I had a conversation today with an 'elder' sensei of ZNA here in America and he quietly reminded me of so much that I knew but haven't thought enough about lately. And that is the culture of ZNA and why dedicated judges are so important to that culture. I know this sounds alien to many of you but koi is a study for a lifetime. It is one of those hobbies that has many facets to it—koi husbandry, veterinary skills, artistic design basics, gardening ability, building, biology study, artistic appreciation, aquarium skills. The list could be longer. And for these reasons Master Koi Keeping at the ZNA level is an apprenticeship experience. It is one of those few things that you can't just learn reading the internet or a book.

ZNA made the core of its focus, the teaching of others regarding these amazing fish. Including, but not limited to, overcoming challenges and also how to learn to see koi as the Japanese do- as living art. The motto, “friendship thru scales” is a statement for kindred spirits. But being ‘on the same page’ is also a matter of instruction. ZNA is meant to be that mentor program.

So the local koi judge may be trained to judge koi shows as one important function. But a good ZNA judge is so much more than that! To the local chapter the locally certified judge is FAR more valuable as the chapters teacher during the other 364 days of the year!

The officers in ZNA were also usually judges and therefore teachers. In this way, a new person joining a chapter was/is surrounded by all different levels of understanding from the one season student to the true mentor. It’s a great way to find one’s own comfort level.

This is also why the TOP of the structure, the ORGANIZATION itself, is not as important as the local chapter. And certainly should not to be the focus. ZNA is all about the local chapter as that is where the learning and teaching goes on. The rest is really not all that important. The show competition between ‘students’ and between the heavy weights is great fun. And one of the best ways I know to learn and have great fun at the same time!

And This is the reason we encourage ZNA members to belong to a LOCAL chapter where ‘thru scales’ friendships can form and learning can be shared. And the local judge can pass along the lesson.

As part of your membership in ZNA you should add the judges mentoring as part of what ZNA gives to you. Indeed I’m often asked by judges who have lost their way, what does ZNA give my chapter for the cost of dues? ZNA gives YOUR chapter YOU! A trained ZNA judge often forgets how much they know.

Thinking of judging as an Elite position is a terrible byproduct of western judging programs. Judges are not the elite of koi – they are responsible for the mentoring of newer hobbyists. And that, like the koi themselves, teaches humility, the opposite of elitism.

JR

How long do koi live?

 This is not an easy question!  Koi have a hard, and possibly short, life ahead of them when entering the new pond of a new koi keeper!  In some cases the answer to the question can be – about as long as summer lasts!  And unfortunately this has been the case for much of the history of koi in America. But with educational efforts by ZNA and also by putting the emphasis on koi appreciation (IE the real value of a special individual fish), the strives made to understand the needs of koi and the husbandry of koi have improved the statistics on the life expectancy of koi in America.  

   In the 1990s decade of the koi show, the average life span of koi probably moved into the 5- 8 year mark. This is however misleading in that the new koi keeper was still losing koi prematurely and they outnumber the established koi keeper 20-1. So even though many ZNA members have koi that are 20 years old, this statistic is swamped by the numbers of beginners and their ‘learning curve’ experiences. And we must consider that many koi die from accidents in their prime which can skew the numbers. Loss of electricity, motors failing,  ponds draining, chlorine accidents, over dosing accidents, predators, accidently poisoning and introduction of disease and parasites to an established pond- all pull down our average lifespan numbers dramatically.

    Many years ago we were told by some Japanese dealers that koi in Japan live to be hundreds of years old. This was hard to hear for American hobbyists that struggled to have their koi live a single year! Stories of famous koi such as ‘Hanako’ living 217 years were quite appealing to the prospective koi keeper of the 1980s. So it was hard to learn that as charming as that story was, it was just that- a story. Even in Japan, ‘stuff happens’ to koi!  And there are exceptions to rules but not 217 year old exceptions!

   The truth is, individual koi tend to live, all things being equal, different periods of time. Not unlike breeds of dogs, which can vary from 7 years for giant breeds like great danes to toy poodles that can live 17 years, koi can also have normal life spans that vary widely.  Wild type koi types (solid colored koi with primitive colors of black, red or yellow) tend to live a long time. I have known hobbyists for instance that have pet koi for some 30 years.  But in the show varieties such as Gosanke, the realistic life span is probably 14- 23 years old. This is likely their normal or natural life span and assumes that koi that do die at ages 8-12 are the result of conditions and stress over their lifetimes and then having a single stress event bring their lives to an end.

 We should not ever expect ‘Hanako’ type ages to be achieved in our ponds. But we should strive to make a 20 year old healthy koi a reality. Talk to your fellow ZNA members about the ages of their koi. When you find a member that has koi in the 15- 25 year range, make them your mentor as they must be doing something fundamentally right! 

                                                                                                                           Happy koi keeping. JR

Koi appear helpless to the casual observer. They have no claws, to teeth to bite, no paws, no arms, no fists, no obnoxious odor glands, no venom and no horns or antlers.

 So koi are not about offense. But they are survivors for these past 40,000 years and that is because they are built for DEFENSE. They can survive very low oxygen levels (in the wild form of common carp), they are very strong swimmers and they can survive on things that other fish would never ingest let alone get any nutrition out of!

  Kong and I have been talking about the protective elements of a koi’s skin. In that conversation we focused on cell structure and its resistance to sun light. But there is a huge grey elephant in the room we did not bring into the conversation. And that is the koi’s armor. Armor? Armor. Koi are born with budding cells ( scale pockets) within the undifferentiated skin layer. They have no protection then as fry and fingerlings. As the skin layers differentiate and become complex, these scale pockets begin to grow a scale. These growing scales fill in the dermis and actually cause the dermis and epidermis to wrap around the scale as it becomes a uniform armor all over the koi’s body. This ‘suit of ring mail’ protects the fish from the elements and from predators and natural surfaces during foraging and spawning activity. It assists osmotic regulation and protects the circulatory system and it protects the fish from the sun.

    If a koi did not have scales it would be naked and exposed to the outside world and all its dangers.

  And in ZNA of course, our motto is “friendship thru scales”. Many purposes for scales!

A koi Judge and a Biologist and a koi breeder walk into a bar---

I know, I know, sounds like the beginning of a good joke!

But IF, a koi judge, a biologist and a breeder did walk into a bar to discuss their favorite subject-- would there be any agreement! LOLs

The answer to my riddle is "yes"!

Because when a koi is 'right' it is right. It doesn't matter whether you are talking about in terms of 'imposing appearance', 'jetai' 'quality', ‘rarity’, 'great genetics', ' compounding of mutation traits ' etc.

Let’s take a great kohaku- I'll describe it;

  The kohaku's body line is strong, tapered and full. The volume is full and the structure is large, the shoulders strong, the head well shaped with a large round mouth, the fins are strong and thick, the tail is large, the peduncle is strong and tapered well off the of the body line. The stomach is tight and the scales are well ordered. Frame or bodyline or conformation is A+

The fish's Shiroji is transparent, lustrous and pure. The dermis is soft and the effect of guanine or Fukurin is lovely. The interplay of transparent dermis and luster is amazing. Genetics of the highest quality. High class skin, perfect canvas for pattern and amazing genetic mutation is A+

The fish's pattern is strong as evidenced by the kiwa and the uniform color from head to peduncle. The quality of the color is first rate as it is thick yet gives a light appearance. The pattern's interplay within the white canvas makes the pattern look three dimensional as the fish moves. The colors are a combination of two colors of orange and red. The pattern itself is an excellent example of mutation dorsal genetics.

In terms of color intensity, color luster and color thickness the fish is first rate. In terms of pattern the genetic expression is strong. The pattern compliments, and really works with, the body and the shiroji. AA+

So the art critic and standard bearer ( the koi judge) and the dreamer looking for selective breeding perfection ( the koi breeder) and the student of nature looking for the amazing specimen showing compound mutation genes in a phenotype ( the biologist) can all agree when a koi is 'right' it is an amazing collaboration of nature and man.

And then the rabbi says to the priest--------    J

 JR