The sport of spider fighting takes different forms in different parts of the world. Among them are the Philippines, Japan, and Singapore. The fights that occur in the Philippines and in Japan are staged between females of various species of web weavers, while the contests staged in Singapore are fights between male jumping spiders(Thiania Bhamoensis).
Fighting spiders is a long forgotten pastime of Singaporean children. It started as early as the 1960s when Singapore was but a rural island. The hobby of pitting these eight-legged creatures against each other was once considered a favourite pastime of many school boys. Playing with fighting spiders is really simple. Two spiders are placed at opposite ends of a stick or box. They are then directed to the middle where a furious fight will ensue! The battle ends when one spider drops off the stick or runs away. In some cases, a win is considered only when the losing spider is eaten by its opponent.
With the advancement of technology, fighting spiders have become a fading tradition. I wish for the children of this generation to experience the fascination and excitement of catching and training their very own spiders outdoors.