THE HISTORY OF COCK-FIGHTING By Luuk Hans (NL) In cooperation with Willem van Ballekom (NL) Cock-Fighting is a very old sport. Older than our Christian era. Even the Romans liked it, and other tribes and nations long before them. It is believed that this blood sport came to Europe via Persia and from there reached Greece. Cockfighting was already known in Europe when the Romans invaded England in 55 BC. They noticed that the Britons only used their fowl for cockfighting. Also the Celts and Gaul people from Continental Europe knew the sport of cockfighting before the Romans conquered Europe. Even further back in time, the people from Southeast Asia (India, Japan, China) knew about it. A ‘sport’ which used to be popular all over the world. Nowadays it is a sport which has been banned in many countries, although it illegally goes on, also in the USA. In Europe cockfighting is still legal in Northern France and this only in the region Nord - Pas de Calais. Cockfighting is also still legal on the Spanish Canary Islands. In spite of the ban, we have very nice game breeds nowadays like the Malay, Asil, Shamo and Old English Game, not forgetting the American Game! Reason to describe in short the history of Game. Two considerations in advance: this article is no reason to believe that the author likes cockfighting. Secondly, the history can be written from many different views. Classical antiquity Excavations tell us that chickens were first domesticated some 6,000 years ago in China. However the first written proof comes from India were cockfighting took place at principalities, about 1500 years B.C. In the times before Christ, approximately 3,000 years ago during the times of the Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Canaanites, cockfighting was popular. Breeding gamecocks for fighting in a pit was considered an art and trading these birds was profitable. In Egypt, in the Two Satsumadori cocks fighting. Photo courtesy of: Stanislaw Roszkowski)