ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Atty. De Castro is a lawyer by profession, and a cocker for recreation. He is an Honor Graduate from the UP College of Law (cum laude and 1970 Class Salutatorian) and a Bar Top Notcher (3rd Place, 1970 Bar Examinations) and presently a Professor of Law at the Ateneo de Manila School of Law. He has Masteral (LIM) and Doctoral (SJD ) degrees in law from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. As a cocker, he has garnered numerous championships in big time and international derbies. In this article, he offers gems of tips and lessons he acquired from his lifelong experiences in the sport. COCKFIGHTING BUILDS CHARACTER Cockfighting is a pastime to a great majority of Filipinos who find
infinite fascination in the sport, which has been aptly described
as a game of a million thrills.
What is the best cock? A good cock has speed, power and accurate cutting ability. 2) A powerful cock should have a neck that is not stiff because if
it does, it could not pivot well and would usually have breasts hat
are exposed and that would be easy target for opponents. 3) Accurate cutting abilities in roosters could be seen in the sharpness of their eyes and with the way they stretch their legs. a) THE EYES – The eyes should he healthy, with wide and dilated pupils. Generally, red eyes are sharper. Black eyes are like wearing eyeglasses, which are not good at night when derbies are generally held. White eyes are like the eyes of people afflicted with albino, which are too sensitive to glares and are usually dull and dim. A rooster with sharp eyes always watches his opponent and its movements. It can evade fatal thrusts and it could hit his opponent accurately, without wasting blows which do not usually connect. Clever roosters have shard eyes. b) GOOD LEG STRETCH – This quality is the most guarded secret for success of famous cockers and is well-known among the reputable breeders and cockers from Bacolod and elsewhere. The rooster should have long, loose stretch of legs in front. You
can this during sparring. The delivery of the blow reaches the opponent.
The body of the rooster hardly moves and several blows may be delivered
even when the body does not move.
Gameness, courage, bravery, strong fighting spirit and durability are desirable qualities that depend on a number of factors, such as bloodline, upbringing and good conditioning. These are outside the scope of this article and should be read in other literature on cockfighting.
One does not need much capital to be a millionaire in cockfighting.
all you need are good roosters. As owner of financed roosters, you do not even have to bet, or betting is optional on your part. In cockfighting, there is such a phenomenon as a Good Day or a Bad Day. On a bad day, you should know how to quit, cut down or control the losses. On a good day, you should know how to maximize your winnings. When you join a derby, you have to put up the entry fee or pot money,
and the individual bet on each rooster. Now comes the championship. So far you have won P261.000.00 on four fights on a minimum bet of P11,000.00 per rooster. You may bet only P11,000.00 minimum bet on the 5th cock since if it wins you get the pot money or championship prize, with honors attached to it. Or you may bet 1/5 of the expected championship prize on the opponent by way of insurance, if such prize is big enough, so you can add more to your winnings if the last cock loses. If it wins, you emerge a champion and you only throw away a small portion (1/5) for the insurance. On a bad day that you lose all the five fights, you lose only P55,000.00 and the pot money. Even if you lose the first 2 fights, and win the last 3 fights, you shall still be ahead in the money under the Progressive Betting Scheme. The art of progressive betting may be put to good use while betting in the trabesya, or while playing the game without an entry. The trick is to bet progressively four times in a row while winning. Start with a base of P5,000.00. If you win on the first bet, double the bet on the second bet which is P10,000.00, assuming that your first is on even odd, without a logro. If you win the second bet, bet P20,000.00 on the third and if the third wins, bet P40,000.00 on the fourth. If the fourth wins, you have so far won P75,000.00 on a starting capital of P5,000,00. Should you now quit? It is up to you. If you are content with P75,000.00, less 10% or P7,500.00 for the kristo, then quit. If you want to win more, don't quit. Since you have now a bigger capital, you may raise your base to P10,000.00 and roll the bets 4 times while winning. Why roll the bets for four times only? Because the statistical probability of the fifth time is difficult to hurdle, old timers in cockfighting call this El Quinto. When you start, say P5,000.00 and you lose on the first bet or even the second bet, you go back to the base bet, or P5,000.00 and roll it again four times. Everytime you lose, you go back to the base, and then roll your bet. If you win four times, choose a higher base than before and roll the bets again four times. One fallacy in cockfighting is to bet progressively when losing to recoup the losses, and to bet regressively when winning in the fear of losing. In cockfighting, there are good days and bad days. Without self - control and self- restraint, one can lose all his possessions on a bad day. Be a heavy bettor only from your winnings. C. Even Betting Based On Trends A bettor that adopts this technique of even betting has a high probability
of going home ahead in the money from any cockfighting day.
LUNAR HOROSCOPE There is a degree of plausibility to the view that the behavior, and even the fate, of people on earth on in a great measure are affected by the position of the moon in its four quarters. From this belief, and from experience and lessons handed down from generation to generation, the following Lunar Horoscope, based on the colors of the feathers and legs of the roosters, and the position of the moon in its respective quarter is evolved. COCKFIGTHING HOROSCOPE BY SCALES OF
The probability of winning ranges from a scale of 0 to 18 As a general rule, during new moon and first quarter when the night is generally dark, dark legged and dark feathered roosters are top winners. During full moon and last quarter of the month when the moon is bright at night, the yellow legged or white legged and light colored roosters are top winners. From the experience, the Horoscope is 80% accurate. A rooster with the right color under the Horoscope may lose, if the other rooster, with wrong color, has superior kaliskis or other pre-ordained sure winning qualities.
THE WINNING SCALES (KALISKIS) AND OTHER PRE-ORDAINED WINNING QUALITIES There is also in some measure a degree of plausibility to the view that the fate and fortune of the roosters, as with men, are pre-determined and written in their scales, as in the palms of the hands of men, and in other signs of other pre-ordained winning qualities. A. Winning Scales 1. The whole unbroken scales at the knuckles, (buo sa kamao), found
after the fifth scales downward from spur level. These should be balanced
in the two feet, and the more whole scales downward the better. Roosters
with this scales become multiple winners. Heeling is the important aspect of cockfighting. It is the knife
(tari) tied to the gamecock that kills the opponent. It spells the
difference between victory and defeat. The position of the knife depends on the character of the legs, whether it is tihaya, regular, or kubkob or piki. But in any kind of legs, one rule of thumb based on geometrical precision should be followed. The direction of the blade should be aligned with the direction of the inner left leg to which the blade is being attached. When brought downwards with the nails of two inner finger touching, the end of the blade should be pointing to the base of the right leg. Pushing the leg a little forward to bend the knee, the end the knife should be aligned to the middle of the body starting from the scrotum. Pulling the leg backward and elevating it higher, the direction of the blade should be aligned with the direction of the left leg. If the points to an upward direction to the left when raised upward, it should be aligned to the direction of the inner leg by lowering pillow (paunan ). When standing with the knife already attached, the direction of
the blade should be in-between the direction of the outer and middle
left leg finger opposite the blade. If it is aligned to the middle
finger, then it is placed too-inclined inside (masyadong pasok ).
If it is aligned to the middle finger, then it is diretsa. If the
tip of the blade is pointed to the left, then the sight is out (labas).
All these types should be avoided. If the blade is too inclined inside,
it is poor in killing in the exchange of blows on the ground. If it
is diretsa or labas, it does not produce deep wounds. The tip of the knife (tari ) should be horizontally on the same level of the spur.
Cockfighting, being a favorite national past time in the Philippines is here to stay, with it's intense thrills , joys, and pitfalls. It is hoped that above lessons could be of help to other cockers, big or small, now and in the generations to come.
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