While it is safe to assume that cricket fighting has lost some of its popularity during the era of smartphones, this so-called ‘blood sport’ remains a favored pastime for children in the outer suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City.

Tran Tien Dung, a Tuoi Tre (Youth) photojournalist, spent the weekend in a suburban area of the city and was amazed to see a group of boys playing traditional childhood games like kite flying and cricket fighting.

“I was stopped in my tracks by such an innocent scene and felt nostalgic for my childhood,” Dung said.

The pleasure of seeing children in this ‘hi-tech time’ playing what is widely believed to be a game from the past left Dung wondering whether “children in urban areas know that such games even exist, as they are beyond their smartphone video games.”

Given that it is currently the rainy season in Vietnam, cricket numbers have grown rapidly in the humid weather. The insects can be found inside bushes, behind the doors or in burrows on paddy fields. ‘Lazy’ children can enter the market and buy some ‘cricket warriors’ for their game.

However, only male crickets are selected for the blood sport. The strongest warriors are the ‘coal crickets,’ whose wings are black, and the ‘fire crickets,’ with yellowish-brown wings.

The ‘fight arena’ is made by digging a small ring 15 centimeters deep, and around 25 centimeters in diameter. The fighting crickets are kept in small boxes or vases.

Upon being released into the arena, the insects start chirping before rushing to attack their enemy, hitting each other head-on. The loser will try to escape the fight ring, whereby its owner will immediately substitute it for another warrior.

Other children gather around the arena and cheer.

A common trick is to send a ‘surrenderer’ back to the ring by tying a single hair on its head or leg, then spin it around in the air for a while. The dizzy cricket will ‘forget’ its defeat and start fighting again.

Below are some photos Dung has taken of the cricket fighting in outer Ho Chi Minh City.

Following the chirping sound to hunt for the insects

A team of cricket warriors, ready for the fight

Head-on attack

A defeated cricket runs for its life.

Another strategy: pretending to die

Picking one hair to spin the cricket

How to make a cricket ‘forget’ its loss before starting the fight afresh

‘Threesome game’

The fight goes beyond the arena’s boundaries.

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