Master the rules before you break them
From the Book, the Edge by Kamana Rey Bajenting & Steve del Mar
Breaking a rule you have already mastered is innovation. Breaking a rule you have known nothing about is ignorance.
Understanding forms the foundation of wisdom. To observe, listen, learn and finally to understand are the most important steps in the ladder to learning and mastering any discipline.
They lead one to the way.
The way of a cockfighter is no different from the ways of the artisan, the merchant or the warrior. All ways of disciplines, sciences, arts and trades are always dictated by understanding.
Don’t automatically imitate nor reject outright what one does. But try to understand the purpose behind it. It is not the what, which is important, but the why.
The way to learning the way of the masters in cockfighting is to know the rules first before you try breaking them.
Breaking a rule you have already mastered is innovation. Breaking a rule you have known nothing about is ignorance.
It is not just the what nor the how but, more importantly, the why. In order to learn, you do not simply read, memorize and imitate. You have to understand. Then, you can innovate, and create.
Many cockers do something because they saw, or were told, others do it. It is dangerous because many things in cockfighting apply only to particular cases, not to every situation. You might be imitating someone doing something not applicable to the situation you have at hand. Or you might omit something you ought to do, because you never saw anyone do it.
Cockfighting is full of funny anecdotes of cases involving gaya-gaya. An example is the habit of some handlers to ruffle the long tail feather or the streamer of their cock shortly before pitting because they saw a handler in a previous fight do it. But the reason it was done was because the cocks fought in the previous fight were identical in plumage, comb type, leg color and even the color of the tapes used, making it hard for the handlers and spectators to tell whose cock was which. Thus, one of the handlers ruffled the long tail feather of his cock as a marking or means of identification if the cocks were locked in a situation wherein they would be difficult to identify. It was utterly unnecessary in the case at hand when the roosters about to be released were a pula and a puti.
I will cite another example. This one is not funny but vital to the outcome of the fight.
While waiting for his fight to be called, the handler gave his bird egg white and apple because a while ago he saw another participant gave his cock the same stuff, and won. He did not realize that in the case of the other fellow the cock about to be fought was over dry. The copycat’s bird however was holding too much body moisture and needed more drying up. The result was not only that he paid the fine for overweight when his fight was called, he also lost the fight badly.
So, what is important is not what the masters do, but why they do it. Don’t just copy, but understand why the masters do what they do.
Therefore, it is not enough that you know of the existence of conditioning pens, fly pens, scratch boxes, the different grains and pellets, and the different vitamins and minerals. You should understand the purpose and principles behind every facility and the giving of every nutrient.
Once you learned the reasons behind the things the masters do, then you can innovate, make changes or form your own ideas.
In short, you may start violating the rules.
Again remember: to violate the rules after you learned them is innovation, but to violate the rules before you learn them is ignorance.