Cock Fighting Man
Cock Fighting Man
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters, held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout most the United States, Brazil and in most of Europe.
The combatants, known as gamecocks, are specially bred birds, conditioned for increased stamina and strength. The comb and wattle are cut off in order to meet show standards of the American Gamefowl Society and the Old English Game Club and to prevent freezing in colder climates. Cocks possess congenital aggression toward all males of the same species. Cocks are given the best of care until near the age of two years old. They are conditioned, much like professional athletes prior to events or shows. Wagers are often made on the outcome of the match. While not all fights are to the death, the cocks do endure physical trauma that may result in death. Cockfighting was at one time considered to be an accepted, traditional sporting event in the United States. In many other areas around the world, cockfighting is still practiced as a mainstream event; in some countries it is government controlled.
While cockfighting is considered a heinous blood sport by animal welfare and animal rights activists and others, due in some part to the physical trauma the cocks inflict on each other, advocates of the sport often list cultural and religious relevance as reasons for perpetuation of cockfighting as a sport.
Process
Owners set pairs of birds to fight in order to create a spectacle for the purpose of gambling. Historically, this was in a cockpit , a term which was also used in the 16th century to mean a place of entertainment or frenzied activity. William Shakespeare used the term in Henry V to specifically mean the area around the stage of a theater. In Tudor times, the Palace of Westminster had a permanent cockpit, called the Cockpit-in-Court.
Origins
Cockfighting was a pastime in the Indus Valley Civilization by 2000 BC. The Encyclopedia Britannica (2008)—on the origins of cockfighting—holds:
The game fowl is probably the nearest to the Indian red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), from which all domestic chickens are believed to be descended.The sport was popular in ancient times in India, China, Persia, and other Eastern countries and was introduced into Greece in the time of Themistocles (c. 524–460 BC). For a long time the Romans affected to despise this “Greek diversion,” but they ended up adopting it so enthusiastically that the agricultural writer Columella (1st century AD) complained that its devotees often spent their whole patrimony in betting at the side of the pit.
Regional variations
In some regional variations, the birds are equipped with either metal spurs (called gaffs ) or knives, tied to the leg in the area where the bird's natural spur has been partially removed. A cockspur is a bracelet (often made of leather) with a curved, sharp spike which is attached to the leg of the bird. The spikes typically range in length from "short spurs" of just over an inch to long spurs almost two and a half inches long. In the highest levels of seventeenth century English cockfighting, the spikes were made of silver. In the naked heel variation, the bird's natural spurs are left intact and sharpened: fighting is done without gaffs or taping, particularly in India (especially in Tamil Nadu) There it is mostly fought naked heel and either three rounds of twenty minutes with a gap of again twenty minutes or four rounds of fifteen minutes each and a gap of fifteen minutes between them.
Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Peru, Panama, Puerto Rico, Canary Islands, and Guam have arenas with seats or bleachers for spectators surrounding the ring. In many countries, the spectacle of cockfighting is as popular as baseball and American football are in the United States. Among the competitors who raise fighting cocks, there is great pride in the prowess of their birds and in winning a championship.
Latin America
Mexico
In Aguascalientes, a state capital, one of the city's principal concert halls is the cockfighting arena, the palenque . Palenques are very common throughout the country, with almost every major city having one, and are closely related to Mexican traditional music performers, such as Vicente Fernandez, and also being (as mentioned below) the stage for Pop artists as well. During the San Marcos Fair, well-known throughout Mexico, cockfights alternate with important concerts, where the singers or dancers perform from the cockpit. Many popular singers have performed there, e.g. Latin Grammy winners Alejandro Fernandez and Alejandra Guzman.
Peru
In Peru cockfighting is allowed and it takes place in coliseums with round sand fields. Only a judge and two managers each carrying a cock are allowed in the field. Judges use tables to facilitate the refereeing of fights.
Cockfighting championships of Peru are of two kinds, Beak and Spur. The Peruvian Razor Rooster ('Gallo Navajero Peruano') features in Spur fights. In Spur fights the weight and size of the rooster varies. There are free weight championships as well.
The most important cockfighting championships take place in the Lima Region at the Coliseums Sandia, Rosedal, Abraham Wong, The Peruvian Cockfighting Circle's Coliseum and The Valentino, of the Rooster Breeders' Association of Peru.
Asia
Southeast Asia
Cockfighting is common throughout all of Southeast Asia, where it is implicated in spreading bird flu. Some local terms for cockfights:
- Thailand, Thai: ตีไก่ Ti kai ;
- The Philippines, Sabong .
- Vietnam, Đá gà .
- Indonesia and Malaysia, Sabung Ayam
In Bali, the cockfights, known as tajen are forbidden since 1981 because government of Indonesia says it's one of gambling, although it continues being practised in an ancient ritual to expel evil spirits called tabuh rah ("pouring blood"). The purpose of that cockfight is to spill blood. The spilled blood of the loser in the ground is offered to the evil spirits. In that ceremony women can not participate or even watch it. Until 1980, the bebebotoh ( tajen gamblers) usually sacrificed their properties and family to continue their practises. In tajen the cocks fights armed with a sharp knife called taji .
In Southern India
Cockfighting ( Vetrukkaal seval porr in Tamil which means "naked heel cock fight") ( Kodi Pandem in Telugu) ( Kori katta in Tulu) is favourite sport of people living in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka,and the state of Tamil nadu India. Three or four inch blades ( Bal in Tulu) are attached to the cocks' legs. Knockout fights to the death are widely practised in Andhra Pradesh. In Tamil Nadu, the winner is decided after three or four rounds. People watch with intense interest surrounding the cocks. The sport has gradually become a gambling sport. Cockfighting in Tamil Nadu is mentioned in ancient literature like Manu Needhi Sastiram, Kattu Seval Sastiram, and other sangam-age literature, 2,000 years old. It is referred to as the favourite past-time for Maravars or the warriors of Tamil Country. It is acknowledged as one of the 64 "arts" widely spoken by the scholars and mastered by the ancestors/scholars of this part of the world. In earlier days they were fighting with the jungle fowl and its variants later, due to the naval expeditions to Java and Malay by the Pandian Rulers the local poultry of that land might have found its way to Tamil Nadu and a new strain/breed started its development in here which later spread to many places such as India. The newer breeds which are known now are The "Reja" (which is a short Variety),"Sonatol","Calcutta Asil","Madras ASil","Kalkatiya" (Also known as "Kadhar" synonymous to Black Asils), The Reds (Also known locally as "Yakuth"),The Yellow Variants (Also known as The "Peela" Asil), The Grey is known locally as "Java" and its variants reddish grey as "Dummer". Also they have a "henny" variety cock known locally as "Pettai Madhiri" the literal meaning is "it looks like a hen", though this variety is said to have come from "Singala Island", or Sri Lanka.
Pakistan
Where cock fighting is a game to crow about
by Xuain HaO. It’s played-out by animals – but it’s a Man’s Game. It’s cock fighting and seen by millions as Vieit Nam’s traditional sport.
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