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COCKFIGHTING- BALINESE STYLE Many Balinese like to raise fighting cocks. Sadly though, the cockfighting is not for the sake of sport. The cock raisers usually die a small sharp knife called taji on the legs of each cock. The knives are specially made and specially looked after too, and are tied to the legs with a piece of string before the cocks fight. Cockfighting is actually used as a means of gambling. The cocks that run away, which in Balinese are called jerih, or die after the fight, are the losers. The fighting cocks are raised and kept in a cage called guwungan. They have a special menu: corn mixed with powdered grains and sadek - meat from animals that are considered sacred - mixed with materials that give strength to the cocks to fight. The men who like cock fighting like to hold and stroke the cocks while squatting for hours on the veranda of their houses.
The law enforcers are actually not concerned with the cockfighting. However, gambling is illegal in Indonesia. Cockfighting gambling has many aspects - the betting systems are varied. If one believes that the cock he owns will win, he will bet three against two, a cockfighting system called neludo. Sometimes they also have gasal betting that means a four against five betting system. It means that if one wins he will receive money five times more than what he bets. Betting with the same proportion is called baret, whilst cok refers to the four to three betting system. The participants of the cockfighting are normally honest, forthright, and friendly. The winners will treat the losers. Sometimes the winners spare some money to the losers so that they can buy food to eat with their families.
This is the unique life of bebotoh, people who engage in cockfighting in
Bali. They live simply, yet are always cheerful. Unlike gamblers who
disregard the code of ethics, the bebotoh observe the rules stipulated in
the study of cockfighting. Gamblers seek material achievement and this
group of people have jeopardized the image of bebotoh. Any form of gambling, including cock fighting, is full of dirty, immoral tricks, and it is not uncommon that cheating is also one of the characteristics of those tricks. A notorious trick in the Balinese cockfight is called ‘blolong’ or a bad deal. A regular cockfight gambler bets either for his own fighting cock, or the one that he is in favour of. But blolong gamblers instead put money on both their own cock and their opponent’s. The trick is that they bet more for their opponent’s fighting cock. For example, they bet Rp. 10,000 for their own cock but Rp. 100,000 for their adversary. They will try to take various forms of action so that the opposing cock will win. For example, holding their cock in such away to prevent it from its best attack strategy. Of course, this is done subtly and it is much easier to do with one’s own bird than with one’s opponent’s. In order to make the bird unable to fight, gamblers can try a number of things. For example, feeding the bird with certain food a few hours prior to fighting, or pressing sensitive muscles in such a way that it looks perfectly healthy but is actually unable to fight at full strength. Another common but subtle trick is tying the blade in such a way that makes it difficult to scratch its opponent. From this brief explanation we might want to draw several conclusions: a) Balinese cock fighting arenas are full of dirty tricks; b) blolong gamblers always win more money; and 3) experienced gamblers without blolong skills always lose. However, it is surprising that such dirty tricks rarely happen in a Balinese cockfight. The tricks are normally practiced by inexperienced gamblers who are not well known in the gambling community. Professional and experienced gamblers in the world rarely use tricks to win. Once a gambler is identified as a blolong, he will lose his reputation and be isolated from gambling for the rest of his life. In addition, true gamblers rarely adopt blolong tricks because they are afraid of the karma (action-reaction) law of nature. They believe that the fortune obtained through these will result in a much bigger misfortune.
Another interesting phenomenon in Balinese cockfighting is that most gamblers believe in Dewan Tajen, i.e. the spiritual power of the cock fighting arena. There is a widespread belief that by the grace of Dewan Tajen, beginner gamblers often win, which makes them addicted to gambling. These new gamblers often come to the arena bringing their ordinary roosters and they go home with victory, believe it or not! (WP Windia)
(the photos included are from a travel essay on Ubud |
They get an
enjoyment we cannot figure out. The fighting cocks have various kinds of
colours. The study of the colours of the fighting cocks can be found in
the Lontar Pengayam-ayaman, a Balinese manuscript that describes
everything pertaining to cockfighting. In its early practice, cockfighting
was aimed at neutralizing evil spirits called buthakala. It was held in
religious ceremonies to focus on the running of the cockIs blood onto
the earth. However, ever since it has been penetrated by gambling, cock
fights are held any time and anywhere. Usually they have to be done in
secret, and its proponents play hide and seek with the police. 
