The story of how I almost got reported by my Apple Watch while standing next to girls dreaming of becoming the next Riku-Ryu pair

I have started skating as a new hobby. It has been about four months since I started going to the rink.

Looking back at my records, I started in November and have visited the rink about 10 times in total. Since I skate for about two hours each time, that calculates to about 20 hours spent on the ice.

For someone learning in their late fifties, I am spending quite an intensive amount of time on this.

Graduating from the wall, and the baptism of falling

To be honest, the first time, it would be more accurate to say I endured rather than skated. I clung to the wall the whole time and just finished by somehow getting a feel for the ice.

The change came on the second visit. My fear gradually faded, and I was able to move away from the wall and skate with a wobbly gait. Just as I thought, 'Oh, maybe I can do this?', the situation changed again on the third visit. As soon as I was able to pick up a little speed, I suddenly lost my balance and started falling repeatedly in a spectacular fashion.

From there, under the guidance of a friend who took on the role of teacher, it has been days of steady practice.

'The feeling of skating on one foot,' 'awareness of inside and outside edges,' 'where the center of gravity is on the blade'...

It is not just about moving my feet, but understanding the logic in my head and reproducing it with my body. The process of clearing each challenge one by one is a difficult but fun time.

Figure skates or hockey skates?

As I continued to practice, I noticed a pattern in how I fell.

The skates I was renting were standard figure skates, which have jagged teeth called toe picks at the front of the blade. They seem to be for jumping and spinning, but for a beginner like me, they were a nuisance. While skating, these teeth would unexpectedly catch on the ice, causing me to trip and fall forward.

'In that case, why not use skates without the teeth?'

My friend suggested this, so recently I have been renting ice hockey skates. This was a great success for me. I have been using hockey skates exclusively for the last three visits.

However, hockey skates have their own unique difficulties. Because they are designed for sharp turns, the blades are short and have a gentle curve. The surface in contact with the ice (the contact point) is short. Therefore, compared to figure skates, they lack straight-line stability, and if your center of gravity is not perfectly centered, you will slip either forward or backward.

Even so, since I don't have that unexpected 'clunk' of catching on the ice, this seems to be a better fit for me. The downside of not having the figure skate teeth is that I can't jump. I gave up on doing a triple axel early on, so I choose to use hockey skates.

The view at the rink and my Apple Watch

I go to the Tokyo Tatsumi Ice Arena. The admission fee and rental skates combined are only 1,400 yen. It's reasonable, and above all, it's empty, so I can skate freely. They provide free protective gear, including a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads.

Since I practice at the same time on weekdays when it's empty with the same group of people, I've become friends with the ladies who patrol the rink, and sometimes they even teach me how to skate.

In the center of the rink, skilled girls in frilly skirts are spinning around and practicing double and triple jumps.

The Winter Olympics are currently being held. I wonder if these children are dreaming of becoming the next Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, the "Riku-Ryu pair" who won gold, or Kaori Sakamoto at the Milano Cortina Olympics someday. Perhaps they can see a future gold medal in their eyes.

On the other hand, all I can see is the ice surface right here and "Gyoza no Ohsho." Even though we are on the same rink, the worlds we see are quite different. But every skater on the rink is filled with a happy smile.

On that same rink where such an elegant scene unfolds, I am struggling while wearing hockey skates, trying to find my center of gravity.

Bam! I fell spectacularly again. As I was sprawled out on the ice, my wrist vibrated. When I looked at my Apple Watch...

"It looks like you've had a hard fall"

This message was displayed.

I knew that the Apple Watch had a feature that automatically makes an emergency call if you fall and don't move afterward. I used to think of it as a feature that would be useful for elderly people when they fall, thinking it had nothing to do with me... but I never imagined I would be the one needing it.

If I press the button that says "I fell, but I'm okay," it cancels, but if I don't respond, it will actually make an emergency call.

While I was mentally retorting to my Apple Watch, "This is a skating rink, so you should understand that much!," it kept checking on my safety every single time I fell over and over again.

Once you go skating enough, although you still fall, the violent falls stop, so I stopped seeing this message. I think I've become able to skate a little better. Still, it's amazing technology.

The "blissful moment" after practice

After skating for two solid hours, falling, and being worried about by my Apple Watch, we always head to "Gyoza no Ohsho" in Yurakucho and eat our fill of gyoza together.

The piping hot gyoza and Chinese food really hit the spot for a body wrapped in a pleasant sense of fatigue!

It is truly a blissful moment. Well, I wonder if I'll be able to skate a little more smoothly next time.

Hobby articles ↓