Editing Cockfighting (section)

== Regional variations ==
[[File:Hahnenkampf 2.jpg|thumb|Spurs taped and tied onto legs in [[East Timor]]]]
[[File:Cock-spur used in the Philippine Islands for fighting cocks.png|thumb|A single-edged spur (''tari'') used in Philippine cockfighting (c.1879)<ref name="Moseley">{{cite book |last1=Moseley |first1=Henry Nottidge |title=Notes by a Naturalist on the "Challenger" |date=1879 |publisher=Macmillan and Co. |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/notesbyanatural02mosegoog/page/n434 413] |url=https://archive.org/details/notesbyanatural02mosegoog}}</ref>]]
[[File:Legal cockfighting Guiguinto coliseum8.jpg|upright=0.7|thumbnail|right|Single-edged blade (spurs) taped-tied onto left leg (by gaffer ("Taga Tari") with handler ("taga-bitaw")]]
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 17th century English cockfighting, the spikes were made of silver. The sharp spurs have been known to injure or even kill the bird handlers.<ref>{{cite news|author=Staff |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/rooster_revenge_cockfighting_bird_vdWgYmiTQbLmMBltVoPmxK |title=Cockfighting bird stabs, kills man |work=The New York Post |publisher=Nypost.com |date=2011-02-06 |access-date=2014-02-11}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banbloodsports.com/camp-cf.htm|publisher=Irish Council Against Bloodsports|access-date=February 22, 2008|title=Help expose illegal cockfighters}}</ref>

Cockfighting is common throughout [[Southeast Asia]], where it is implicated in spreading [[Avian influenza|bird flu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32659/title/Death-Match/|title=Death Match|website=The Scientist|access-date=19 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/animal_protection_group_calls_on_world_health_organization_to_combat_cockfighting_as_key_factor_in_spread_of_avian_flu.html |title=Animal Protection Group Calls on World Health Organization to Combat Cockfighting as Key Factor in Spread of Avian Flu |date=February 18, 2005 |access-date=February 22, 2008 |publisher=Humane Society of the United States |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219051724/http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/animal_protection_group_calls_on_world_health_organization_to_combat_cockfighting_as_key_factor_in_spread_of_avian_flu.html |archive-date=February 19, 2008 }}</ref> Cockfighting is a popular form of fertility [[worship]] in [[Southeast Asia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tuninst.net/Myanmar/Nat-worship/nat-in-classroom/nat-in-classroom.htm#fn02 |title=Using Spirit Worship to Infuse Southeast Asia into the K–16 Classroom |date=January 15, 2005 |publisher=Tun Institute of Learning |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203160532/http://www.tuninst.net/Myanmar/Nat-worship/nat-in-classroom/nat-in-classroom.htm |archive-date=December 3, 2012 }}</ref>

=== India ===
{{Main|Cockfighting in India}}
The sport of cockfighting has long been outlawed in India, with the Supreme Court proclaiming the practice to be in direct violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{Cite web|date=2020-01-22|title=Man killed by chicken at illegal cockfight|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-man-killed-rooster-cockfight-razor-blades-andhra-pradesh-a9296531.html|access-date=2021-07-12|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> According to M Ravindranath Babu Superintendent, Indian Police, it is also considered a hijack of traditional festivals to promote illegal betting and gambling. Despite this, institutional resistance to government bans on cockfighting occurs. At India's ‘Sun God’ festival in 2012, the local Bharatiya Janata Party district committee campaigned for the right to have cock-fights. This was then agreed by local police if it took place inside the temples.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>

Cockfights are currently common in the southern Indian states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and in [[Tulu Nadu|Tulu Nādu]] it is a tradition after any ritual to conduct cockfight despite a countrywide ban imposed in 1960. It is a regional spectacle primarily taking place in January, coinciding with harvest festival celebrations. Like [[Jallikattu]], Cock fighting ([[:ta:சேவல் சண்டை|Seval Sandai]]) an ancient spectator sport is mentioned in Sangam literature ''[[Paṭṭiṉappālai]]'' and ''[[Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai]].''{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

=== Indonesia ===
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Hanengevecht TMnr 20027294.jpg|thumb|Confronting two cocks for ''tabuh rah'' ritual ''tajen'' (fighting) in [[Bali]], Indonesia, 1971]]
Cockfighting is a very old [[tradition]] in [[Balinese Hinduism]], the Batur Bang Inscriptions I (from the year 933) and the Batuan Inscription (dated 944 on the Balinese Caka calendar) disclose that the ''tabuh rah'' ritual has existed for centuries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2002/01/23/bali039s-cockfighting-tradition-lives.html |title=Bali-Cockfighting Tradition Lives |work=The Jakarta Post |location=Jakarta, Indonesia |publisher=Thejakartapost.com |date=2002-01-24 |access-date=2014-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225114512/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2002/01/23/bali039s-cockfighting-tradition-lives.html |archive-date=2014-02-25 }}</ref>

In [[Bali]], cockfights, known as ''tajen'' or ''[[:id:Sabung ayam|Sabung ayam]]'', are practiced in an ancient religious purification [[ritual]] to expel evil spirits.<ref>Bali Today: Love and social life, By Jean Couteau, Jean Couteau et al., pp 128–129, Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2005</ref> This ritual, a form of [[animal sacrifice]], is called ''tabuh rah'' ("pouring blood").<ref>Bali, Sekala and Niskala: Essays on society, tradition, and craft, Fred B. Eiseman – page 240 – Periplus Editions, 1990</ref> The purpose of tabuh rah is to provide an offering (the blood of the losing chicken) to the evil spirits. Cockfighting is a religious obligation at every Balinese temple festival or religious ceremony.<ref>Bali, Sekala and Niskala, Vol. 2: Essays on Society, Tradition, and Craft, Fred B. Eiseman Jr.</ref> Cockfights without a religious purpose are considered [[gambling]] in Indonesia, although it is still largely practiced in many parts of Indonesia. Women are generally not involved in the tabuh rah process. The tabuh rah process is held on the largest pavilion in a Balinese temple complex, the [[wantilan]].

The American anthropologist [[Clifford Geertz]] published his most famous work, ''[[Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight|Notes on the Balinese Cockfight]]'', on the practice of cockfights in Bali. In it, he argued that the cockfight served as a pastiche or model of wider Balinese society from which judgments about other aspects of the culture could be drawn.

=== Philippines ===
[[File:MetroManilajf1612 41.JPG|thumb|World Gamefowl Expo 2014, World Trade Center [[Metro Manila]]]]
Cockfighting was already flourishing in pre-colonial Philippines, as recorded by [[Antonio Pigafetta]], the Italian diarist aboard [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s 1521 expedition.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dundes|first=Alan|title=The Cockfight: A Casebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy5VqKSYt8IC|year=1994|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-14054-0|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy5VqKSYt8IC&pg=PA137 137]}}</ref>

Cockfighting, locally termed ''sabong'', remains a popular pastime in the [[Philippines]], where both illegal and legal cockfights occur. Legal cockfights are held in cockpits every week, whilst illegal ones, called ''tupada'' or ''tigbakay'',<ref>{{cite news |last1=Logrono |first1=Guam P. |last2=Lagunda |first2=Kevin A. |title=Cebu police collar 30 men for engaging in 'tigbakay' in Carcar, Pinamungajan |url=https://ph.news.yahoo.com/cebu-police-collar-30-men-063200305.html |access-date=24 January 2022 |work=Sunstar |date=23 January 2022}}</ref> are held in secluded cockpits where authorities cannot raid them. In both types, knives or ''gaffs'' are used. There are two kinds of knives used in Philippine cockfighting: single-edged blades (used in derbies) and double-edged blades; lengths of knives also vary. All knives are attached on the left leg of the bird, but depending on agreement between owners, blades can be attached on the right or even on both legs. ''Sabong''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jerry |first1=Mattrew P. |last2=Cheruda |first2=Dominic A. |title=Sabong in the Philippines, E Sabong |url=https://sabonghq.com/ |access-date=8 March 2023 |work=SabongHQ|date=21 February 2022}}</ref> and illegal ''tupada'', are judged by a referee called ''sentensyador'' or ''koyme'', whose verdict is final and not subject to any appeal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gmanews.tv/video/25601/Emergency-'Sentensyador' |title=Emergency: 'Sentensyador' |publisher=Gmanews.tv |date=2008-07-12 |access-date=2014-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403020911/http://www.gmanews.tv/video/25601/Emergency-'Sentensyador' |archive-date=2010-04-03 }}</ref> Bets are usually taken by the ''kristo'', so named because of his outstretched hands when calling out wagers from the audience from memory.

The country has hosted several ''World Slasher Cup'' derbies, held biannually at the [[Smart Araneta Coliseum]], [[Quezon City]], where the world's leading game fowl breeders gather. World Slasher Cup is also known as the "Olympics of Cockfighting". The [[Commons:Category:World Gamefowl Expo 2014|World Gamefowl Expo 2014]] was held in the World Trade Center [[Metro Manila]].