Friday, July 6, 2012

Beauty In The Eyes of the Beholder....

Large and strong Tosai of very good deportment. The overline and underline are well defined. The Head and Body girth are... "Tosai pronounced and Tosai developed". The Back is strong and "Tosai wide". The Body is medium long and the Body through the Back is straight. The Eyes setting are correct and the Head is long. The Peduncle is thick and the  Tube is well rounded. Large and well balanced Tail and the Tail is sitting on a very good sized Oza. The Tail seat is deep and there is a slight roach. The Tail shoulders are strong and flexible. The Tail is big, but not overly large and symetrical. Overall good colour definition and the colour on the Pectoral Fins are present. The Scalings are small and harmoniously laid.


General Overview ......A large, strong Tosai with very good balance. The fish swim powerfully and the sequential of strokes are rhythmic and correct. This fish have potential for further developement. The slight roach on the back and the deep tail seating need further consideration.


Critiques are very important for the advancement of ranchus. One must learn to critique ranchu and not criticize ranchu. Last Year All Japan Ranchu Show yielded a very exciting and beautiful group of Tosai winners. I like to share how sometime with a bit of imagination and passion and in my little sketch book, I try expressing in words my feeling about the ranchu that I am viewing. Please note ..it is just my imagination running a bit wild and it is also something I like to do in my free time...it is just my little expression. Also please note... I may be wrong in my critique and as I always maintain... "I am just a student of ranchu".


The video clip of the swimming was taken from this youtube video posted by a Japanese hobbyist....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch7wEBQAZR0&feature=channel_video_title


Footnote: Tosai wide, Tosai pronounced etc etc are just terms which I feel is the maximum that the fish as a Tosai can have...like some seniors ever mentioned...a Tosai should look like a Tosai...basically let say a Tosai have a headgrowth like an oya...then as it gets older...there isn't much room for further developement.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Richard,

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts with so much creativity. Just one question and want to ask the last part why did you mentioned "need further consideration

    William

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  2. Hi William,

    I think a better video of that Tosai can be found in here....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niaueKtG3s0

    Coming from a dog background...I reckon a deep sitting tail seat is synomous to an "over angulated" dog hind quarter. An over angulated hindquater need a very strong, broad thigh and a good firm hock to create the power/energy to drive the movement forward. If the dog don't have a strong thigh and if the hocks are weak, the power from the rear will make the movement very wobbling.

    Transposing it to my opinion of this beautiful tosai...the tail seat is deep...the back is strong and the peduncle is thick thus enabling the fish to swim with much power and grace....if the developement of this young fish is not managed properly(I doubt the Japanese Master will allow such a prized specimen to deteriorate) and thus the back weakened and the peduncle did not grow in proportion with the body and tail...the swimming will not be the same. IMHO it will be erratic and that is why I opinioned "need further consideration".

    A very good example is my tosai listed below with a beautiful tail, but it don't have the strong back and broad peduncle to give the fish the power to swim beautifully....the swimming is erratic and like one good American friend commented...my fish swim like a snake lol!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go3dcYnoVGQ

    Please note...my fish quality is far inferior from the quality of that tosai and is for a negative illustration of the swimming.

    Hope that help reflect my thoughts in ranchu language.

    Best Regards

    Richard

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  3. Hi Richard

    Thanks a million for making the effort to reply Cheers and get well soon.

    William

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