Cockfighting Gaffs And Knives – Complete Information About Cockfighting Gaffs and Knives

Cockfighting, locally known as sabong, is an old-age practice in the Philippines.  In this, two specially bred roosters are placed in a closed pit called a cockpit to fight against each other. The main purpose of fighting is gambling and fun. The bred roosters are also called gamecocks.

Moreover, cockfighting is a popular pass time in the Philippines. This game can last over from a few minutes to almost thirty minutes. It normally results in the injury and death of one or both roosters.

Legal and illegal cockfighting games can be played in the Philippines. Illegal cockfighting is called Tupada or Tignakay, held in the hidden cockpit, while legal cockfighting is held in the cockpit every week.

Knives and gaffs must be used in these legal and illegal cockfighting types.

What is meant by cockfighting knives or gaffs?

The cockfighting knife or gaff is a sharp, scattered, harmful razor blade almost three inches long and curved called gaffs. These gaffs and knives are attached to the left leg of the bird, such as cock.

There are two types of knives that are used in the Philippines’ cockfighting;

• Single-edged blades
• Double-edged blades

The single-edged blades are used in the derbies, while the double-edged blades vary in length. The knives that are used depend on the decision of the owners. So, the blades can also be used on the right legs and also on both legs.

A referee determines Sabong and illegal Tupada. And the referee is called Sentensyador or Koyme. His decision is permanent, final, and not put through to any appeal. Cockfighting betting was normally get held by the Kristo.

In many topical variations, the cocks fit with the gaffs or knives. And these gaffs are attached to the leg of that area where the bird’s natural spur has been removed.

What is Cock spur?

A Cockspur is a curved and sharp bangle that is normally made of leather. It is often used to tie with the bird’s leg. It varies in length from short spurs to long spurs. It is approximately two and a half inches long.

In the late 17th century, the cockfighting spurs are made up of silver. These sharpened spurs may also injure, hurt, or even killed the roosters or cocks.

The bird’s natural spurs are sharpened with the naked heel. In India, the fighting is also down without using gaffs or knives. The fight is held with a naked heel in three rounds of twenty minutes.

These three rounds are held with a gap of again twenty minutes. Or the four rounds were placed of fifteen minutes with a gap of fifteen minutes between them.   

Referee and “Kristo” as important personalities in Cockfighting:-

Cockfighting is deduced by the referee called sentensyador or koyme, whose final decision is not projected to any appeal. The referee holds up cocks, and the winner cock peck on the loser’s cock twice a time. Moreover, when the pecks are not returned, then one cock is raised as a winner.

Kristo is the one who works as a collector, gathers all the bets from the players, and as a helper to promote the derbies. Their arms are often stretched while collecting the bets.

The considerable and significant thing about Kristo is that he can expertly gather bets in any direction and have strong memory to remember all information within the game.

Another thing about them is to use hand signs to represent the pricing of the bets. They use different fingers in different positions to describe different bet prices.

How are hand signs helpful in sabong?

Because of distance and too much noise, Kristos works as an arbitrator, mediating between the bettors and the managers. They depend on hand signs to be in touch and transfer details between the bets and other Kristos.

Hand Signs:-

• Upper finger, in small grounds, especially in rural where small bets are not in trend. Therefore, each finger signal equals 10 pesos, such as 10 fingers and 100 pesos.
• Downward finger, each finger is equal to pesos, such that 10 fingers signal 1000 pesos.
• Sideward finger, each sideward finger is equal to 100 poses, such that 10 fingers signal 100 poses.

Conclusion:-

Cockfighting, also termed sabong, is a gambling game in which the two cocks which the players select are placed in a ring called a cockpit.

It is a fight that is placed in the Philippines. This game leads to injuring, hurting, or killing the bird. Common injuries include broken lungs, legs, bones, and punctured eyes.

Moreover, it is included in crime in many countries because it is connected to the crimes of gambling and drugs. In this article, we have tried to cover all other aspects of cockfighting gaffs and knives, such as types of knives or gaffs, cock spur, Kristo, hand signs, and many more.