Is the Koi Hobby a Non-Competative Diversion!?

[schildkoi]

Thanks CoCoyboy.

Steve

[aquitori]

When it comes time for the judges to judge, that's when it becomes competitive...After that it is all shiyts and giggles...

[KoiCop]

Reference your post to Gail today:

Quote: Originally Posted by koicluboftheair Koi cop as I recall made a swipe at me making such a claim that I didn't have any GCs in another thread a week or so ago, which is why that stuck out in my thoughts.

accusing me of suggesting that:

Quote: Originally Posted by koicluboftheair if you don’t have a GC and haven’t spent thousands on a single fish you aren’t particularly koi kichi.

Well, that’s an outright lie. Shame on you!

On a thread over on KoiShack entitled “Calling Steve Childers . . .” I posted (on Nov 29th and I quote):

It’s often been said that no mountain is too tall or too hard to climb for those who don’t have to climb it. I guess it’s sort of like those who spend their time pushing for a National Koi Show when they don’t have a GC of their own to risk by sending. Care to respond?

Source: http://koishack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6085&st=40&p=109814&#entry1098 14
It's Post #: 51, Item# 11. Look it up.

I guess I should feel honored that you’re trying to do to me what you did to Burt Ballou and Steve Childers – put words in their mouths that you had to take back and eat – but I’m not. Now I dare you to try to spin what I said into what you wrote. Take your best shot, jerk.

I would never say one must have a GC to be koi kichi. I started with goldfish in an R&G watergarden and I’m proud of it. I don’t have a GC, so what? I’m the first to say it’s not what one has but what one wishes to have, not what one knows but what one wishes to learn, not what one has done but what one wishes to achieve that matters in this hobby.

[bekko]

It would be unseemly to act competitive in a koi show where there is such a strong correlation between wallet depth and quality of the fish.

My vague understanding is that Akai-San's father and uncle were fortunate enough to belong to a koi community where outright competition was both socially-acceptable and fun. The koi were bred in local back yards and the best ones may not have been available at any price. In his youth, another Koi Bito reader would hide away "secret weapon" koi in his pond on behalf of older gentlemen. When the show came around, the secret weapon would be revealed and win the day. Now, that's my idea of a good time. However, it all unraveled eventually and they had to stop having koi shows all together because the competition had become too fierce. I wish someone would fill me in on the details.

-ste vehop

[frankchong]

Koi hobby has been around since the sixties. Yet there are more people just getting into it today. Is this a non-competative hobby ? It depends at which stage your local ZNA club has evolved.
At the beginning when we have a group of die hard koi kichi getting together to form a club. We have only one aim, to share our experience and learning from each other. Pond visits is our regular fixture. The dealers are big help in putting togather koi shows. Competition was fun as most of us started about equal, purchasing koi in one to five thousand dollar range. Quite a number of entrants show their koi raised from 5 inches tosai.
As it progress over the years, a number of our members with deep pockets started to fly in koi straight from mud ponds in Japan for the show. And consistantly koi from Japan wins the Grand Champion. At this moment the whole scenerio is completely different. It is both competitive and political.
What would an average ponder like me do ? Take a break stop showing, hopefully the situation will pass. Still I enjoy going to the show. To appreciate the new GC and to find out who has deeper pockets. The competition today is not about good husbandary or water keeping. If you can not afford 100 grand you have no chance of taking the GC.
I don't think anyone could prevent competition, it is in our human nature and our ego. Honestly if I have a pocket that deep I would remain in the competition, but I don't, so I stayed on the side line.

[Bob Winkler]

100 grand???? not in most shows. Try ~10% of that as an average, some times significantly less . Yes there have been a notable few that were up there, but still 100 g's is way out of whack as an average. I don't usually share $ amounts, but two of our GC's were bought for under $2500, one for alot under....the year before they won.....so.....

[schildkoi]

Not only can one participate and be part of the action of a koi show through many of the jobs from club raffles to set up and tear down, even within the competition, there are many levels. Some people shoot for a given best in Size, or one of the "levels" of champions such as "Baby." Others shoot for winning a "Best in Class" in one of the non gosanke classes. Its doesn't take a GC potential koi to participate in a Koi show, and it doesn't take 1000s of dollars either.

Steve

[PapaBear]

The last few posts have taken things back to where they started (and where they belong). Having a GC is by no means the only way to participate. Any venue of this kind has a lot of WORK involved, and owning a high dollar Koi won't get any of it done.
Where else will you find a wealthy businessman/woman working side by side with a factory worker, a landscaper, a carpenter, a banker, an engineer, a dentist, and an architect??? They may not all own fish in the same class, but they all come together to do whatever it takes to make their show the best it can be! The backyard breeder who has never been to Japan side by side with the guy who goes at least once every year, and they have a common purpose. Making the show work.
One of them may have the GC while the other has an "also ran" in size 2. But they strive together for the same goal, which is to put on a good show that has the "non-competetive" benefit of introducing the general public to the beauty of Koi.

[jnorth]

I don't understand the whole GC thing. Why do some people think you need a size 7 koi to compete? I like competing in the size 1-3 classes. Easy to move, cheap buy-in. Whats not to like? The best part a show for me though is hanging out with my koi kichi friends and making some new ones. So yeah for the most part it is a non-competative diversion for me. Showing my koi is more like icing on the cake.

[schildkoi]

I find that the misconception concerning shows and claims towards GCs and high dollar fish typically come from those less informed and perhaps never even having shown. They can be tough nuts to crack sometimes in trying to get that understanding and getting them to show for the first time. I've found that once a person shows, gets a comfort level doing so (netting and transporting), you have them "hooked."

Steve