Cockfighting is part of Balinese life, at least for the men. Traditionally, blood has to be spilt for certain ceremonies, so a cockfight is taken seriously, both for entertainment and culture. Anyone who has been to a cockfight will speak of locals gathered round a pit, waving and shouting. Its part of the betting protocol, which I do not understand. Actually the pre-game show is more fun than the actual fight, which consists of 2 birds taking it in turns to fly up in the air and flick the other with their claws. Most times after a flurry of activity and feathers, one of the birds reveals a cut, being unable to continue. The device that delivers the cut is a razor attached to the other bird’s leg. BaliWWW has an excellent article on the cockfighting razor, called a taji.
Each afternoon around 5pm, there is a cock fight behind my house. I hear the cheering, which usually doesn’t last longer than a minute. Maybe I will get down there one of these afternoons and see what all the fuss is about. There used to be a cockfighting pit between Poppies I & II in Kuta, but they tore it down for new development.
