Sato are not the sweetest coaches and they speak very well about Mao too. I get the impression that the language was a problem with Mao and Rafael. I feel that if he had known her a little better, he would have realized that something serious was happening and had tried to talk to her agent or her mother (And just now catch my attention that Mao was so in control of her coaching situation, if I remember correctly she was negotiating personally this situation, their parents were not involved) . But who knows? Sato did not know how ill her mother was either, her death was a surprise for him too
hwell:I remember he thought very high about Mao, he said that the best about Mao was not her 3a but the beauty of her skating, she was a hardworker, sometimes she trained behind his back because she was not used to rest like he asked her . And he did not want fix her flutz. Marin doesn´t flutz, right?
But Tatiana and Sato are not the sweetest coaches and they speak very well about Mao too. I get the impression that the language was a problem with Mao and Rafael. I feel that if he had known her a little better, he would have realized that something serious was happening and had tried to talk to her agent or her mother (And just now catch my attention that Mao was so in control of her coaching situation, if I remember correctly she was negotiating personally this situation, their parents were not involved) . But who knows? Sato did not know how ill her mother was either, her death was a surprise for him too
I don't think that was the case. From what I remember from articles, her mother handled these things before she passed away. She was the one that made the decisions about coaches. Her mother admired Tatiana so wanted her to be Mao's coach. After Vancouver, her mother also personally requested Sato to be her coach.
I think Rafael and Mao was a great team. The way their relationship was ended was unfortunate. According to Rafael, Mao asked him if he could come to train her in Japan because she could not return to America. He said he could not do that and that ended the coaching relationship. This happened at the end of 2007, so technically, Mao was coachless when she won her first world title in 2008. Rafael felt very regretful about the whole situation after he learned about her mother's illness years later. However, there are no hard feelings between them and he continues to think very highly of Mao. He also said once at a competition, Mao thanked him for everything he did for her as during those years. Mao kept her mom's illness a secret from all of her coaches. Considering how intrusive the Japanese media could be sometimes, I could understand the decision to keep it a secret. Also, it could have been her mother's request to keep it a secret, so Mao might just wanted to honor it.
The thing I like about Rafael is that he is very supportive and protective of his skaters. He is good at making skaters believe in themselves and I think that is key to helping talented skaters become champions.
I thought the same but so why her mother did not talk with Rafael about that?, it seemed like Mao personally asked to Rafael to come to Japan and that is all, not further discussion with their parents about it
, even I think Rafael said he was not sure about their relationship status (coach-student) at Worlds 2008.I am not sure if her mother spoke to him or not, since we only heard the story from Rafael. Mao never spoke about why and how this relationship ended, other than the vague reason that she wished to spend more time in Japan. It could be that Mao made a call and Rafael refused to do so and he wasn't open to further discussion. He did say he made a hasty decision at the time, so maybe he was not open to negotiation.
Back to Marin, I hope she can also try new choreographers. She should move away from Tom Dickson, Jeffrey Buttle to distinguish herself from Hamada students. I think Lori Nichol can be a good match for her light skating. Lori tends to be inspired when she works with very talented skaters. I think she can bring a added depth to Marin's skating. Another one of my favorites is Camerlego. I feel he is so underrated. More Japanese skaters should be going to him for choreography considering the gems he has made for Daisuke and Akiko in the past.
Back to Marin, I hope she can also try new choreographers. She should move away from Tom Dickson, Jeffrey Buttle to distinguish herself from Hamada students. I think Lori Nichol can be a good match for her light skating. Lori tends to be inspired when she works with very talented skaters. I think she can bring a added depth to Marin's skating. Another one of my favorites is Camerlego. I feel he is so underrated. More Japanese skaters should be going to him for choreography considering the gems he has made for Daisuke and Akiko in the past.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2007
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2017
Hamada’s students have this tendency to skate to princess style with flowery costumes. How do I say it... they like to be fairy on ice. This style does suit Marin but it fades like there’s not enough drama on ice. Same as Sotskova issue. They need something different.
Similar threads
