Sports Godzilla No.12 (Apr. 2010)

ports Godzilla No.12 (free sports magazine) carries an article about Dai-chan(A5 15pages), "Conquer the injury vol.6: 15 months-long fight, Daisuke Takahashi a battle for the bronze medal.

The article is very interesting including quotes from Dai-chan's doctor, physical therapist, trainer and Utako sesei. We can see how severe the situation was....

Before I start to translate the summary of the article, I'd like to introduce a couple of quotes from other articles in this magazine.

"On the occasion of publication" by Nagisa Osada (sports writer)
It was impossible to win the medal without Takahasi-senshu's effort and devotion. However, I was impressed by the enthusiasm of the people around him. If anyone of them hadn't been there with him, it would have been difficult for him to climb that top place.

"Does the support of medicine and science expand athlete's career? " by Dr. Mitsugu Kawahara.
The most distinguished example in Vancouver was the comeback of Takahashi-senshu. He got seriously injured, torn ACL and meniscus injury, during practice in the last seson. (Oct.2008) Especially a torn ACL used to be a very severe injury which meant immediate retirement some years ago. He could recovered enough to do the top level paerformance in a
year by a surgery and concentrated rehab.




Here we go! (I'm sorry my imperfect English.)

"Conquer the injury vol.6: 15 months-long fight, Daisuke Takahashi a battle for the bronze medal." by Nagisa Osada

Watabe: Dai-chan's trainer
Nakata: The president of the office Watabe belongs to (Bright Body ACTIVE HEALTH laboratory)and an experienced PT.
Hara: his knee doctor
Yoshida: his physical therapist

*** This is a summarized translation, not a full translation. ***

Around 4pm Oct. 28th 2008, he jumped a 3A and had a shaky landing. Though he let out a small voice "ouch", he didn't fall. Immediately he took off his shoes and walked slowly along the rink for a while. He continued the practice after the pain disappeared. He practiced step sequences for
45 minutes and even did some jumps. Noone realized that the nightmare had started.

Next morning, Daisuke who found something wrong with his knee, called his trainer Norio Watabe. Watabe visited him that night after he finished his job and gasped at the sight of Daisuke's swollen knee. He called his boss Yoshikazu Nakata and managed to find a hospital where they could get MRI scan even on Sunday(the next day was Sunday). He kept cooling Daisuke's knee all the night.

Nakata who had his own network by holding the medical meeting once a month for more than ten years, got the two specialist from different hospitals. One was the knee specialist Dr. Hara and the other was PH. Yoshida, the specialist of rehab. Nakata said "Athletes can't avoid injuries. But it's very difficult for them to meet the most appropriate doctor in their emergencies." So he has made efforts to build a medical network. It was very very lucky Daisuke could meet the most appropriate medical envoironment so quickly through his trainer Watabe.

On November 14th, Dr. Hara who just came back from overseas business trip gave a diagnosis " torn ACL and meniscus injury". He explained Daisuke, "There is two options. By strengthening the muscle around the affected area, you can perform 80-90% without a surgery. The other option is a surgery. If you have a surgery and recover fully, you can be 100% and continue to compete. As for the surgery, an all Japan rugby player came back from the same injury in 4 month. Kioka-senshu, a Japanese national team member of womens' football, went to Atlanta Olympic two months and a half later after the surgery. So time wise, I suppose there wouldn't be nothing to worry. "


More to come.

Thanks so much again for the translation! I really appreciate you taking the time to introduce these articles and information that can't be obtained outside Japan. This seems like a really interesting article, so I can't wait to read more.

miyu wrote:

Nakata: The president of the office Watabe belongs to (Bright Body ACTIVE HEALTH laboratory)and an experienced PH.

Just curious, but what does PH stand for?

You are welcome, Calliope! I enjoy doing this!

BTW, do you have a time to translate some parts of them? I appreciate if you kindly help me... I can't do the rest during this weekend. I will upload something ( ) in the members only area later. (I have to finish my job first.....) Please never mind if you can't do it. Anyway I think you want to read it.

Calliope wrote:

Just curious, but what does PH stand for?

Sorry, my mistake. PT = Physical Therapist.

Thank you, miyu, for another translation!

Looking forward to reading more!

Thank you oh so much, Miyu! We highly highly appreciate it. You are awesome.

miyu wrote:

BTW, do you have a time to translate some parts of them? I appreciate if you kindly help me... I can't do the rest during this weekend. I will upload something ( ) in the members only area later. (I have to finish my job first.....) Please never mind if you can't do it. Anyway I think you want to read it.

No problem! I should have some time this weekend, so I'll see how much I can get done.

Thanks a lot for translation Miyu. It is very interesting.

Calliope wrote:

No problem! I should have some time this weekend, so I'll see how much I can get done.

I can help you too, Calliope!

thank you so much
!!

OMG, that was such a long article. I felt exhausted just from reading it! But it was really fascinating -- thanks so much for sharing it, miyu!

Here's the next part of the article.

Risk and Chance

Utako Nagamitsu, Takahashi’s coach since 8th grade, also listened to the doctor’s words carefully. "Even if he could perform at 80-90%, every day we would say, 'Does it hurt today!? If it does, you should stop!' I thought that it would be difficult to practice while having to pay attention to the condition of his knee each day. But there were many skating officials who were opposed to having surgery on the knee. I felt that regardless of whether or not he had the surgery, there would be risks either way, and it would be a big gamble."

Incidentally, people in the world of classic ballet speak of the fear of taking a break from practice in this way:

Take one day off, and you will notice the difference. Take three days off, and the audience will notice. Take six days off, and it will take over a month to restore your body to the way it was before. Figure skating is a sport that is referred to as ballet on ice.

Coach Nagamitsu was also thinking about the limited amount of time available.

"After the surgery, he'll have to undergo rehab, then start on-ice practice from the basics, and then compete in several competitions before the Olympics. Is one year and three months enough time?"

But Nagamitsu said to Takahashi, "No matter what you decide, there will be risks either way. But if you seriously do the rehab and have the desire to restore your body to a state better than before, you might be able to do many new things as a result of the injury."

Takahashi replied, "Maybe the injury will become a chance."

Coach Nagamitsu has a bright, optimistic personality.

"If he headed towards the Olympic season without getting injured, he wouldn't have been away from the ice for even a day. But since this happened, it might be a chance for him to produce something new."

Rather than simply being a skating coach, Nagamitsu has always looked after him with a deep gaze like a mother's. Even as the start of the skating season approached in 2008, she noticed that his motivation was lower than in previous years. "It was probably because he had to split with his coach and choreographer of three years, Nikolai Morozov, and felt uneasy about the fight towards Vancouver," she said.

It started with whispers of a rumor. He was told that Morozov was coaching a Japanese skater who was his junior in America. "Until then, there were no ill feelings between me and Nikolai. I was surprised to hear the rumor and asked him about it personally. But he didn't give me a clear answer."

In the figure skating world, it was impossible for two skaters from the same country and of the same gender to share a coach.

"I think Nikolai played a large part in leading him to the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships, which was the best placement for a Japanese man. Afterwards, Daisuke didn't say anything about the incident, but I believe he was hurt. Because of that, his motivation was lower than in previous years. He was suffering, but I hoped that the injury would be a tool to raise his motivation," said Nagamitsu.

On November 26, at the Kyoto Social Insurance Hospital, Dr. Hara performed surgery on Takahashi's right knee.

"I took a tendon from the back of the knee and transplanted two tendons that were folded fourfold and six centimeters long. Usually only one is transplanted, but athletes in heavyweight sports like judo and rugby need two. This was my first time operating on a figure skater. Since they do a lot of twisting movements, I transplanted two tendons."

Dr. Hara performs 180-190 surgeries a year. He is an expert with a career of 25 years. Two days after the surgery, Takahashi started the rehab of slowly bending and stretching his knee.

On December 10, he was transferred to another hospital in Kyoto that specialized in physiotherapy, and was placed under the care of physiotherapist Shohei Yoshida for rehab.

Dr. Hara and Yoshida were tied together with a deep bond of trust. When Yoshida played high school soccer in Nara, he severed his ACL and was operated on by Dr. Hara. Yoshida learned a lot from his injury then, and became a physiotherapist.

Dr. Hara spoke of Yoshida, who is 20 years his junior, in this manner:

"He is a man who does excellent, first-rate work. He is passionate about research and assembles a unique menu from his data. He does rehab that isn't done anywhere else in the country. He is someone who appears in orthopedic medicine symposiums. Yoshida looks after patients such as athletes who can't recover their abilities without his help, or those who won't recover in time with normal rehab."

As Takahashi's rehab with Yoshida was about to start, his trainer Watabe received a stern warning from Nakata, his superior in the company he was affiliated with.

"You probably know already, but rehab is very monotonous and painful. Although it's not as bad as childbirth, it's something that athletes must overcome by themselves. It's important to keep your distance from Takahashi. You should leave this to Dr. Hara and Mr. Yoshida."

Keeping Nakata's words in mind, Watabe accompanied Dr. Hara on visits once a week.

---

That's all I can manage for today. There are some other things I need to do tomorrow, so if you can continue, Genki, that'd be great.

Thank you so much Calliope and Miyu. I really appreciate that the othe other fans from Europe, America to learn more abour Dai. You are so great.

Thanks a lot, miyu and Calliope. I really appreciate your effort, and I know I'm not the only one!

Thank you so much for translations, miyu and Calliope! You're so kind

Calliope, thank you! Thank you!

Calliope wrote:

"After the surgery, he'll have to undergo rehab, then start on-ice practice from the basics, and then compete in several competitions before the Olympics. Is one year and three months enough time?"

Yep, seemed almost like mission impossible at the time. But Daisuke proved everything's possible, if one wants something bad enough

Calliope wrote:

It started with whispers of a rumor. He was told that Morozov was coaching a Japanese skater who was his junior in America. "Until then, there were no ill feelings between me and Nikolai. I was surprised to hear the rumor and asked him about it personally. But he didn't give me a clear answer."

And those thirty pieces of silver didn't work out well for Nikolai, did they.

Calliope wrote:

On November 26, at the Kyoto Social Insurance Hospital, Dr. Hara performed surgery on Takahashi's right knee.

Calliope wrote:

Dr. Hara performs 180-190 surgeries a year. He is an expert with a career of 25 years.

Dear Dr. Hara, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You truly did an amazing job

Hi:Calliope thanks a lot.

I will help, but where is the article?
I can do it as soon as I see it.

miyu posted it in the video thread!

Sure

Here's translation after Caliiope's part

Cause of Injury





When the physical
therapist Yoshida saw both of Takahahi’s legs, he was totally flabbergasted.


. “ I do not want to
say this but, his ankles were so out of whack that I wondered why he could stand
straight. His ankle could not make normal 90 degree move. In order to stand straight
with these ankles, Takahashi compensated by twisting knees and ankles. The
first thing that I said was,”How can you keep on standing?”


Yoshida explained the process
of rehabilitation so that Takiahashi would understand the process completely,





“The first thing is to
prevent injury by removing the cause of injury. I talked into him that he can
perform better if he regains better conditions than before by appropriate body
conditioning. I also told him that most important thing to learn the basic
movement is repetitions.”





Yoshida believes that
Takahashi’s whole body contributed to the injury of the knee.


He continued, “ It is
very rare that a figure skater cut ACL. Usually, a figure skater falls. If
Takahashi had just fallen, ACL would not have been cut. It was cut because
Takahashi put inappropriate pressure when he was about to fall. The reason why
he had to put this pressure is that his body weight was in the back. When your hip
joint is tight, it is hard to move the body weight to the front. I decided that
I would increase his hip joint flexibility
so that his body weight would fall on the right location.





Yoshida also investigated
Takahashi’s moves of the past competitions in details, looking at videos.





“It was said that
Takahashi had a character in his steps. Because of his tight body, his steps
had beauty of the cowboy riding on a wild horse. When you look closely, there
were moves that he did not intend to do. These were dangerous moves.So I have
developed the concept to treat his conditions so that he can move smoothly.”





Coach Nagamistu also
was very much aware of the rigidity of Takahashi’s body.


“ It is not a
particular body part. His body was rigid over all.Takahashi had inferior
complex about this.One time he took classic ballet classes to increase flexibility.
If he is a rhythmic gymnast who requires a lot of flexibility, he would not
have made it. However on ice, his body can perform. Due to the rigidity, he can
take advantage of the power that he gets from the ice.


It is because of this
power that he can step fast. I fell in love with the way he looks on ice—he seemed
to be flexible on ice. It is his sensitivity. It is his ability which hides his
shortcomings.





Yoshida developed the
menu of exercise to make the balance of right/left equal using natural
movements of human body. It is monotonous, but Takahashi himself checks basic
movements one by one in front of mirror.





Yoshida said, “In our
hospital, people with the same knee injury as Takahashi’s always go through rehabilitation.
So I can tell him that he will be like Mr. so and so after few months.


On the other hand, since sportsmen do not understand numbers too
well, I can show them the clear goal of one or two months ahead in numbers .It is a plan to target goal in
numbers.


To be continued!

thank you so much.. I can almost experience the desperation and pain of Daisuke just be reading this article.. thanks@!

Thanks so much, Genki! Are you going to continue with the next part? I have some time tonight so I can do it you don't have time.

Genki wrote:

When the physical therapist Yoshida saw both of Takahahi’s legs, he was totally flabbergasted. “ I do not want to say this but, his ankles were so out of whack that I wondered why he could stand straight. His ankle could not make normal 90 degree move. In order to stand straight with these ankles, Takahashi compensated by twisting knees and ankles. The first thing that I said was,”How can you keep on standing?”

This was probably the most shocking part of the article to me. I think I recall Daisuke saying a few years ago that he was "bad at walking", but I didn't realize it was that bad!

I went ahead and did the next section, but I don't think I'll be able to come back to it tomorrow, so Genki or miyu, please continue!

Rehab and Disappearance

Takahashi worked eagerly on the thorough rehab menu, and on December 24, less than one month after the surgery, was discharged from the hospital without having to use crutches. He rented an apartment nearby and commuted to rehab every day.

Yoshida's dedicated rehab increased in intensity. In addition to the basic movements rehab, a menu for restructuring the body consisting of pushing, stretching, and pulling was added. This was accompanied by intense pain, and sometimes Takahashi endured it while letting out screams or drool.

"I don't want people to have the misconception that I did something special for Takahashi. I do the same thing for all patients who understand my objectives and devote 8 hours a day to rehab. A soccer player for the Kyoto Sanga team does rehab every day from 9 am to 8 pm. Sometimes even until 10 pm," said Yoshida.

It seemed that the injury was recovering well. But just as it seemed like he could clear his goal of getting back on the ice in March, Takahashi stopped going to rehab. He reflects on that day:

"The rehab was from 9 am to 12 pm, and then again starting from 1 pm. After the morning, I went back to my apartment and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already past 1 pm. Then I didn't feel like going anymore, and the next day I didn't want to go either, and then I just didn't care anymore. I received phone calls from various people, but ignored them."

Coach Nagamitsu and trainer Watabe sent many e-mails to his cell phone and called him many times, but there was no response.

The day before he disappeared, Nagamitsu had met with Takahashi.

"He was cheerful, and there was nothing in his speech or behavior that foreshadowed this happening. I just wasn't able to contact him at all, so I thought of the worst possible situation. When he started college, there was a time when he also disappeared. That time he ran away from home but returned after one day. This was the first time I hadn't been able to contact him for so long."

Takahashi stayed by himself in his room for awhile, and later went to random places on the Shinkansen.

In the free time he now had from Takahashi not coming to rehab, Yoshida questioned himself.

"Did I do something wrong to him? As March approached, he may have been conflicted, wondering if he would really be able to skate after all."

But while reflecting on the process up until then, he arrived at a definite conclusion.

"It's bad to spoil athletes and offer too much help. If you have to treat them while paying attention to their needs, they'll end up setting lower goals. At any rate, I'll wait for him. I'll just wait. If he comes seeking my help, I'll respond to him."

Two weeks after he disappeared, Takahashi finally contacted Nagamitsu.

Nagamitsu quietly said, "You can quit if you want to. You can quit rehab and skating. It's my job to bow my head and apologize to various people, so you don't need to worry about that."

Those words moved Takahashi's heart deeply.

"I felt bad for making Utako-sensei say something like that, when it was my own fault. I realized that I had nothing but skating."

Watabe received an e-mail.

"I'll go to rehab again starting tomorrow."

The next day, he bowed before Yoshida and said, "I'm sorry."

Yoshida first asked, "Did I do something wrong?" and when Takahashi strongly shook his head, said, "If you think I'm important to you, I'll treat you that way as well... There's nothing we can do about the lost time, what's lost is lost."

And so the painful, long, long days of rehab began once again. But while crying, "I can't take it, I can't take it anymore" from the pressure of Yoshida's fingers, he never ran away again.

I have read this forum for several years. It was impossible to keep stranger any more, at last.
Miyu, calliope and Genki, Thank you so much for your ups of these great articles!

Thank you so much, Calliope and Genki!!

I think I can do some tomorrow afternoon. Genki, are you tranlating now? If so, please let me know which chapter you are working on.

Hi, morihe!
Thank you for posting a comment. You are welcome!

Wow. I knew the whole story already, but my heart always breaks when I read about his disappearance. It must have been so hard, and I'm so glad and grateful that he found the strength to come back. As I said before, Dai just standing on the ice in Vancouver was a victory for him and a gift for his fans, and he really is a true champion.
Thank you for being such a tough little fighter, Dai-chan!!

Genki wrote:

If he is a rhythmic gymnast who requires a lot of flexibility, he would not have made it.

I had to laugh at this though, imagining Dai as a rhythmic gymnast!!
(I did rhythmic gymnastics for 10 years as a child.)

And thanks again for the translation, miyu, Genki and Calliope!

miyu wrote:

Thank you so much, Calliope and Genki!!

. Genki, are you tranlating now?

No I am not. It is about 10:20 pm now.

You can continue the chapter " from rehab onto ice."
And I will translate from " Smile of failure." tomorrow as much as I can.

Genki wrote:

You can continue the chapter " from rehab onto ice."
And I will translate from " Smile of failure." tomorrow as much as I can.

Sure, thanks!!


From rehab onto ice

Around the beginning of April, Yoshida said to him. "You can buy a pair of new shoes. Now you have legs which won't wear out your shoes."
Yoshida knew he always wore worn-out shoes. His ankles were stiff and legs leaned inward and inward. He worn out any kinds of shoes soon. The next day he came with a pair of new sneakers. Then Yoshida explained him the right way how to put his heels on them and tie shoelaces around his ankles for the future prevention.
"Takahashi-kun is a perfectioninst. Once I told him how to wear shoes, he wore them from the beginning and tied shoelaces correctly even when he went to the toilet 10 meters away. (laugh)"
What has changed was not only his ankles but also the place of knees. His knees moved in the correct place upon his ankles. Yoshida explained about his changed legs excitedly. "His legs become very beautiful, even people from medical institutions would wonder which leg was bad."

It was April 4th 2009 when Takahashi finally could get back on the ice.
The effect of the 4 1/2 months rehab was enormous. His hip joints and knees moved smoothly and he stroked easier and bigger. He, who felt the solid difference, worked hard on skating as if relishing the touch of the ice. When he was going to start practice of jumps one month later, after he got his body used to the ice, he felt suddenly anxious.
He started to say repeatedly "I can't recall how I used to jump. Can I really jump?" to Coach Nagamitsu.
Nagamitsu gave him a credit for it with bright laughter.
"Jump is the same as bike. If you could ride a bike in childhood, you can do in adulthood. You will never be incapable of the jumps you once could do."
Watching he jumped timidly, Nagamitsu couldn't stop laughing. "Gosh, it's too bad!"
But both of two were filled with pleasure that they could practice on the ice again.

About 8 months prior to Vancouver Olympics, an expert in nutrition joined his team. Michi Ishikawa who knew well about foods for athletes and was a member of Victory Project formed by JOC and Ajinomoto, started to support his foods.
"It was when the practice began in earnest, so I didn't use difficult words like nutritional science or balance. I explained about the harmony of food after it entered into a human body. In figure skating the harmony is born from the mixture of music, structure and performance, too. I'd like him to have good food with delight in order to improve expression."
The foods for each week started to be delivered to him, like food with a lot of deep yellow vegetables which reduced inflammation in order to prevent re-injury or food with collagen like cooked beef tendon.
Takahashi himself also cooked rice. He put them into the luch box and brought it.

The body which gained a larger range of movement made it possible for him to adopt new spin-positions which he couldn't even imagine before.
At the same time, he often felt lost when he jumped because the sense of body has changed.