What do you think of this Sanke?

[JasPR]

well, it is all very humbling Richard. Just when I feel confident I know something and then go back to Japan, I am reminded that I know very little. But that is the fun of the hobby, there is no completion and always the next set of stairs! As students all we can do is compare notes as the genetics races ahead of us.

As far as the body does, I'd suspect the picture angle regarding that tail tube? But the head is proportionally very long, a good thing for the ugly duckling type.
I always try to understand a koi when I'm judging it. A koi with no 'specialness' to it's body line but a pleasing pattern is looked at in that context. A fish that is obviously a future fish that has body line characteristics and a pattern that suits a larger fish , is looked at in that context.

IMHO, koi judging will change in the next five years as the core of the judging ranks matures in perspective. In years past, the amateur judge was more simplistic in that they could judge koi strictly as a beauty contest and the most finished fish won. Those were the rules and the best finished standard won. This created mostly a pattern orientation.
But slowly, as our information base grows, we are seeing koi for what they are- levels of quality and levels in age development. This is more the breeder's eye than the past amateur judge's eye. And I would predict that advanced judges will, at one point, chose the very best fish rather than the very best finished show fish. At first this will be hard as the exhibitor brings 'pre-' show fish to shows. But eventually, subjectivity will allow for judged to create a line where such pre-show fish are identified and passed over but intrinsically superior fish for age will be chosen over highly finished fish. Not to the extreme that a breeder would chose ( pure quality over finished beauty) but closer to the best fish as seen in what it is. This is different that 'what it will become' as that will always be something for the future and not the show ring , which is 'now'. But rather a recognition of what the fish is intrinsically and the rarity it represents. - JR

[Russell Peters]

JR and Richard,

Thank you for your insights, it has made this a really interesting thread for me.