Isn't it strange there hasn't been any close call kanzens?

[zoran]

We've seen so many super close calls, fraction of a second fails on the final stage as well as significant fails from the goal yet every Kanzen has had a minimum 2.5 second margin of victory, which is relatively very significant time wise. Why do you think we've never seen any super close call, down to the wire kanzens?

[transgenderserena]

Mar 25, 2023 11:43:02 GMT -5 zoran said:

We've seen so many super close class, fraction of a second fails on the final stage as well as significant fails from the goal yet every Kanzen has had a minimum 2.5 second margin of victory, which is relatively very significant time wise. Why do you think we've never seen any super close call, down to the wire kanzens?

KUNOICHI 6 enters the chat
Jokes aside, KUNOICHI 6 is one of my favourite tournaments, i love the diverse competitor list that ranged from Cameroonian University Students and Brazillian Ju-Jitsu Practitioners, the course reboot introduced many great obstacles such as the Fuyuu Sou, Shouchu and Rakka Bou and there were many iconic runs from great competitors, also Stage 2s time trial was absolute genius

[YourResidentKojiFan]

I think it ultimately comes down to experience. With the exception of Akiyama, everybody had either attempted the Final Stage they kanzened on preciously or trained their heads off for it. Nagano attempted his Final three times and had two years to train between 13 and 17. Yuuji had attempted Shin's final once before, and 27's final was just an absolute playground for him. Yūsuke presumably trained a lot for RISING's final as he had a Spider Climb and rope in his training grounds, and he'd attempted 32-38's final twice before. He also, like Nagano, had two years to train in between 36 and 38.

That said, I would LOVE a Kanzen with like, 00.09 seconds left. Especially if it was someone like Yoshiyuki, the emotions of that moment would be so insane that NBC might want to start airing SASUKE lol.

[dakohosu]

Pretty much what KojiFan said.

The only thing I'd add is that I also think there's a psychological aspect to it.

I think the reason why all of the Kanzens haven't been close calls is that even before the klaxon goes off, the competitor knows they'll have enough time left to beat the entire thing and so that sense of confidence is somewhat calming and allows them to just focus on getting up the rope. Whereas if it's a down-to-the-wire situation, panic sets in which is never a good thing and can often lead to mistakes or trying to recklessly rush, and so on. I don't have a way to verify if this was the case, especially as it's hard to tell from the angle shown from the camera towards the top of the tower, but I definitely wouldn't be surprised if this had something to do with this interesting pattern. For example, Nagano missed the button in 12 potentially because he was so anxious and frantic about the timer that he just reached his hand out and didn't think.

We've seen this countless numbers of times on earlier stages, where competitors make mistakes because they're low on time, or try and rush and end up paying the price. I wouldn't be surprised if this was also the case on the Final, though again it's not as easy to tell as it's not as failable as the other stages without timing out.

[Messup434]

I get that argument, but it still seems weird that thereve been numerous close finishes, but none have been winning efforts. Like obviously for Nagano’s near misses, he was capable of winning - but didn’t (until 17 obviously). In fact, pretty much everyone with a really near miss (less than a second, let’s say) is prob capable of winning at that time.

Just seems weird cos if there have been many close cuts, but all have turned out to be losses.

[CineArchives]

Mar 25, 2023 11:43:02 GMT -5 zoran said:

We've seen so many super close class, fraction of a second fails on the final stage as well as significant fails from the goal yet every Kanzen has had a minimum 2.5 second margin of victory, which is relatively very significant time wise. Why do you think we've never seen any super close call, down to the wire kanzens?

When I heard about KUNOICHI 6 there is Erin Jessica Dolty from U.S. made to the Third Stage in the same tournament, but can't go far enough at that point since she is only foreigner women to clear the First and Second Stages in KUNOICHI 6 with her First Stage run have fastest time, I did have a lot of competitors review during that tournament among them is Mizuho Maeda and Ikue Teshigawara since the latter is Olympian.

Since she didn't present in SASUKE at same point Teshigawara made debut and failed very early in KUNOICHI 6. However, like Ayako Inada she didn't present in KUNOICHI 7 albeit with KUNOICHI Trials competitors take place to former ones instead, she returned in KUNOICHI 8 with more promised that Teshigawara will achieve Kanzenseiha during that time, but her run is ended from the Second Stage as she failing redesigned Tourenban. 

[edaan]

I mean count up all the close calls. You have Yamada in 3, Nagano in 12, 13 and 23, Yuuji in 22, Hashimoto in 24, Ryo in 30 and Yusuke in 35, 36 and 40. I think for some of these, there were other factors outside the rope climb, for example missing the buzzer, or going slowly on another obstacle.

I agree there is a huge psychological factor, and reaching for the buzzer with 5 seconds left will be less stressful than going for it with 2 seconds left. Take Nagano in 13, for example. He's coming off of 2 consecutive stage 4 attempts, and he just missed the buzzer by 1/9 of a second. He could've gotten in his own head, and that might be why he did worse (or it could simply be that the rope swayed and he couldn't climb it fast enough) than in 12.

I think with Hashimoto in 24 however, he did incredibly on the rope, and if things were different on the ladder he easily could've been our third champion, with Yuuji soon after becoming our fourth. I think he kinda knew he spent a while on the ladder, and went all out on the rope to try and make up for lost time. So the psychological factors can go both ways, and they can be good as well.

From Rising onwards though, apart from Ryo in 30 the only person within 9 metres of Kanzen has been Yusuke, so I think that the potential for a near miss Kanzen nowadays will rest on his shoulders, especially if he makes the Final in 41 (which will happen unless Inui actually wants to change some obstacles).

Training is probably the biggest thing though, and I'm basically echoing what everyone else has said already. Hell, Yuuji shaved 9 seconds off his time on the Shin final stage, and that was only with 9 months of training. I think a huge factor in the final is getting back there a second time. Especially if its on the same final, being prepared by failure is the best way to go in with a new mindset. Even if its a different final, say Ryo in 30, you'll be more prepared because you've more than likely trained for the final by this point. Apart from maybe Yusuke, I don't think ANY finalist has properly trained for the final on their first try. But once they fail, they focus SO much energy on the final, even if they never get back there again.

I think there have been SO many potential close Kanzens that have ended on Stages 1,2 and 3. Hashimoto in Kanzen Renewal, Yuuji in 23, Ryo in 31, Nagano in 14-16, Bunpei in 13-17, maybe even Kane if he'd learned to use legs on the final and had kept competing. Imo these runs all could've ended in a close, maybe sub-second Kanzen. I just think it's because the people who would barely Kanzen have been whittled down in the first three stages, so by the time we reach the final, someone either has it in the bag or they don't.