Marin Honda moves to Rafael Arutunian

[charlotte14]

Personally, I find Marin to be far more special than Wakaba. I appreciate Wakaba's jumps and power, but she can look a bit labored and unrefined on the ice. I personally prefer Marin's effortless glide, flow, and aesthetically pleasing positions. The way she moves across the ice is so special. At the end of the day it all comes down to preferences. BTW it's a bit rude to call someone a pretty princess little girl.

Marin has bigger issues with her jumps...

 

[rnois13]

I’m going to miss seeing Marin press her forehead against Mie’s as she whispers a few last minute worlds of encouragement befor she takes the ice. I hope this move works for her. Away from the media and other distractions, she can focus strictly on winning.

Yes im going miss those moments too. Raf isn't the sort to do that type of thing lol

 

[Spinning]

Raf never has been a coach who mince his words. Most of his coaching is pretty much harsh ( I know one of his former skater). Is Marin mentally strong enough to tough it out? Not to mention his track records of being fail with communication skills....either language and culture barriers in Mao and Nathan cases.

 

[Sportfan]

Marin is a fan of Ashley Wagner, right? She once mentioned that she is her idol. Maybe that's the reason for this move

 

[frida80]

Yes im going miss those moments too. Raf isn't the sort to do that type of thing lol

We’LP have to settle for a subtle smirk in the Kiss and Cry and the fist shake of triumph. It should be a funny contrast of sweetness versus stoicism.

 

[Alchamei]

Am I one of few who is not so excited about this?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great Marin decided to push foward an to change coaches and move to another country. But I'm not sure if Rafael is the right coach for her. She is very light, princess, soft and struggles with hard work. Rafael is very harsh, is not afraid to speak up and to say rudely what he doesn't like and gives attentiton to practising runthrough multiple times until they are perfect. Obviously Marin needs to train more, that is good, but I'm not sure if she can keep with Rafael, who has very very high standarts and that he won't be too cruel to her. Not all skaters respond to the harsh words well, some people are more fragile and need to calm their emotions. I hope Marin won't cry much and will become stronger skater.

 

[dansams]

She is very light, princess, soft and struggles with hard work.

I don't wanna be mean, but figure skating is still a competitive sport, right? We have younger girls training 50 hr weeks and quad lutzes to become champions, and our delicate flower who has a lazy rep couldn't handle harsh words?

You know she can quit and still be a TV star, right?

 

[Alchamei]

I don't wanna be mean, but figure skating is still a competitive sport, right? We have younger girls training 50 hr weeks and quad lutzes to become champions, and our delicate flower who has a lazy rep couldn't handle harsh words?

You know she can quit and still be a TV star, right?

That's not what I meant. She sure loves figure skating. I used these adjectives to describe something I couldn't really describe - that not all people are like Medvedeva who thrive from hearing blunt truth they totally messed up something. I agree Marin needs to work more, but I don't a coach like Rafael who can be blunt like that and very strict (I mean, he even won arguments with Ashley over her direction of skating/training so it means something). Some people can be highly sensitive and if you harshly tell them they sucked, they won't thrive but crumble.

And btw, I bet it's not so easy for her to just go and be TV star. I think one of the reasons she left Hamada she wanted to be away from the hype and press in Japan.

 

[MaiKatze]

If you read this thread you could almost think that Marin is a delicate flower who can't handle any criticism and would give up at the slightest problem. But does a skater really become Junior World Champion with that attitude? Perhaps she underestimated the harshness of the senior circuit, but just last year around that time she almost beat the current Olympic Champion. If Rika Kihira becomes senior next season, it's all the more reason for a change because who will they focus on at Mie Hamada? Her current star Satoko and the one with the 3A Rika. To stand out, this is exactly right. To make the judges notice you. And they do notice a skater that moved abroad and made the changes to move forward and now has one of the biggest Coaching Names in the business attached to her name. A technical coach is just what she needs, imho. And she trained there already. If she couldn't handle Arutunian's way she wouldn't have done it. Have some trust and wait and see.

 

[Yatagarasu]

Am I one of few who is not so excited about this?

You're not. Maybe here, but overall I've seen tons of people who question the move.

IDK but I think he's all wrong for her. Her basic skills will go even further backward IMO and while he can probably help out with the jumps somewhat, she's facing some stiff opposition in team Japan alone, where other strong ladies are waiting, and two more seem likely to switch from Juniors. Then expand that to Canadians and Russians overall.

 

[Barb]

Rafael does not seem more strict than Eteri, if those russian babies can endure that, so Marin can stand Rafael methods. When Mao trained with Rafael, he seemed so sweet with her and Mai. I don´t think he will treat Marin in the same way he treat to Ashley who was an independent adult when she was with him. Marin is just 16 yo, who doesn´t speak english, probably without her mom and in a different continent far from her home.

 

[MaiKatze]

Rafael does not seem more strict than Eteri, if those russian babies can endure that, so Marin can stand Rafael methods. When Mao trained with Rafael, he seemed so sweet with her and Mai. I don´t think he will treat Marin in the same way he treat to Ashley who was an independent adult when she was with him. Marin is just 16 yo, who doesn´t speak english, probably without her mom and in a different continent far from her home.

Her mother is unlikely to go with her. I watched a documentation on the Honda Siblings and her mother is looking after Miyu and travels with her for her entertainment career. Miyu and Sara are minors. It is very unlikely she'll leave the younger siblings in Japan.

 

[libecha]

Meagan Duhamel said she has heard that Mie Hamada also yells a lot, and pulls hair. So it may not be as much of a shift in coaching styles for Marin as we're thinking.

 

[oatmella]

I don't know Marin very well yet, and hope for the best for her with this move. But Raf is very tough. The skaters who have had the most recent success with him are older and adults (Ashley Wagner, Adam Rippon, Michal Brezina, Romain Ponsart has improved this season), and Nathan - who is very mentally tough for his age.
I wouldn't necessarily count on him being sweet or gentle with her. There are a few younger ladies' skaters who went to him with high hopes - but for whatever reason, it didn't work out and they ended up leaving him.

 

[Barb]

I don't know Marin very well yet, and hope for the best for her with this move. But Raf is very tough. The skaters who have had the most recent success with him are older and adults (Ashley Wagner, Adam Rippon, Michal Brezina, Romain Ponsart has improved this season), and Nathan - who is very mentally tough for his age.
I wouldn't necessarily count on him being sweet or gentle with her. There are a few younger ladies' skaters who went to him with high hopes - but for whatever reason, it didn't work out and they ended up leaving him.

Nathan was with Rafael since he was a kid, no? and Nathan is not so tough, we all saw what pressure did to him at the Olympics.

Andrea Montesinos , mexican junior skater went with Rafael, she is 14yo, I wonder if she is still with him.

 

[oatmella]

Nathan was with Rafael since he was a kid, no? and Nathan is not so tough, we all saw what pressure did to him at the Olympics.

yes, he's been with him since age 12. As a Nathan fan, I won't say that training with Raf has always been easy for him either.
I won't deny that he cracked under pressure which we saw in the Olympics SPs, but the fact that he pulled it together for historic Olympic FS and had the maturity and strength to use what he learned at the Olympics for his performances at worlds - shows his inner mental strength.

Raf has also said before, "program components are not actually an intelligence" - so there's that.

 

[yyyskate]

Nathan is the toughest kid you can ever get. Not only mentally strong for any kinds of harsh criticism, also physically can endure tons of pain other normal athletes cannot.
crack under OG pressure as an hyped Newbie has nothing to do with Nathan's training discipline.

I wish Marin good luck.

 

[oatmella]

^^I agree. There are reasons why Nathan is the only skater who has survived training with Raf since childhood.

 

[Barb]

So, kudos to Marin for decide to train with apparently one of the toughest coaches out there. Russian girls (kids) are not getting stars on the forehead from Eteri for achieving a double axel either.

 

[daphenaxa]

good luck Marin, i'm happy for this move, hope it works out!!!!
Also i'm convinced Marin is a lot tougher and more hard working than people on this thread give her credit for