| let's see where was I, ( turned out the ladies husband was in Taiwan and the fish were dieing and she paniced-price you pay for people knowing you for koi )
While I don't disagree with Steve and JR's explaination, we must accept the fact that these gentlemen are into the higher echelon of learning. They know the top breeders can effectively cull their koi and that the chances of finding a needle in a haystack are few. I salute these guys for the personal achievement, that time and education has given them and both have contributed so much to all of our learning with their efforts to help others.
But for many learners, a chance to see body types, patterns evolve, cause and effect on water quality, growth....tosai has a place in the educational process. If buying a champion is important to you and you have the financial where with all, you can buy the older fish and know your selection is among the best. But if you love this hobby pasionately, and are not in a position to buy the elite fish, than self educating with tosai is a good start.
By paying your dues and learning, when the confidence level is up ( and your kids are thru college) you feel better about buying that better koi based on the confidence of what you've learned.
so many times I see those trying to learn, looking at posters of champion fish and trying to find something that looks akin to the poster only to be disappointed later with their purchases.Fish change in the process of maturing, but you can learn to know what to look for and expect by putting some time in on raising fish from a bllodline you want to learn from.
so i think we can agree that tosai education in the rung of the advancement toward the top of the ladder plays a foundational part of the process of learning. So I think a candid acessment of where you are on the ladder will help answer the question for yourself. |