Page 43 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 36

Above:
Reference photos of the
Koi at the Members’
Seminar at the ZNA
Kanto Show in 2018.
Right:
The Kanto Seminar fish.

Virtual vs Reality

Sitting at home looking at a virtual magazine where
the Koi are static and where nobody is standing over
you with a stopwatch is a long way from these tests
in real life. There, the fish are in a vat, or sometimes
spread over several vats, and the fish are on the
International Judges Graphics vs Photos move. I once did a seminar where I never clearly saw
participating at the the head of one of the fish during those allocated
Holland 2016 I’ve deliberately chosen to use graphics for this seven minutes because it was always swimming
Judges’ Seminar.
exercise rather than photos which is the norm. I’ve under the other fish.
done this for several reasons. One, a judge’s
comment might upset the owner of the real fish. Two, I’ve attended other exams where there were additional
photos can be interpreted differently by different fish in the vats that weren’t in the competition, by
people. Three, by using graphics I can contrive to way of a distraction. I even attended one where one
ensure that all the elements that will be detailed in the of the vats was deliberately cloudy. Dastardly as
judges’ comments are clearly visible. these additional distractions are, they are typical of
some of the conditions found on the Show circuits.
Remember its ‘Train hard – work easy’.
A useful tip that I was given at one of these real
seminars was to give each fish a name that identifies
it quickly. A lot of time can be taken up reconciling a
fish you’ve just assessed in the vat with its photo on
the paper. However, this will not be a problem with
this virtual test. All Koi are clearly labelled.

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