BERNIE WOOLLANDS
this: Go-Sanke including Ginrin versions with the beni restricted to a red spot on their head. So as you can see it was quite simple. Since then there have been occasional changes and additions to some classes but the Tancho Class remained a constant. During that time I picked up a few hints and tips and learned that when the Tancho spot deviated from just being on the head it was considered a demerit. Also, many people believe the red spot is meant to represent the Japanese flag, however I found out that this isn’t the case.
So all in all, I felt I had Tancho sussed. That was until I was made aware of a conversation that had taken place between some of our international judges at our 2009 show.
Learning from an expert
Before talking about our 2009 show I must just mention some information that I obtained from Vincent Chiu around 2003. Vincent, for those that don’t know of him, was a Taiwanese koi keeper, a ZNA Judge and an official Japanese- English interpreter for the ZNA. In those days ‘broadband’ was only used on trunk circuits within wide area networks. It hadn’t permeated into our homes and therefore Vincent used to send diagrams and the like via fax. One such diagram concerned Tancho. In it he explained that the type of head spot wasn’t important, and that there was no one variation that was better than another. Placement and symmetry were the key elements. So shields, lozenges and squares were as good as each other, providing they were symmetrical and in the right place.
The beauty of the circle was that it was doubly symmetrical having the ability to be symmetrical on both a north-south axis as well and an east-west one.
So by the time I was ensconced in the BKKS JSC training programme I considered I knew all there was to know about Tancho.
the 2009 show
One of our teams consisted of Mike Harvey (South Africa and a ZNA judge), Gary Pritchard (UK and BKKS) and Larry Gill (USA and AKCA) who, in the course of judging, discovered a Tancho with Kuchibeni. I’m told that Larry was the first to remark that technically it was not a Tancho, and Mike agreed.
Before going any further I should point out that these remarks refer to their benching criteria; when abroad International Judges defer to the local guidelines.
Gary, like myself when I heard about Above: An excerpt from the BKKS JSC’s Bencher’s Guide
A cleaned up version of the diagram that Vincent faxed me
this, wasn’t perturbed. However, when reminded that according to Takeo Kuroki’s Manual to Nishikigoi, there could only be a single pattern on the head, we both felt the need to consult the book. When we did it left no room for grey areas about Kuchibeni, or about the issue of pattern going onto the body. Neither of these were acceptable traits of Tancho.
Now I must point out that no debate took place in the show ring. The point was made and registered and then judging continued taking into account our local ruling.
the debate
Within a week of the show’s conclusion Gary instigated an email debate between several international judges. These included Dirk de Witte from Belgium, Toen Feyen from Holland, Mike Harvey and Brian Welch from South Africa, Hongman Leung from China and myself. We shared our points of view, information and experiences about Tancho. The two items under discussion were Kuchibeni and Body Hi.
Kuchibeni
It appears that the BKKS are alone in their tolerance for kuchibeni. Although until this incident it appears to have been a
We shared our points of view, information and experiences about Tancho
AUGUST 2010 47
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