Cockfighting, the contesting of specially bred male
chickens, is a blood sport, that subset of sports heavily
reliant on the likelihood of injury, bloodletting, or
death. In cockfighting, throughout its many variations,
the bird acts as a surrogate for the owner or handler.
While wagers may ride on the performance of a particular rooster, the communal display of virile zeal is more
important.
From this perspective, the human participant in a
cockfight, in spite of the obvious violence, views himor herself (more frequently him) as taking part in a
sport, not engaging in animal cruelty. In his wellknown study of Balinese cockfighting, Clifford Geertz
explores the notion that cockfighting reflects the basest
component of humanity. Yet he shows too that cockfighting is multifaceted, with elements that extend beyond the gory spectacle.
History
The chicken’s history is considerably more glorious
than its present. Thought to be prophetic, the chicken
bird was pampered, cultivated, and desired both for its
special relationship with the sun and as a provider of
magic-laden plumes. Partly for this reason, the keeping
of chickens, though not necessarily for food, spread
from Southeast Asia through much of Africa, up
through Iran, and through many Pacific islands. Longago Aryan invaders of India learned to enjoy cockfights
and held the birds in great esteem. By 1000 B.C.E. they
forbade any peoples under their control to eat chicken.
Evidence shows that the birds were raised, presumably for sport and ritual, by the Celts, Gauls, and ancient Britons. Chickens were reportedly introduced into
Greece about 524–460 B.C.E. with the associated sport
spreading throughout Asia Minor and Sicily. From
Rome, the pastime moved northward and became popular throughout Italy, Germany, Spain and its eventual
colonies, and through England, Wales, and Scotland. In
some areas, especially among maritime nations quick
to see the advantages, fowl were reared for food. Chickens could well endure the life at sea and provided fresh
meat and eggs, but were also used to forecast the future
and for entertainment.
Cockfighting is so old and widely distributed that
examples of its imprint on language, design, and decoration are easy to find. In today’s English language, examples include the words “cock’s egg,” a malformed
egg, and “cockney,” a “malformed” variation of the English accent. Because of roosters’ image of pugnacity
and courage, an insouciant fellow may be called a “coxcomb” and an overconfident person “cocky” or “cocksure.” A disappointed person may be described as
“crestfallen.”
The magic quality of the cock greeting the dawn is
evidenced by the rooster-shaped windvanes and
weathervanes that grace so many barns and homes.
Since antiquity, images and language using the cock
motif have been commonplace when trying to convey
ideas related to courage, durability, magic, robustness,
patriotism, and aggressiveness. The cock is virtually
the national symbol of France, and is frequently used
on clothing and other advertising.
Rules and Play
Cockfighting is very widespread and exists in several
forms. Depending on geography, cocks fight “bareheeled,” with attached blades, or with “spurs,” “harpoons,”or “gaffs.”Tools attached to the fowl for the fight
may be made from ivory, tortoise shell, bone, specially
prepared chicken spurs (superimposed over the bird’s
normal one), plastic, brass, and even alloy cut from jet
turbine engine blades. And there are “boxing” events in
which the fowl’s real spur is covered by padded “gloves”
to keep from severely injuring his opponent.
Cockfighting is still an important pastime available
across America, Europe, and elsewhere. Magazines cater
to enthusiasts, and several craftspeople, like specialist
jewelers, fabricate the blades, gaffs, and harpoons used in the bouts. Though certainly part of a fringe entertainment in most of the West, cockfighting provides a
sound enough infrastructure to support a number of
businesses. In some areas of the world the sport is fully
engaged in the economy, much as baseball is in the
United States.
Descriptions of cockfights around the world suggest much general similarity in rules and play.
Although there are local, regional, and national differences, cockfights around the world have a number of
common features. Common structural features include
the differential valuation of different categories of
fights, a regional basis for betting, betting being an integral part of virtually every fight, protocol enforced regarding the wagering and the performance of the cock
handlers, and, usually, an attempt to match fowl in
some reasonable way (usually by size).
In addition, cockfights usually progress through a
predictable series of steps: (1) bout preliminaries including picking cocks, prepping them, and showing
them to the crowd and competition; (2) the business of
betting; (3) placing the cocks in the ring and the almost
invariable fighting that follows; (4) resolution of bets;
and (5) initiation of the next bout. The fight itself continues until one of the cocks is killed or is so injured
that it cannot continue. It seems that the goal is not for
one cock to kill the other, but for the birds to display
“heart” and gameness.
A Louisiana Cockfight
The southern Louisiana cockfights observed by the author took place in a very new cockpit that had been
near a small, rural complex containing a horse track,
bars, and small restaurants. The contemporary-style
metal quick-fab building featured basic bleachers and
a simple bar. The pit building fronted a large parking
area and boasted an attractive, well-lit sign with its
name and the word “cockpit” prominently displayed.
Nothing about the situation seemed furtive, although
other pits are frequently in out-of-the-way locations.
The pit was assembled from metal reinforcing-bar
and hardware cloth. The ring or pit was raised slightly
above the surrounding earth. Concrete covered most of
the area, but not the pit or a small rectangular area into
which dead chickens were tossed and in which the heel
attachments were put on. There were both a main pit
and a “drag” pit available where long or unusual fights
could be finished.
The birds, which are lavished with attention and
generally fed special meals as part of the preparation,
were kept in custom-built individual carriers. Matches
were made among the breeders and owners. The game
cocks were informally presented to the crowd.
Wagering, clearly important to the event, generally
occurs at this point. Bets may be trivial—buying the
next round of drinks—but overall the event was a form
of “serious play.” The fights between evenly matched
birds are straightforward, but are also part of a variety
of competition patterns. Each region offers particular
styles of organizing the matches, including informal
pairs, derbies, melees, and other increasingly complex
forms.
Before each fight, the contestants were examined by
an “official” who looked under the wings and into the
eyes, shook the game cock, and thrust a lemon down
over each spur to verify that the weapon was well attached and sturdy. Last, the official wet a cotton ball
and wiped down the metal weapons. He squeezed the
remaining water into the cock’s mouth and discarded
the ball. The cocks were then paired by weight and weapon. Their attachments are designed to be uniform
for a fair event, not to be more brutal, as is sometimes
claimed.The weapons may be edged so they can both
slash and pierce. In Louisiana these competitors are
called “slashers.”Gaff cockers claim the slashers are less
sophisticated and more brutal.
Once in the pit area, the fighting cocks quickly assume their combat positions, with feathers out and
chest forward. Beady eyes glinting, the competitors
clash after a few cackled threats. Their strikes are extraordinarily fast. The target is clearly the opponent’s
head, which involves leaping up, twisting around, and
stabbing backward with the metal spurs or other heel
appliance. Often the exchange continues until one bird
is dead. At that point the winner may also be in poor
condition, possibly having been gouged in the eyes or
repeatedly stabbed in the head, body, and wings. Sometimes if a bird is “chicken” the match is ceded and the
appropriate neck wrung. Most fights are fast, but long
bouts are not unusual. These involve lengthy periods of
one of the birds chasing his opponent around and
around the ring—a standoff resolved either by one
bird’s sudden action or by an owner stopping the
match. As their courage ebbs and flows, the birds fluff
up for the attack or smooth down to try to escape.
Participants in cockfighting events often openly
show adoration for their birds, fondling, petting, and
cooing soothingly to them. Because the game fowl’s raison d’être is to seek dominance among his kind, cockfighters see their role as a positive one of support, not a
negative one of predatory delight in the fights. Cockfighters believe their birds are happiest when allowed
to exhibit prowess in the fight, contesting the ground
with a fairly matched opponent.
Depending on your point of view, the cocker is not
a rebel but a traditionalist. The modern cocker, considered a pariah in many circles, is subjected to increasing
pressure to conform to the different, though not necessarily more salubrious, values and behaviors of his or
her antagonists. When opponents of cockfighting call
participants barbarians, villains, scofflaws, and so on,
they valorize the pursuit in some people’s minds. The
journals serving the fraternity are saturated with descriptions of participants as “good men,”“the best sort
of man,” “a man’s man,” and so on. It is easy to get the
implication about nonparticipants.
—JON GRIFFIN DONLON
Bibliography: Donlon, J. (1990) “Fighting Cocks, Feathered
Warriors, and Little Heroes.” Play & Culture 3: 273–285.
Dundes, Alan. (1994) The Cockfight: A Casebook. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Geertz, Clifford.
(1972) “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight.”
Daedalus, The Journal of the American Academy 101
(Winter): 1–37. Smith, Page, and Charles Daniel. (1975)
The Chicken Book. Boston: Little, Brown.