(80) Victory of Kim Yu-na, Saju of Brian Orser

By Janet Shin

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic is over, but the glory and joy will linger in our minds.

In particular, figure skater Kim Yu-na's graceful performance and outstanding record that won her a gold medal will not be forgotten. Credit also goes to Brian Orser, Kim's coach.

Kim's saju has been reviewed in a past column, so we will now look at the saju of Orser.

In reviewing the saju of Kim, we noticed that the influences from her coach and her mother would be great in helping her achieve success.

Here are saju of the two.

You may refer to the colors to understand the 5 elements in their saju. And the day stem represents the person.

The day master of Kim is Gye, yin water, while that of Orser is Eul, yin wood.

Gye water, by itself, represents the flexibility of cold water, with calmness and purity.

Eul wood stands for sophistication and elaboration, while both Gye and Eul represent introverted people.

Kim was born with the cold energy in the metal month, which denotes a coldness of her saju in general, and surprisingly matches her career as a figure skater. On the other hand, her saju has enough fire energy (money star) in her year and time branches, that balances her saju.

Orser was born with the energy of a beautiful flower, which is very exquisite, careful and thoughtful. Having water energy in his month branch, which is surrounded by many metal energies, his saju is very cold overall. Chuk earth (orange) in his year branch is not able to balance the coldness because Chuk is also cold. Usually, having metal and water in one's saju makes for an eloquent person. However, for the Eul wood day master, his saju seems too cold for the flower to grow.

When we talk about ``Gung-hap,'' the harmonious relationship among people, we have to see whether the yin-yang and the 5 elements in one saju support the other saju. If one saju supplements the lacking energy of the other, it would be called a good ``gunghap.''

Kim and Orser's saju have many similar elements and properties that make them compatible and allow them to support each other.

In an interview with SBS, Kim described the reaction of Orser when he saw her gold medal. ``When my coach saw the gold medal, he kissed it. Then I saw his eyes, tears were welling up for a moment,'' she said.

Orser, a 48-year-old Canadian coach, was also a very famous figure skater in the 1980s. He won silver medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and was the 1987 world champion. He is one of the most accomplished skaters in Canada's history, with eight national titles, two Olympic medals and a world title to his credit.

Known as "Mr. Triple Axel', Orser entered the 1988 Olympics in a fierce competition with U.S. skater Brian Boitano, also known as the famous ``battle of the Brians.'' Boitano won the gold, while Orser settled for the silver. He turned professional without having won gold.

In Kim's victory, he got the gold medal he wanted so badly. "I knew instantly when she finished the program, she was the Olympic champion" said Orser, in his interview with SBS.

Orser's proud smile when he looked at Kim on the ice, is already famous among Korean fans. He was very calm and pushed Kim to victory.

One of the most important things Orser imparted to Kim was the strong spirit and calmness in the face of such huge pressure. Also, he wanted Kim to enjoy skating rather than the pursuit of winning itself.

``Nobody, not your mother, not your trainer, not your therapist, would understand all the pressure you have and the situation you are in, but I do," Orser told Kim.

During the last performance, when Kim achieved the world record score of 228.56, he was wearing a blue necktie that she gave him for his birthday.

The Olympic gold medal is truly Kim's but her victory is also a dream come true for Orser who twice missed out on the gold.

According to their saju, Kim gives him ``fire energy,'' the spotlight and popularity that the flower, Orser's day master, desperately needed, and Orser strengthens her water energy with expression and career support.

The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea. She is the author of "Learning Four Pillars." She offers saju courses to all who are interested. For more information, visit her Web site (https://blog.naver.com/janet_shin) or email janetshin@hotmail.com.