First drop

Exploring Bali's illegal cock fights in Indonesia.

By Marcin Konkel

September 13^th, 2023

Sep, 2023

I participated in a dozen cock-fighths (tajen) in two different arenas and played the dice in a local game in Bali, Indonesia. I was the only bule (non-Indonesian) there. During the cock-fights, the amounts people bet on a single fight can equal a new Tesla (billions of rupiah) - depending on the arena. Earners of a day pay equivalent to two cups of coffee meet with sellers of acres of land to foreign developers.

They bring their roosters and wish for luck or want a piece of action, spending their last savings. When the gong hits, it all does not matter anymore as the metaphor of life moves to the arena. Two birds make a show until the first blood is drawn (tabuh rah meaning blood sacrifice).

The show continues until all the birds surrounding the arena have fought. Those illegal battles (due to gambling) are there to entertain the evil spirits before the ceremony preventing their animals from suffering from outbreaks of disease causing death. During the years, betting took the first stage, leaving the faith as only a small portion of the event (or so it seems).

Read the full story below.

The arena

People were slowly gathering when I entered. Everyone was dressed in a sarong to respect the spiritual aspect of the event. The sweet and sour smell of different food stalls let everyone know that the fights would start any moment now. Due to the amounts of money being gambled the food is said to be better here than on any other venue outside. Some people come here only to eat and for entertainment.

In the great circle arena a set of chairs was available for players, leaving the concrete stairs solely for the spectators. A dozen bamboo cages occupied the inside of the ring with new ones arriving in regular intervals. A cage inside the ring was an indicator of placing ones rooster up for a fight.

Awaiting the first gong, people played a local game of kocokan in between foodstalls, where one can bet on a field or two, and the dice would tell you if you were lucky or not. The starting rate was 10k IDR (~0.65 USD), yet only some bet that low. Apart from kocokan, people also entertained themselves with blok kiyu (card domino game) and capdeki (card ceki game).

Cock fights happen before important ceremonies and are held near the temples in order to entertain the spirits and prevent community animals from suffering from outbreaks of disease causing death. They say an entertained spirit is easier to become a positive one.

I'm not rich because I'm gambling

"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" - Wikipedia

Although the law protects cockfights' spiritual aspect, gambling has been illegal since 1981. That is why fights are not advertised. The place and time of the events are shared personally by word of mouth or WhatsApp. The arenas are well hidden from the main roads. People do not take videos or photographs during the events so they don't go viral, resulting in the attention of the police.

Nobody took their mobile phone out on the two arenas where I was present. When somebody would want to find the place where the fights are happening they would do that through the sounds and amount of parked motorbikes. That said, many people turn a blind eye to the events so long as they are within the confines of the arena.

As gambling is involved, local women wrote a song to men whose premise is: "I'm not rich because I'm gambling," expressing what is so common - people betting their last dime on the fights and leaving their families without enough to survive. It is a purely male sport in which women don't participate often. They are not banned per se, but, as one of my sources from Bali said, they: "have other, more feminine, work to take care of".

On the other hand, in Toraya regency (Sulawesi), it is not uncommon for a woman to bet yet it's uncommon to participate in a fight with her animal. My observation is that, although women seem to have have equal rights in Indonesia, they are socially pressured to attend to certain life activities rather than others. In practice, this leaves them in imbalance. Atop of this come various cultural and religious aspects in different parts of the country.

To respect being let in and getting permission to take photographs, I do not share the exact date or place where the events happened and publish this material after a while.

Gede's bet

People treat roosters as pets in Indonesia. Cocks who fight are also well taken care of and trained. The latter could mean being placed in a bamboo basket next to the road - to get accustomed to the noise while, at the same time, not getting into random fights with cocks of adjacent neighbours. The training is often held in home backyards at the same time ensuring the fights aren't lethal. After some time, the rooster gets accustomed to being calm before the fight and when held by a human.

All affluent players have assistants to take care of their livestock. They also have families who breed roosters for them and prepare them for fights. For a rooster, a single fight can be their last one.

The sought for animals have specific traits like no black freckles on their legs (brings bad luck) or camah (red splotches on their muscles, skin or tongues). A properly looking and coached rooster can cost from 10 million IDR (~650 USD) to 40+ million (~2500+ USD). This I learned from Gede who I met on the second, smaller, arena. His rooster also participated in the fights. You can guess whether a participant is wealthy by how they bring the animal: Is it brought in a bag or a colourful bamboo basket? Who carries the animal, the assistants or the owner? Where do they sit and how do they bet?

How to win a new Tesla

More and more people has gathered on the concrete stairs surrounding the ring. The air was already dense with smells, sounds and the crowd. All the chairs around the ring were taken. Around two dozens bamboo cages already residing on the inner rim of the arena (kalangan tajen). The judges (saye kembar or tukang kembar) in a number of minimum five (and maximum ten) were already in place together with the gong master (saye tuk). It was time to start the first fight.

All fights consist of three stages:

Rooster checking - both rooster owners take turn in holding and examining opponents animal for proper size and blade choice. If there is weight imbalance a different blade is selected for each rooster. Yes, each rooster has a blade attached to be more lethal on the opponent and to draw the first blood.
Betting - there are different ways to bet between the audience and people in the arena. People also create weights for which four words are used "Gasal, Cok, Ludo and Apit" each meaning a different setup for the transaction.
Fighting - starts with a gong. Second gong means owners take their roosters away from the duel. If there is no winner both fight in a bamboo cage. They are put there opposite to each other. The winner is decided based on which rooster pecks the head of its opponent first. If both cocks peck each others heads fight continues outside the basket until one is dead.

The minimum bet is 10k IDR yet bets on the high end of a spectrum can reach billions or rupiah (depending on the arena) which can equate to brand new Tesla car, a home or a rice field. I've seen people handing over money freshly taken from the bank, still wrapped in money bands.

People bet with rooster owners on the arena as well as each other in the crowd using special gestures instead of words. The crowd is so loud that it would not be possible to hear one another out. I didn't get into the nitty gritty of the signs yet the sounds of the betting phase can let you hear why they might need them.

When the fight finishes, the winner takes it all - victory, money and opponents rooster to eat for supper.

Epilogue

It was already after the first gong. The fights continued. One after the other. The smell of food and local sellers were providing for those shouting their bets in each other faces. Every other gong was eliminating one rooster at a time. More players were coming, more money crossed hands. The day continued and I was going in circles not having vested my hopes on the arena. I thanked the security for borrowing me a sarong (I left mine in the car) and continued about my day outside.

PS. Gede's rooster won the fight making him a bit more wealthier although he needed to share the profit with few people. With an average monhtly pay in Indonesia equalling to ~460 USD and daily salary of two cups of coffee in London or NYC. Gede won two-three days of work (after sharing the profit). Well, that was at least what I noticed.