大禹治水

Turns and Steps, Explained (1/2)

Okay party people, after jumps and spins, are you guys ready to take your figure skating watcher know-how to its next level with turns and steps?

To avoid indigestion and to keep the post within not completely outrageous length I’m going to divide and conquer ‘em this time. This first post will cover the turns. A second post will follow to cover the steps and some additional interesting tidbits.

Before we get down to business, there’s one topic we must go over as a primer. I’ve actively tried to avoid mentioning it in the previous tech posts because according to my experience, bringing it up is a surefire way to turn off any spark of interest new fans / casual viewers might have in a skating discussion. However with turns and steps we cannot, repeat, cannot, circumvent this topic. So, let us talk about edges.

Now there are only 3 possible states a skater’s skating blade can be in at any given time on the ice: inside edge, outside edge, or flat edge. In order to tell them apart you just need to answer this question: is the blade leaning toward or away from the center of the skater’s body? If it’s toward, they’re on an inside edge, if it’s away, it’s an outside edge, and if it’s neutral, it’s a flat edge. Once we’ve established that, the next step is to check out the direction of the skate, is it backward or forward? Combining these two answers, you’ll get to whether it’s a forward inside edge, a back inside edge, a forward outside edge, or a back outside edge.

(In case you’re still wondering why you need to know all this stuff, well that’s because a turn is, by definition, a move in which the skater changes edges or changes directions or both, on one foot. A step is basically the same thing, but with a change of foot as well.)

Here’s an example on how to “read” edges: Yuzuru’s triple Axel at Skate Canada 2015. He entered the jump on an outside edge (note that since it’s a spread eagle, his left foot was on a forward edge and his right foot on a back edge). He moved to a forward outside edge on his left foot to take off for the Axel, finished 3.5 rotations in the air and landed on a back outside edge on his right foot. He transitioned out of the jump into another outside spread eagle and then changed edge midway to turn it into an inside spread eagle - pay attention to that subtle shift in center of gravity at the edge change. (And that, kids, is how you get a perfect score for your triple Axel.)  

Here’s the jump and transition in all of its real time glory to get your eyes some practice: 

With that done, we can move on to examine the 6 types of turns in figure skating. They are: twizzle, bracket, loop, counter, rocker, and three-turn. 

Keep reading

如果一个梦想幻灭，就在做一个梦。如果你被打倒，就站起来继续前进。

If one dream dies, dream another dream. If you get knocked down, get back up and go again.

好好活、多多爱、常常笑。

Live well, love much, laugh often.

Language Learning Ideas Printable

Here is a printable I made that I hope can help you out on your language learning journey. It has different activities based on how much time you have, as well as a checklist for frequent activities. By using it, you can see what works for you and what doesn’t. 

I tried to include as many things that many people can use, but some activities can’t be used by all language learners, unfortunately. The links to the website are clickable in the PDF file. I tested this myself and have even included a blank version if you prefer to write your own activities. Again, these are just some ideas for you to incorporate and I hope that they are useful.

Download Links: Dropbox

Full Activities 

Blank Version 

就餐 (jiùcān)-to have a meal

喧哗 (xuānhuá)-full of confused noise; hubbub

缺损 (quēsǔn)-damage

询问 (xúnwèn)-ask about; inquire about

逗留 (dòuliú)-stay; stop

舞弊 (wǔbì)-fraudulent  practice; malpractice

交头接耳 (jiāotóujiēěr)-whisper to each other

暗号 (ànhào)-secret signal; countersign; watchword

抄袭 (chāoxí)-plagiarize

撕毁 (sīhuǐ)-tear up; tear to shreds

空儿 /kòngr/ -  free time, spare time

有空儿  /yǒu kòngr/ - free

没空儿 /méi kòngr/ - busy

抽空儿 /chōukòngr/ - to manage to find time to do something

明天下午你有空儿吗？/ míngtiān xiàwǔ nǐ yǒu kòngr ma / - Are you free tomorrow afternoon?

两点以前没空儿，两点以后又空儿。/liǎng diǎn yǐqián méi kòng er, liǎng diǎn yǐhòu yòu kòngr./ - Before 2PM, I’m busy, after 2PM I’m free.

Heart: let’s learn all the languages!

Brain: it would take years!

Heart: let’s learn all the languages!

This summer if you have the time off maybe try picking up a completely new language! The challenge lasts for however long your summer break lasts and you;

1) pick a completely new language you’ve never studied before

2) make a realistic goal for what you want to achieve out of this time (e.g. reading a beginning book in your target language, maybe having a short conversation with a native/advanced speaker, finishing a Duolingo tree etc)

3) commit to practicing it for a allotted time everyday (it could be 20 minutes to 2hrs everyday what matters is that you stick w/ it!)

4) immerse yourself in that language; listen to music and podcasts, watch movies and tv in your target language, change your tech to the target language-really surround yourself w/ the language

If you decide to take on this challenge make an intro post describing;

 who you are

 your target language

why you are choosing that language

what your goal is

how long you have for break/summer

tag it with #summer language challenge

Then every week

post abt something related to your target language (e.g. good movie you watched, cool words, accomplishments you made, vocab you learned etc)

post something in your target language (it can be anything)

progress on your goal(s)

tag it with #summer language challenge

At the end of your break make a post abt how you did. Hopefully you’ll have exceeded your expectations and gotten a solid foundation in your target language while having a series of posts that document your journey!

专心 (zhuan1 xin1) - to be attentive; focused

Eg. I have to be 专心 during my studies. Good luck back to school everyone! To be honest I’m actually pretty excited for the new semester.