As I dwell deeper into my ranchu journey and the more notes and ideas I exchanged with fellow ranchu keepers, I am very inclined to look at ranchu swimming as a marriage of two extremes. Ranchu swimming must be "GRACEFUL" and yet must exhibit "RAW POWER". In a nutshell it is like visualizing "Gracefulness" as the "Walk of a Japanese Lady in Kimono" and "Power" as exhibited by "Japanese Sumo Wrestler".
The Gracefulness of a Kimono-clad Japanese Lady....
There is this sense of poise and elegant in how a kimono-clad Japanese woman walk. The upper body is always steadfast and the head is held in an elegant manner. The mannerism is dignified and self confident....that in a nutshell is how the front end of the ranchu should exhibit when it swim...the swimming is "purposeful"...very "deliberate". The head movement while the ranchu swim is never "wishy washy"....where the head swing wildly. In a good ranchu swim...the front end is eleagant and graceful...very intentional in movement....the head movement should be surging forward and not swinging sideway. A poorly constructed ranchu will use his head/upper body to generate power to swim and this is mainly so because where the power to be in the back part of the fish is poorly engineered(thin peduncle, small tail, small oza etcs). This is very similar when we watch a tiring marathon runner trying to cross the finishing line....the arms are flailing and the head is bobbling...trying to generate the power...tiring power to cross the Finishing Line.
The "Raw Power" of a Sumo Wrestler.....
Sumo wrestler display huge strength and power in all their endeavours...be it the ceremonial thumping of their huge torso and legs before a competition or movements during a competition. In ranchu movement, the display of power lies in how the ranchu swim...a correctly constructed ranchu will have in place all the pre requisites like good size peduncle and oza that can hold up a big tail in as elegant manner as possible. The powerful swing of a beautifully crafted ranchu is a sight to behold just like the power displayed by Sumo Wrestler in all their pomposity.
As I narrow my search to put words into picture to share my feel of what "Beauty and The Beast" is like, Master Hiroshi Noguchi AJRS Oya is a fine example of what is elegant and yet powerful. Love how the ranchu carry its tail and the size of the oza....spellbinding/mesmerizing and powerful tail movements!!!
Sumo wrestler display huge strength and power in all their endeavours...be it the ceremonial thumping of their huge torso and legs before a competition or movements during a competition. In ranchu movement, the display of power lies in how the ranchu swim...a correctly constructed ranchu will have in place all the pre requisites like good size peduncle and oza that can hold up a big tail in as elegant manner as possible. The powerful swing of a beautifully crafted ranchu is a sight to behold just like the power displayed by Sumo Wrestler in all their pomposity. 
