THE MOVEMENT

The complexity of a ranchu manifests on so many levels. Through my first breeding experience, just this past April, I started to learn and train my eye for the shape and form of the ranchu. That's when I actually understood the meaning of an old Japanese saying "You get the tail, you lose the head. You get the head you lose the tail". As I have mentioned in my posts before, it is very hard to get all components of a perfect ranchu in one fish. As difficult as it sounds, it is only a part of the whole "perfect ranchu" story. Ultimately, the most important quality of a "perfect ranchu" is its ability to swim gracefully and nobly. Once you see the fish swimming with no effort, gliding through the water with fluent movement, you will soon forget all its little imperfections that might have bothered you before. There is nothing more beautiful than contemplating an awe-inspiring ranchu in its swim. After all the hard work of selecting and raising that goes into a single ranchu, the noble swim is a gift.

Here is the videos of five of my 4 months old tosai. I can already see that some are nice swimmers. As they get stronger and mature, their swimming style will improve or change. One can not know exactly at what stage a particular ranchu reaches its prime. Through patience, one observes and discovers it for their selves.