[Sangreaal]

Back to the original question before it became a redirected spin

Quote: Originally Posted by cppond Is expanding the hobby a desirable thing, and if so, what is the appropriate way to do it?

Expanding the hobby is a natural growth process nurtured naturally by personally sharing our culture of koi and ponding experiences like Pond Digger suggests. It has little to do with commercialism, other than the fact that we have to buy the fish and the equipment to keep them with, and there has to be people to supply this need.

Koi don't know dick about commercial interests and could care less how much they cost or how much their ponds cost or who builds it or who sells it. The hobby is Koi and what they contribute to our lives that make them desirable to be in it. It is showing this to others that will expand the hobby and help it gain in public popularity.

The koi culture did start with the Japanese, and there is a lot to be said for this side of it, but this is not and should not be the only side. Koi are bred everywhere now and are revered by more than just those that enjoy the Asian viewpoint exclusively. People will design their ponding paradise around their personal preferences, and if their idea of what is beautiful and self-gratifying is continually scorned by the hard-nosed "this is the only way it can be" folks, they'll not want to share what it is that brings them personal satifaction and happiness in their special interestof koi. They'll not want to show their fish at shows that cater to only the Japanese heritage of the hobby and they'll not be involved in clubs or forums or any group of people that wish to "correct" what it is that they personally think is "right" for themselves and their fish and their ponds and their lifestyles...for doing this drives people away....