Every day, they tenderly care for their fighting cocks. Owners of the champion cocks pamper the birds with daily massages, carefully bathe them and feed them a nutritious diet. In short, there is a popular belief that Balinese men love their cockerels more than their wives.
However, children have a passion for mejangkrikan — or the art of cricket fighting. Cricket and cockfighting are the most popular and passionate pastimes for Balinese men — with many gambling on the games. These two traditional types of fighting are also common in many other parts of Indonesia, as well as other countries in the Southeast Asia region. In China, cricket fighting even has a very long history, dating back almost 1,000 years to the famous Tang Dynasty in the 12th century.
Every day the crickets (Jankrik) get a special diet called sadeg, a mixture of various grains. The crickets are placed in colorful bamboo tubes with air holes for ventilation. The cricket owners train the insects for the battles and pamper their pets through these holes.
The fights have quite strict rules: The fighters must be of similar body size and in a healthy condition, meaning that all the body organs were complete. When all the fight requirements are met, the two competing crickets face off against each other in a fierce fight. The cricket that survives this miniature blood sport is declared a legendary champion. Meanwhile, the owners place bets of between Rp 10,000 and Rp 50,000 per three-minute game.
Despite the influx of high-tech video games and flashy electronic-based entertainment, the age-old tradition of cricket fighting remains alive and kicking among Balinese youth.