Sunday, August 12, 2001
[LIKE TRY?]
Conquering the ice FIGURE skating is a skill acquired after many hours bumping bottoms, elbows and noggins on the hard, cold ice.
Skating offers lessons in
bumps and bruisesBy C.R. Dudley
cdudley@starbulletin.comWhat the public doesn't see in the few minutes of competitive skating on television during the winter Olympics are the years of training, exercising, dieting and drudgery that lead up to a shot at the gold.
Even if you don't reach that level, learning to figure skate is worth the effort.
"When I jump it feels like I'm floating," said ice skater Tehani Diaz. Only 17, she has been skating for almost a decade. "When I skate really well the whole world is blocked out. I don't see anybody or hear anybody. It's just all me. My body just does it and it feels awesome."
Diaz took first place at the recent Ice Skating Institute Hawaiian Open competition, with her pairs partner Lauren Chong.
"Getting good at figure skating takes a lot of work," said Diaz, who practices and competes at the Ice Palace, Oahu's only ice skating rink, on Salt Lake Boulevard. "You just have to believe in yourself and just keep working at it. It's taken me eight years to get where I'm at."
Getting started can be a lot of fun, as long as expectations don't lead you into dangerous moves beyond your ability. Diaz's mother and Hawaii Figure Skating Club president, Beverly Thompson, suggests that anybody, child or adult, wanting to start skating take one of the Ice Skating Institute's sanctioned beginning classes, offered at the Ice Palace.
"Tehani was about 9 when she started skating," Thompson said. "She took classes, and now she coaches and judges."
When you first step off the walkway and onto the ice, be sure to keep a hand (or two) on the railing. You will be amazed at how slippery the ice is.
Usually the ice is resurfaced just before a session starts, so the ice will be very smooth, fast and maybe even still wet in places. As a first-timer, it might be a good idea to let more experienced skaters scuff up the ice a bit and let the water pools freeze over before getting out there.
Make sure your knees are bent. Bend them more than you think you should. This will give you a lot more control and it will also be a lot shorter fall.
And you will fall. In the early stages, ice skating is a blood sport. Get tough. (Don't get Tanya Harding tough, get Kristi Yamaguchi tough.)
As you're standing there, you'll begin to realize that your feet move constantly. They slip backwards, forwards and your ankles will even want to fold. This is where movement helps. Just like when you ride a bicycle, it's much easier to stay up if you're moving forward rather than standing still.
Figure skating
Where: Ice Palace, 4510 Salt Lake Boulevard, 487-9921.
When: Open skating Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 10:45 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 10:45 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Cost: $6.50. Includes: Skate rental and unlimited skating from opening to
closing. No in and out privileges. Group rates available.
On the Net:
http://www.pixi.com/~hifsc/
http://www.icepalacehawaii.com
Some basic terms you need to know are the "flat," which is the bottom of your skating blade, "inside edges," which are the edges of the blade on the inside of your feet and the opposite edge or "outside edge."
As you pull yourself along the railing, your feet wobbling out, then in and then out again, try to ride on the flat of the blade. Try to get away from the railing a little bit for safety's sake.
Try scooting an arm's length away from the railing. Point your toes in as you do this. You'll come to a pigeon-toed stop. Now slowly push out on the leading part of the outside edge with both feet. You'll begin sliding forward. When your feet are about a shoulder's length apart, point your toes in and pull with the leading part of the inside edge of the blade. You continue to move forward.
Now you're a figure skater -- with very limited ability, but a figure skater none the less. It might be awhile, but if it's in your heart, you'll be twirling soon enough.
"It takes a long time to improve," said Diaz, who recently graduated from Mililani High School and will attend the University of Colorado this fall. She hopes to continue coaching figure skating while studying computer information science.
"I'm not one of those people who began with raw talent. I have had to really work."