The main arena of the Pasay Cockpit in Manila.
A bookmaker, or 'Kristo' examines a potential fighter before setting his odds
The bookies are named 'kristo' because of their outstretched hands when calling out bets from the spectators. All wagers are consigned to memory, and at the end of each fight the money owing is screwed into a ball and hurled across the room to the winner.
Once the fighters have been chosen the volume gathers to a cresendo as the kristos and punters cry out their bets to each across the stadium.
The Armoury. Single edged blades, or 'gaffs' are used in most derbies, although the length can vary, an double edged blades can be used upon agreement by the owners before the fight.
A blade is attached to the left leg of a bird before a fight
Potential fighters are brought to the ring where they are matched, tested and riled to prepare them for fighting. When the birds show adequate aggression towards each other they are released to fight.
Two game birds attack each other in a flurry of feathers and flashing blades. Most fights last only a few minutes, and sometimes only a matter of seconds.
If the birds stop fighting the referee or 'sentensyador' intervenes to pit them against each other once more. The fight ends when either one bird is declared dead, or until one can no longer support its own weight.
The loser.
The sentensyador sheathes the gaff of the winning bird as the losing owner collects his fallen fowl from the ring.
A proud owner shows off his champion bird.
The winning cock is usually taken to one of the back rooms of the arena where two 'surgeons' await to patch it up for a fee. The birds' wounds are disinfected, stitched up, and they are given an antibiotic injection before being returned to the owner. Most birds will continue to be fought until they are either killed or are too injured to be able to continue fighting.
A surgeon stitches up the severed toes of one winner.
Both of the surgeons I spoke to had been to medical school before they became 'chicken doctors'. This man had been working at the Pasay cockpit for nearly 35 years.
The vicious wounds inflicted by the blades are clearly visible on the naked bodies of the losing birds, which are plucked and returned to their owners for the pot.
