Kaifeng, the ancient capital of our country's Eight Dynasties, mentions this city, many people may think of food. But in addition, Kaifeng also has a folk custom, that is, Kaifeng cockfighting. When it comes to cockfighting, everyone may be familiar and unfamiliar. What is familiar is that chickens are not strange to poultry, and what is strange is that they know very little about the history, rules, and so on of cockfighting. As one of the four famous chickens in China, most of the Central Plains cockfighting is from Kaifeng Cockfighting.
Cai, who is in his seventies, is the president of the Kaifeng Cockfighting Association. Old Cai had fought all his life's chickens, and he had raised chickens for a lifetime, and he loved chickens as much as he wanted, and he had hundreds of chickens on the outskirts far from the center of the city.
Lao Cai had to classify these young chickens to prevent them from fighting.
Every morning, Lao Cai had to take good care of such cockfighting. For the breeding of fighting cocks, Lao Cai has his own set of unique methods,
To cultivate a good fighting, breeding is very important, and he has to give the fighting 3 times a day for physical training.
For feeding chicken feed, Lao Cai has his own secret recipe, which will never be passed on. Usually, I feed cereals such as sorghum and corn, and when I train, I start feeding eggs and beef.
These cockfighters may look unremarkable, and maybe when they grow up, after training, they will be able to come up with a few champions. In the fighting cocks raised by old Cai, there are millions of champion cockfights.
The reason why Kaifeng Cockfighting can occupy a place in the international cockfighting industry is that it is pure in breeding, and its breed selection is very strict. Who the father and mother of the cockfighter were, its first five generations will be carefully recorded. Especially when selecting seeds, close relatives are absolutely not allowed to mate.
Lao Cai said that a cockfighting competition is as short as half an hour, and some are as long as three or four hours, and the people on the scene stand in a circle around the cockfighting. Cockfighting is actually fighting people, compared to the technique and vision of chicken farmers.
Kaifeng people love cockfighting. They can even cut back on food and clothing, saving limited expenses to add nutrition to cockfighting. Under the roots of the city wall of Kaifeng, it was originally an important occasion for cockfighting, but now, it has gradually declined.
Nowadays, most people raise fighting cocks, and they take profits too seriously and do not pay attention to the inheritance of cockfighting. This is something that makes Old Cai more anxious. As for the many media calling him "the last Kaifeng cockfighter", he felt somewhat desolate and tragic.
Although only the first Chinese, the years are not spared, but Lao Cai said that cockfighting was once a business card in Kaifeng, although it is not as good as before, but he and a large group of friends who like cockfighting continue to insist, this traditional culture will not be lost and disappeared.