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Post by PsychoDelusion on Mar 29, 2017 10:35:40 GMT -5
I think that the simplest reason for all of this is that they're getting older and they've started their own families (except Yuuji as far as I've seen). They have lives outside the show and it surprises me that many don't think about that in the first place. As we age our motivation really takes a turn to other things. Furthermore, SASUKE is not as "big" as it used to be. It's not about the challenge anymore, it's about a handful of (mostly) frustrating celebrities that advertise themselves (and I'm not talking about the competitors only. At least they have the dignity to actually take this seriously). We have never sat down and think how Yuuji and the others feel when they sit in front of their TV for the show, only to see how TBS is handling them. (Whether they're ok with that or not, is something that I don't know). All in all, I think that they just see SASUKE as a way to meet with their friends and have fun. Going further into the course is just a bonus for them anymore, not a primary target (well for most of them).
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Post by blah123 on Mar 29, 2017 10:48:24 GMT -5
All the he-said-she-said bs aside, I will believe that Yuuji still cares a lot until I'm proven otherwise. He looked nervous. And nerves = you care.
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Mar 29, 2017 11:11:37 GMT -5
I had the rare opportunity to sit with him and talk to him frankly about Sasuke and his motivation. He's really blunt and honest about how he sees the world and quite honestly I was shocked. I think it's because he's not a kid and only a few years younger than me that he can have perspective. I remember him asking me why I liked him and more importantly why I didn't see him as bigger than Nagano. It didn't come from a place of anger or even envy - he was simply trying to understand why he never "took off" so to speak. He wanted to hear it bluntly from an outsider who doesn't go through the normal Japanese way of speaking (never being direct). I told him. Even the simple thing of he never smiled.. took him off guard. The fundamental difference was that he went into it for the fame. Nagano didn't. Ryo has the same problem. A couple years ago when Yuuji first went into his slump and Ryo (his best friend for life - no joke.. he sees him the closest to him) had gotten to the final for the 2nd time.. he told everyone that he was stepping aside to let Ryo ascend in fame. It was Ryo's turn as he put it. I was aghast - not because I didn't think badly of Ryo (at the time I didn't), but because he gave up on himself. He simply put it "I won twice and TBS doesn't care.. I can't do anymore". I couldn't argue with him. Fans already made up their minds about him in Japan. He loved coming to the USA because he felt as if he finally meant something because in Japan he's isn't big at all. He isn't stopped on the street like Nagano has and even in the USA where he has had a lot of attention, they recognized Nagano FIRST then realized Yuuji was standing next to him (this was the first trip). He returned for USA vs. Japan and got pwned. He declared that he hit his peak and was on his way down. So when I was talking to him a couple years ago (I posted a vid of some of that conversation) he realized he might have made a mistake. He started to smile more and try to branch out and do different things. I commend him for that. He tried out Beastmaster. He even tries to get out of the First stage. Still though he thinks it's impossible given that Sasuke now is the exact opposite of his strengths. Only time will tell if he he can get out of the rut. He hasn't done strength training at all and his excuse for anyone that asks is "it's impossible.. so why bother?". To him it is black and white. The tide has shifted from speed and agility to strength and endurance. He knows he is not built that way. So instead he's focusing on supporting the show, his friends, smile more and be a better ambassador for the show. He's still chasing what Nagano had naturally. TBH I commend him for taking time to learn why he wasn't as famous as Nagano and took a good hard look at himself. He's trying to change. As for whether I think he can do it? Nagano thinks he can - remember the message he had for Yuuji when he retired? He did it for a reason. He thinks Yuuji gave up. It's obvious to everyone. I hope he does. I think he has it in him. He has to believe again.
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Post by blah123 on Mar 29, 2017 12:24:16 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing Arsenette. Anecdotes like that are way more informative to us outsiders than a simple "they goofed up".
I guess at this point, will failing the first obstacle be a sort of "rock bottom", after which he starts to come back? He could take a good hard look at his current state and decide to either pursue victory or not -- no more in between. I don't think there's much debate whether he has it physically or is still young enough. It's just up to him now.
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Post by sentinel on Mar 29, 2017 13:35:50 GMT -5
Great post arsenette, thanks.
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Post by PsychoDelusion on Mar 29, 2017 14:27:28 GMT -5
If stories like these are going to be in your book, then I'll go out of my way to buy it. Wish we could hear more stories like these.
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Post by Badalight on Mar 29, 2017 18:48:52 GMT -5
All the he-said-she-said bs aside, I will believe that Yuuji still cares a lot until I'm proven otherwise. He looked nervous. And nerves = you care. There is no he said she said, but people who KNOW Yuuji on these forums. Anyway, you can be nervous and not train for the show. You can be nervous and lack motivation. Prime example: me literally every time I have competed in ANW. I stopped training after I graduated high school. All 3 of my appearances on ANW were after graduating high school, ergo after I stopped training. In the first place I never cared about ANW near as much as I did about Sasuke. But I was a friggin mess at those shows. I have never been more nervous in my life. By the time it was time for me to compete, all of the energy had been drained from my body due to the nerves. This is from me, who didn't care much about ANW in the first place, did not train for ANW, and was (and still am) a complete no name in the ANW world. Now think of how much pressure Yuuji has to go through. He's the two time champion. In fact, him not training might even put him under MORE pressure because he knows he won't be able to perform up to what he used to be able to do. So let's stop this whole narrative of nerves meaning you care. That's not true at all.
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Mar 29, 2017 21:54:46 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing Arsenette. Anecdotes like that are way more informative to us outsiders than a simple "they goofed up". Actually this helps me better understand how to word things for the book. Thanks everyone for the comments! Yeah, Yuuji's visit a couple years ago really helped me understand more the psyche behind it. I totally understand why they would think that way. Learning more of the Japanese culture though is something I need to do. Something that seems normal for them seems so weird for me not being in the culture. I'll see if I can get more stories like that written down. That's what I love doing anyway and how I'm geared when watching Sasuke. Sure obstacles are fun but the mind of the athlete is what I'm really interested in - especially when it's different than mine.
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Post by zdude69closedrofl on Mar 29, 2017 22:17:53 GMT -5
I had the rare opportunity to sit with him and talk to him frankly about Sasuke and his motivation. He's really blunt and honest about how he sees the world and quite honestly I was shocked. I think it's because he's not a kid and only a few years younger than me that he can have perspective. I remember him asking me why I liked him and more importantly why I didn't see him as bigger than Nagano. It didn't come from a place of anger or even envy - he was simply trying to understand why he never "took off" so to speak. He wanted to hear it bluntly from an outsider who doesn't go through the normal Japanese way of speaking (never being direct). I told him. Even the simple thing of he never smiled.. took him off guard. The fundamental difference was that he went into it for the fame. Nagano didn't. Ryo has the same problem. A couple years ago when Yuuji first went into his slump and Ryo (his best friend for life - no joke.. he sees him the closest to him) had gotten to the final for the 2nd time.. he told everyone that he was stepping aside to let Ryo ascend in fame. It was Ryo's turn as he put it. I was aghast - not because I didn't think badly of Ryo (at the time I didn't), but because he gave up on himself. He simply put it "I won twice and TBS doesn't care.. I can't do anymore". I couldn't argue with him. Fans already made up their minds about him in Japan. He loved coming to the USA because he felt as if he finally meant something because in Japan he's isn't big at all. He isn't stopped on the street like Nagano has and even in the USA where he has had a lot of attention, they recognized Nagano FIRST then realized Yuuji was standing next to him (this was the first trip). He returned for USA vs. Japan and got pwned. He declared that he hit his peak and was on his way down. So when I was talking to him a couple years ago (I posted a vid of some of that conversation) he realized he might have made a mistake. He started to smile more and try to branch out and do different things. I commend him for that. He tried out Beastmaster. He even tries to get out of the First stage. Still though he thinks it's impossible given that Sasuke now is the exact opposite of his strengths. Only time will tell if he he can get out of the rut. He hasn't done strength training at all and his excuse for anyone that asks is "it's impossible.. so why bother?". To him it is black and white. The tide has shifted from speed and agility to strength and endurance. He knows he is not built that way. So instead he's focusing on supporting the show, his friends, smile more and be a better ambassador for the show. He's still chasing what Nagano had naturally. TBH I commend him for taking time to learn why he wasn't as famous as Nagano and took a good hard look at himself. He's trying to change. As for whether I think he can do it? Nagano thinks he can - remember the message he had for Yuuji when he retired? He did it for a reason. He thinks Yuuji gave up. It's obvious to everyone. I hope he does. I think he has it in him. He has to believe again. Someone in this thread mentioned you writing a book about SASUKE? If that's true and there's a lot of stories like this, I would absolutely be down to read it all. I really appreciate the perspective, it explains a lot. I hope Yuuji gets out of it soon.
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Mar 29, 2017 22:26:52 GMT -5
Yep I am. That was the main reason why I was able to raise funds to go to Japan. I wanted a chance to get more stories for it (and I did along with Yuuji's from the first year I was there). I've changed it a few times already but honestly, this thread is helping me focus in on how to write it. Given the chaos of the past few weeks (there's a thread on that...) this really did help. ♥ Focus on the people instead of the politics and I should do better. Wish me luck! It's still a process .. moreso than I thought it would be.. but at least I'm honing in on what it is that people want to read. I'm excited!
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Post by m4tt3r0x on Mar 29, 2017 22:30:06 GMT -5
Yep I am. That was the main reason why I was able to raise funds to go to Japan. I wanted a chance to get more stories for it (and I did along with Yuuji's from the first year I was there). I've changed it a few times already but honestly, this thread is helping me focus in on how to write it. Given the chaos of the past few weeks (there's a thread on that...) this really did help. ♥ Focus on the people instead of the politics and I should do better. Wish me luck! It's still a process .. moreso than I thought it would be.. but at least I'm honing in on what it is that people want to read. I'm excited! I would love to read more stories like this.
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Post by zdude69closedrofl on Mar 29, 2017 22:34:41 GMT -5
Yep I am. That was the main reason why I was able to raise funds to go to Japan. I wanted a chance to get more stories for it (and I did along with Yuuji's from the first year I was there). I've changed it a few times already but honestly, this thread is helping me focus in on how to write it. Given the chaos of the past few weeks (there's a thread on that...) this really did help. ♥ Focus on the people instead of the politics and I should do better. Wish me luck! It's still a process .. moreso than I thought it would be.. but at least I'm honing in on what it is that people want to read. I'm excited! Well the most notable competitors are definitely a fresh start, I think it'd be really cool if you touched on the cultural shift of the show as well. Particularly with the fall of M9, rise of ANW, and politics. Knowing the perspective of the most notable competitors and inter-connecting it with the cultural shift and how it's affected them could create a really interesting theme for it! Best of luck!
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Mar 29, 2017 22:41:50 GMT -5
Yep I am. That was the main reason why I was able to raise funds to go to Japan. I wanted a chance to get more stories for it (and I did along with Yuuji's from the first year I was there). I've changed it a few times already but honestly, this thread is helping me focus in on how to write it. Given the chaos of the past few weeks (there's a thread on that...) this really did help. ♥ Focus on the people instead of the politics and I should do better. Wish me luck! It's still a process .. moreso than I thought it would be.. but at least I'm honing in on what it is that people want to read. I'm excited! Well the most notable competitors are definitely a fresh start, I think it'd be really cool if you touched on the cultural shift of the show as well. Particularly with the fall of M9, rise of ANW, and politics. Knowing the perspective of the most notable competitors and inter-connecting it with the cultural shift could create a really interesting theme for it! Best of luck! Yeah. I know I talked to Morimoto and Yuuji about the fall of M9 and I have those recorded so I can pull information from that. I was worried the book was going to be "zomg burn everything to the ground you corporate bastards!!" LOL But talking to Nagano last year helped at least move it to just stories. Just his alone are pretty cool. I still need a lot more and some I didn't get a chance while I was there because trying to do interviews during Sasuke weekend are kinda crazy.. I got some.. but not as much as I wanted. Those who are good with Skype I was able to do but a lot are not tech savvy so it's been a process. Either way I'll keep everyone informed on the status on the thread so I won't clutter this one up. I just thought seeing Yuuji's perspective on it should give a glimpse of the internal struggle that the 2-Time champ has. Interesting stuff!
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Post by ArbuthnotBlob on Apr 7, 2017 8:23:21 GMT -5
Yuuji just posted this to twitter, I think it's some kind of comeback declaration?
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Post by TCM on Apr 7, 2017 12:02:07 GMT -5
I'm all for a "Restart" from Yuuji. Better now than never. Someone needs to break the downward trend the Grand Champions usually take.
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Post by Shuberb674 on Apr 7, 2017 12:16:34 GMT -5
I'm all for a "Restart" from Yuuji. Better now than never. Someone needs to break the downward trend the Grand Champions usually take. I wouldn't call getting Kanzenseiha after becoming a Grand champion a downward trend. You just can't expect expect that level of performance from someone forever...
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Post by TCM on Apr 7, 2017 13:12:04 GMT -5
I'm all for a "Restart" from Yuuji. Better now than never. Someone needs to break the downward trend the Grand Champions usually take. I wouldn't call getting Kanzenseiha after becoming a Grand champion a downward trend. You just can't expect expect that level of performance from someone forever... No one should expect anyone to suddenly stay at the top, but each champion given time fall very sharply from the perch. Part of that is the natural progression because you can only go down once you reach the top but Akiyama, Nagano and Yuuji have each had that moment of drastic failure that suggests time caught up. Akiyama failed the first stage five times in a row before getting back to Stage 3, Nagano had only made Stage 3 four times since his win but one of those times, he had one last shot at a win. After his 2nd win his first ever Stage 3 failure happens, Yuuji is currently 0 for 5 since then in regards to getting back to Stage 3 himself. Even with 25 and 26, he had one of the most peculiar fails on the DSL and had to jump back onto the trampoline to not fail the Jumping Spider only to have an anticlimatic step back into the water on the Half-Pipe Attack. He's not had a flash of previous brilliance like Akiyama and Nagano. His 2nd win was in his prime. If you put these as an arrow chart, you'd see sharp drops, not normal fluctuations. It's the plight of being a champion in Sasuke.
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Post by hoseasasuke on Apr 8, 2017 1:07:30 GMT -5
Yuuji can still do it.If Okuyama,Nagano,and Lee can make it to the Third Stage in their late thirties,then Yuuji can.He just needs to rediscover who he really is and rediscover his motivation.
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Post by wrestlingfan55 on Apr 9, 2017 15:35:14 GMT -5
Surely Yuuji's name should be blanked out in the title since it's technically a spoiler.
But anyway, I had no idea that Yuuji had his own Youtube channel. Does anyone know what he said in the video posted on this page?
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Y
Nomura Masaki
Posts: 70
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Post by Y on Apr 19, 2017 22:07:12 GMT -5
Yuuji's posted another video since the one that was posted here, but a friend of my brother was kind enough to translate the one here. I think he's going to post more videos of his training for accountability. Hope to see him do better later this year.
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I'm so sorry for what happened at the last competition! I also did not expect to fall at that stage. I'm gonna gather my strength and try again. I'm starting to practice again . . . well I already have started. I'm thinking of doing some pull ups. The recent courses have been very punishing so I'm gonna follow with my training routine and see how many pull ups I can do. Sometimes I get asked on twitter how many pull ups I can do or what pull up technique I use. There are various forms of pull ups like ...(explains different kinds of pull ups) but I don't usually do full form for pull ups. I usually do half pull ups around 40 reps. It's been a while so I would like to do that today. At peak condition I can do around 55 but I usually don't keep count. There may be some critiques from people on my form but I think it's still a pull up regardless so it shouldn't be a problem. Please watch this as a reference! (Does a sh** ton of pull ups). So I guess I only did about 51. I think if I check it would be about 51. That's not too bad since it has been a while but my goal is 60. If I go at that tempo I can do areas like the cliff . . . anyway this is how I do pull ups! I hope you can use this video as a reference!
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