Rika Kihira - Red Bull Interview (2)
2019/07/21
Happy 17th Birthday Dear Rika!!!
As a present for her and her fans, I've done a translation of Rika's latest interview with Red Bull! (Original Article)
*This is just the plain text, Rika's fan page (on tumblr and twitter) has done a wonderful job formatting the translation. Please check it out on their blog, and follow for more Rika updates!*
Enjoy reading~
[The Origin of Strength] Rika Kihira revealing her own way of fighting among the next generation’s top athletes.
Like a shooting star, Rika Kihira made her appearance in the figure skating world and established various records. (In this Q and A special session, also featuring her natural self), we will discover how this girl refines her performances and raises them to a level of their own.
At the moment, in Ladies figure skating field, we could say “Triples” are Rika Kihira’s specialty.
In her senior debut season of 2018-2019, from her landing 3A+3T combination at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy up to the Grand Prix Final, she had won 6 international competitions.
Yet, this 16-year-old marvel already had the vision of investing in the “real battle” of quads. She will disclose the root of her unparalleled performances and how to sustain momentum.
►Utilize all efforts to improve jumps’ quality
Q: (To produce the best performance), what is indispensable in terms of training?
A: “Torso training + rotation training”
Regarding light training, I have warm-up exercises every day, and roughly 1 hour each section of torso training, about 2 times/week. If I don’t do torso training, my body will experience shakiness when rotating on air. Next, I can’t do without rotation training. I practice double jumps on ground, and axis stabilization as well. I can be aware of whether my condition is good or bad by assessing the quality of those 2 training sessions.
Q: (To produce the best performance), what is indispensable in terms of body-care?
A: “Stretch every day. Acupuncture and electric therapy twice a week”
Of course, I stretch every day. I make sure to get acupuncture, electric treatment, massage, etc twice a week. I practice every day, and sometimes when my muscles feel constricted, my body balance will be tampered with, and fatigue will accumulate. If I leave it as it is, there’ll be injury, so body care is indispensable.
Q: (To produce the best performance), what do you pay attention to in your daily life activities?
A: “Minus 0.5kg right before competition”
I try to control and calculate my nutrition balance and calories intake every day. In order not to spoil my jumps’ conditions, I also try, to the best of my ability, to adjust my weight every day little by little. Eventually, -0.5kg right before a competition works out best for me, speaking from experience.
Q: (To produce the best performance),what’s your “power food”?
A: “Mochi (rice cake)”
High calories of mochi can be broken down and transformed (into energy) quickly, and it is just right for mornings like those before a competition, when I only want to take in carbohydrates. I eat 4 mochis with only soy sauce as topping. (After eating), my body doesn’t feel heavy, and I can exercise properly, so I really like mochi.
Then, about 1 hour before my practice after breakfast, I usually drink Red Bull. Specifically, on days that I cannot reach the body conditions I’m pursuing or when I can’t focus… on days like that, I can pull off a good performance (with Red Bull).
►16-year-old, already rich in experience, Rika Kihira on mental control
Q: For the best showdown (To produce the best performance), what’s happening in your mind (as you prepare)?
A: “I envisage the situation when I dare to fail”
Well, it’s about people who support me. “If I fail to land this jump, everyone will be sad”. I give myself a moment to dare thinking about this…In that case, the thought that “I will definitely not fail” can bounce back at me powerfully.
Q: How do you pull through in moments when you don’t succeed, or when you’re feeling down (To produce the best performance)?
A: “I will think that the mistake is an important experience for my present self.”
When I make mistakes, I think as positively as possible that “This mistake could be a necessary experience for my present self”. It’s good that I can make this mistake early, and that I can fail in advance.
I am the type that can become stronger if there’re things that make me go “I dislike being in this position”, and my emotion can switch immediately, because I think that although I mustn’t forget the “kuyashii” feeling, if I lose confidence, things will become even more stagnant for me in future competitions.
Q: (To produce the best performance) How do you set your goals?
A: “All the jumps shall be the jumps I want to jump at all costs”
Ranking aside, I also place emphasis on proceeding towards my ideal performance. That said, if there’s only a vague impression like “It’ll be nice if I can perform the whole routine with no mistakes”, I’ll likely make mistakes somewhere.
If I think “I just want to jump!” at every jumping pass, the total result would turn out good. Since I’m in a world where no mistake is allowed, my goal is a performance that could allow me to perform with the thought that I have no other point to improve beyond this.
Q: (To produce the best performance), when you’re away from home, what is something that no one expects you to bring along?
A: “Japanese food set”
A: “Japanese food set”
“I bring things like packaged rice, mochi (laugh)…, miso soup, furikake (dried rice seasoning), dressing sauces. Those are Japanese food, right?
Q: (To produce the best performance), how about taking on challenges?
A: “Uhmm”
I always try to challenge competitions as how they flow naturally, so maybe no (laugh). I also make effort to have an (positive) attitude towards life, so that I don’t have to be on edge all the time, or even when there’s something that makes me nervous, I could still revert into a state of mind that helps me smile and surpass the nerves.
In the past, I used to be very nervous in competitions, but recently, I already have a concrete image of how to jump, and such, so I’m not anxious anymore.
►Surprisingly, this maturing skater is also very natural in private.
Q: (To produce the best performance), how do you spend your days-off?
A: “My only days-off are New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve so… (witty laugh)”
I go out for “hatsumoude” (visiting the shrine on the New Year’s Day), or to visit my relatives. Then, while travelling by plane, I work out the sleeping time to adjust myself to the time difference, and in free moments, I watch movies. (laugh)
Q: (To produce the best performance), what kind of movie do you watch?
A: “Japanese school-life and love-life movie”
The loud clashing noise (gashan) in action movies, or rustling and thumping noise (hara hara doki doki) in horror movies is scary, so my heart can’t handle it (laugh). So it’s better for me to watch movies with which I can relax at the same time.
Q: (To produce the best performance), what kind of music do you listen to?
A: “back number and ikimonogakari” (Japanese bands)
I don’t dare to listen to music with up-tempo (quick beat), and I usually listen to music that resembles a gentle push to my back (silent encouragement) when I have worked hard.
Q: (To produce the best performance), is there anything you want to stop doing, but can’t stop?
A: “It’s not like something I can’t stop doing, but since it’s sleeping…”I feel like there’s a wall within me. Before competitions, usually on the first night in the hotel, my sleep becomes shallow no matter what, and on the next day, my legs will become dull. Even when I can drift into sleep, when I wake up and check the sleep monitoring app, I was woken up for 7 times even…
Q: (To produce the best performance), is there any habit that you want to fix?
A: “It’s natural!?”
As an athlete, I can’t remember my subconscious reflects, but (in daily life), as far as other people tell me, I’m quite “wild” (spontaneous), though this seems to be changing (laugh). I have also been told that I’m not good at conveying my thoughts into words, or “I don’t understand what you’re talking about”.
There are times when I reply seriously to friends’ jokes, or laugh at the wrong subject, or even laugh 1 beat slower despite not saying anything interesting. (laugh)
The end.