Dramatic fighting cocks "throw punches" at the folk cockfighting festival in Binh Dinh

On August 21, in Quy Nhon City (Binh Dinh), the Organizing Committee of the Exhibition and Competition of Ornamental Plants in the Central Highlands region coordinated with units and localities to organize the opening ceremony of the first Folk Cockfighting Festival - Binh Dinh 2023.

Kịch tính chiến kê tung chưởng tại hội chọi gà dân gian ở Bình Định - 1 — For the first time, the cockfighting festival held in Binh Dinh attracted a large number of people to watch (Photo: Doan Cong).

The cockfighting festival takes place from August 21 to August 25, with many contents: young chicken feather cutting competition to prepare for the training process; upper beak pulling competition, ear cropping, ear-sewing competition for young chickens to prepare for the training process; especially the traditional cockfighting competition attracts a large number of people and tourists to watch.

Kịch tính chiến kê tung chưởng tại hội chọi gà dân gian ở Bình Định - 2 — Two fighting cocks fight tit for tat (Photo: Doan Cong).

Bringing a black fighting cock to the competition, Mr. Tran Xuan Son (51 years old, in An Nhon town, Binh Dinh) said that raising a cock for the fighting arena is very laborious, "taking care of a cock is better than taking care of a wife". Every day, he has to massage the skin and flesh to make it firm, let the cock exercise, feed it grass... If he skips exercise for 2-3 days, the cock will lose muscle immediately.

"Like a boxer preparing for a fight, to prepare for a competition, chickens must be carefully cared for from eating to sleeping, to prevent them from being bitten by mosquitoes," Mr. Son shared.

Kịch tính chiến kê tung chưởng tại hội chọi gà dân gian ở Bình Định - 3 — After a fight (15 minutes), the owner takes care of the chicken for 3 minutes and then continues the fight (Photo: Doan Cong).

According to Mr. Son, this cockfighting festival is a useful playground for him and cockfighting breeders in the province to exchange and learn from cockfighting breeders from many other provinces. Thereby, contributing to preserving and developing this form of entertainment imbued with traditional culture in rural Binh Dinh.

Mr. Pham Thanh Viet, the organizer of the Cockfighting Festival, said that this festival contributes to restoring, preserving and developing the traditional cockfighting game typical of Vietnam, creating a healthy playground for people raising fighting cocks.

Kịch tính chiến kê tung chưởng tại hội chọi gà dân gian ở Bình Định - 4 — A devastating blow sent the opponent tumbling to the ground (Photo: Doan Cong).

Kịch tính chiến kê tung chưởng tại hội chọi gà dân gian ở Bình Định - 5 — The fighting chicken pairs bring drama to the audience (Photo: Doan Cong).

It is important to systematically restore the traditional cockfighting festival and the art of raising fighting cocks in Binh Dinh, as a basis for establishing a scientific dossier on intangible cultural heritage, proposing the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to register it as a national intangible cultural heritage. Next, propose UNESCO to honor it as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thien - Vice President of the Vietnam Ornamental Plants Association - affirmed that the art of cockfighting and raising fighting cocks not only exists and flourishes within Binh Dinh province but has spread domestically and internationally.

Kịch tính chiến kê tung chưởng tại hội chọi gà dân gian ở Bình Định - 6 — During the Tay Son period, Dong Dinh King Nguyen Lu created the martial art "Hung Ke Quyen" (Photo: Doan Cong).

According to Mr. Thien, along with time, the art of cockfighting has been continuously inherited, promoting the agile and creative style of each Binh Dinh resident in particular and of the localities where the art of cockfighting and raising fighting cocks in general has existed and been passed down.

Especially during the Tay Son period, Dong Dinh King Nguyen Lu created the martial art "Hung Ke Quyen" from the art of cockfighting and this martial art has become one of the famous martial arts of Binh Dinh traditional martial arts.

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