Betta splendens are great fighters. Some of the fighters don't know what defeat is, but only know of death or victory.
        To raise them to become good fighters is an art. Thai people have known how to raise them to become great fighters for many centuries. Some people have their own ways of raising and training, but have kept them a secret until they died. When I started raising fighters more than 45 years ago, I went  everywhere to find good fighters and tried to learn more about them. Some people were willing to explain to me how to raise them, but they still kept the core secret. I had to perform many experiments by myself which were time-consuming and costly.
        There are two major factors to make your fish win. One is the strain of the fighter and the other is training methods.

Selecting the strain

From appearances:
  - the skin and scales must be shiny which means that the fish is healthy and alert most of the time.
  - the figure must be wide and thick, and not long and slim.

From genetics:

When we talk about genetics, some may think that one can not see the traits, but the behavior can be observed and desired, such as the Betta being a hard hitter, keeps on hitting the same position, its style and its tolerance. If you can find these characteristics, you can keep them as breeders. One of the most interesting features in a Betta is that if one Betta from one spawn triumphs over one in another spawn, the whole spawn of Betta from the winner's spawn will triumph over the whole spawn of the loser, period!

Methods of Training
        There are many ways of training a fighting fish to be a great fighter ranging from water conditioning to making it furious.

1. Conditioning
        Fishes that are in compound tanks have softer skin and their scales are not smooth enough to tolerate hard hitting from the sharp teeth of the opponent. They need to be kept individually in a jar or bottle for conditioning for about a week. Put 5 ml of Atison's Betta SPA per gallon (4 l) of water in the container. This wild almond leaf extract will harden the skin and scales. During this one week in the container, just feed them once every two days with Atison's Betta PRO. This food is preferable since the Betta will get less fat than with other foods. Keep the fishes in their individual  containers without seeing each other. After a week, the fishes will lose their fat, their scales will become stronger and harder and they will look shinier than before the conditioning. If there is no time to do the training or if there is a lack of opponents, the fish can be kept in the conditioning container for another 2-3 weeks without any problem. No water change is required during this conditioning, for up to 4 weeks.