Watching fighting cocks in Tho Ha village

Locating by the bank of Cau River, Tho Ha village has been famous for its pottery trademark as well as cock fighting with the most expensive fighting cocks in Vietnam.
Tho Ha village belongs to Van Ha commune, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province.
Selecting fighting cocks from the eggs
Going through Tho Ha village on the narrow traditional red brick lanes, passing time-worn houses covered by traditional bricks, one can see fighting cocks everywhere. Each household has between five and seven fighting cocks.
“Many families improved their living standard thanks to fighting cocks,” said Nguyen Cong Loi, a villager.
“Each fighting cock is worth from 6 to 8 million VND and some can be sold for up to 60 to 70 million VND. The amount of money that they could not dream about before,” he added “That’s why a three-year-old boy in this village can bring his fighting cock to fight.”
Visiting Tho Ha, especially at weekend, it is normal to see crowds of people gathering under the shade of banyan trees, trying to gain a good position to see the “direct kicks” or “side kicks” of the fighting cocks who are showing their “martial arts”.
People in the village love cock fights as people in the world love football. They said that, they can live without fridges or motorbikes but cannot live without fighting cocks, which is their great happiness.
It is not easy to own a good fighting cock. Villager Chi said that one of the first conditions to have a good fighting cock is that it must be from a good breed. After that, the appearance and body of the cock is also important.
Tho Ha fighting cocks are selected from the eggs till they hatch and weigh about 6 to 7 grams. After being well-selected, the cocks will be trained to fight one or two bouts (each bout last about 15 to 20 minutes) to choose those that have good strikes. Through trainings, the cocks will better their competence and endurance.
One of the indispensable practices in training fighting cocks is giving them daily herbal massages. Two to three times a day, the owners boil bamboo and green tea leaves, turmeric (curcuma longa), and a plant of the ginger family, which they put them in a piece of cloth to massage the cocks. By doing so, the cocks’ skin will be thickened and stronger, preventing from being hurt in the fight. As a result, the hands of those who raise fight cocks are yellow.
After the herbal treatment period, the cocks will be trained and looked after in a special diet. Their main food is rice and snails. In this time, the owners also let the cocks fight for a while then put them in separate cases to make them furious when then can see their opponents in another case but cannot do anything. This period lasts from 15 to 20 days. After that, the cocks will be put in the fighting training where they can practice and improve their special strikes.
A fighting cock that is listed in the professional fighting list must pass the qualified fighting round in the hamlets, village and commune respectively. Therefore, the owners of the winning cocks are respected as masters of martial arts.
A fighting cock priced at USD 3,500
The first cock fightings took place between villages and communes in the district. As the rumours spread, those who love cock fightings in adjacent provinces brought their cocks to Tho Ha to fight.
Whatever they are doing, hearing about a guest brings his cock to Tho Ha to fight, and the villagers will stop to welcome the guest and his fighting cock. Fierce fights and cheers then seem to make the village explode.
It is said that, in the 1960s, Trinh Xuan Lac’s father had a very good fighting cock in Vietnam. Its fame brought it to Laos and Cambodia to fight as well. The fighting cock was given a nickname of “monster cock”, which won every fight within two bouts. The head, shoulder and crescent were like a monster and its skin was as hard as steel. With its “direct chest kick”, it knocked down a Thai fighting cock in a day-long fight in Vietnam in 1964.
“Enjoying the victory for a long time without opponent, my father’s fighting cock died of old age,” said Mr. Lac in a sad voice.
Tho Ha’s fighting cocks are famous for their “endless fights”, endurance and beautiful fighting arts. Therefore, customers like to buy those from senior people in the village as they have experiences in training fighting cocks.
In the recent years, revenues from selling fighting cocks have become the main income of many families in the village. Customers who buy the cocks come from the North, Central and South of Vietnam. Many of them are even from China, Laos and Cambodia. These foreign customers first brought their fighting cocks to Tho Ha to fight and then tried to buy the cocks that knocked down theirs.
“From 1996, my family sold each fighting cock at the price of six to seven million VND,” said Hung, an owner of fighting cocks.
“In recent years, good fighting cocks have been sold at the price of 15 to 20 million VND,” he added.
However, the cock that holds the price record is the “black fighting cock” owned by Mr. Hoan in Hamlet 3. It was paid USD 3,500 when it won in a fight with a cock owned by a person from Hanoi. The “black fighting cock” has never lost in a fight.