Bullfighting (Spanish: corrida de toros [koˈriða ðe ˈtoɾos] or toreo [toˈɾeo];Portuguese: tourada [toˈɾaðɐ]), also known as tauromachia or tauromachy(Spanish: tauromaquia 
listen (help·info), Portuguese: tauromaquia; from Greek: ταυρομαχία "bull-fight"), is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Hispanic American countries (Mexico, Colombia,Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru) and the Philippines, in which one or more bulls are baited, and then killed in a bullring for the entertainment of the audience. Although a blood sport, by definition, some followers of the spectacle prefer to view it as a 'fine art' and not a sport, as there are no elements of competition in the proceedings. In Portugal, it is illegal to kill a bull in the arena, so it is removed and either professionally killed or treated and released into its owners' (ganadero) fields.
listen (help·info), Portuguese: tauromaquia; from Greek: ταυρομαχία "bull-fight"), is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Hispanic American countries (Mexico, Colombia,Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru) and the Philippines, in which one or more bulls are baited, and then killed in a bullring for the entertainment of the audience. Although a blood sport, by definition, some followers of the spectacle prefer to view it as a 'fine art' and not a sport, as there are no elements of competition in the proceedings. In Portugal, it is illegal to kill a bull in the arena, so it is removed and either professionally killed or treated and released into its owners' (ganadero) fields.
The bullfight, as it is practiced today, involves professional toreros (of which the most senior is called a matador) who execute various formal moves which can be interpreted and innovated according to the bullfighter's style or school. It has been alleged that toreros seek to elicit inspiration and art from their work and an emotional connection with the crowd transmitted through the bull. Such maneuvers are performed at close range, after the bull has first been weakened and tired by lances and short spears with barbs which are thrust into and then hang from the bull. The close proximity places the bullfighter at some risk of being gored or trampled by the weakened bull. After the bull has been hooked multiple times behind the shoulder by other matadors in the arena, the bullfight usually concludes with the killing of the bull by a single sword thrust, which is called the estocada. In Portugal, the finale consists of a tradition called the pega, where men (forcados) try to grab and hold the bull by its horns when it runs at them.
Supporters of bullfighting argue that it is a culturally important tradition and a fully developed art form on par with painting, dancing and music, whilst critics hold that it is a blood sport perpetrated as a cowardly act resulting in the suffering of bulls and horses.
History
Bullfighting traces its roots to prehistoric bull worship and sacrifice in Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean region. The first recorded bull fight may be the Epic of Gilgamesh, which describes a scene in which Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought and killed the Bull of Heaven ("The Bull seemed indestructible, for hours they fought, till Gilgamesh dancing in front of the Bull, lured it with his tunic and bright weapons, and Enkidu thrust his sword, deep into the Bull's neck, and killed it"). Bull leaping was portrayed in Crete, and myths related to bulls throughout Greece. The killing of the sacred bull (tauroctony) is the essential central iconic act of Mithras, which was commemorated in the mithraeum wherever Roman soldiers were stationed. The oldest representation of what seems to be a man facing a bull is on theCeltiberian tombstone from Clunia and the cave painting El toro de hachos', both found in Spain.
Bullfighting is often linked to Rome, where many human-versus-animal events were held as competition and entertainment. There are also theories that it was introduced into Hispania by the Emperor Claudius, as a substitute for gladiators, when he instituted a short-lived ban on gladiatorial combat. The latter theory was supported by Robert Graves (picadors are related to warriors who wielded the javelin, but their role in the contest is now a minor one limited to "preparing" the bull for the matador.) Spanish colonists took the practice of breeding cattle and bullfighting to its Central and South American colonies. In the 19th century, areas of southern and southwestern France adopted bullfighting, developing their own distinctive form.
Religious festivities and royal weddings were celebrated by fights in the local plaza, where noblemen would ride competing for royal favor, and the populace enjoyed the excitement. In the Middle Ages across Europe, knights would joust in competitions on horseback. In Spain, they began to fight bulls.
The Spanish introduced the practice of fighting bulls on foot around 1726. Francisco Romerois generally regarded as having been the first to do this.
This type of fighting drew more attention from the crowds. Thus the modern corrida, or fight, began to take form, as riding noblemen were substituted by commoners on foot. This new style prompted the construction of dedicated bullrings, initially square, like the Plaza de Armas, and later round, to discourage the cornering of the action.
The modern style of Spanish bullfighting is credited to Juan Belmonte, generally considered the greatest matador of all time. Belmonte introduced a daring and revolutionary style, in which he stayed within a few inches of the bull throughout the fight. Although extremely dangerous (Belmonte was gored on many occasions), his style is still seen by most matadors as the ideal to be emulated.
Today, bullfighting continues traditions established in 1726, when Francisco Romero, from Ronda, Spain, used the muleta in the last stage of the fight and an estoque to kill the bull.
Styles
Originally, at least five distinct regional styles of bullfighting were practised in southwestern Europe: Andalusia, Aragon–Navarre,Alentejo, Camargue, Aquitaine. Over time, these have evolved more or less into standardized national forms mentioned below. The "classic" style of bullfight, in which the bull is killed, is the form practiced in Spain and many Latin American countries.
Spanish
Spanish-style bullfighting is called corrida de toros (literally "running of bulls") or la fiesta("the festival"). In the traditional corrida, three matadores, each fight two bulls, each of which is between four and six years old and weighs no less than 460 kg (1,014 lb)[9] Each matador has six assistants—two picadores ("lancers on horseback") mounted on horseback, three banderilleros – who along with the matadors are collectively known as toreros ("bullfighters") – and a mozo de espadas ("sword page"). Collectively they comprise a cuadrilla("entourage"). In Spanish the more general torero is used for the lead fighter, and only when needed to distinguish a man is the full title matador de toros used; in English, "matador" is generally used for the bullfighter.
The modern corrida is highly ritualized, with three distinct stages or tercios ("thirds"); the start of each being announced by a bugle sound. The participants enter the arena in a parade, called the paseíllo, to salute the presiding dignitary, accompanied by band music. Torero costumes are inspired by 17th-century Andalusian clothing, and matadores are easily distinguished by the gold of their traje de luces ("suit of lights"), as opposed to the lesser banderilleros, who are also known as toreros de plata ("bullfighters of silver").
Next, the bull is released into the ring, where he is tested for ferocity by the matador andbanderilleros with the magenta and gold capote ("cape"). This is the first stage, the tercio de varas ("the lancing third"). The matador confronts the bull with the capote, performing a series of passes and observing the behavior and quirks of the bull.
Next, a picador enters the arena on horseback armed with a vara (lance). To protect the horse from the bull's horns, the animal wears a protective, padded covering called peto. Prior to 1930, the horses did not wear any protection. Often the bull would disembowel the horse during this stage. Until the use of protection was instituted, the number of horses killed during a fiesta generally exceeded the number of bulls killed.
At this point, the picador stabs just behind the morrillo, a mound of muscle on the fighting bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and leading to the animal's first loss of blood. The manner in which the bull charges the horse provides important clues to the matador about which side the bull favors. If the picador is successful, the bull will hold its head and horns slightly lower during the following stages of the fight. This ultimately enables the matador to perform the killing thrust later in the performance. The encounter with the picador often fundamentally changes the behaviour of a bull; distracted and unengaging bulls will become more focused and stay on a single target instead of charging at everything that moves.
In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("the third of banderillas"), each of the three banderilleros attempts to plant two banderillas, sharp barbed sticks, into the bull's shoulders. These anger and agitate, but further weaken, the bull. He tires from his attacks on the horse and the damage he has taken from the lance. Sometimes a matador will place his own banderillas. If so, he usually embellishes this part of his performance and employs more varied manoeuvres than the standard al cuarteo method commonly used by banderilleros.
In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("the third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape, or muleta, and a sword. It is a common misconception that the color red is supposed to anger the bull; the animals are colorblind. The cape is thought to be red to mask the bull's blood, although the color is now a matter of tradition. The matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, which serve the dual purpose of wearing the animal down for the kill and creating a beautiful display, or faena. He may also demonstrate his domination of the bull by caping and bringing it especially close to his body. The faena refers to the entire performance with the cape (muleta).
It is usually broken down into tandas, or "series", of passes. The series (tanda) ends with a final series of passes in which the matador, using the cape, tries to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart. The sword is called estoque, and the act of thrusting the sword is called an estocada. During the initial series, while the matador in part is performing for the crowd, he uses a fake sword (estoque simulado). This is made of wood or aluminum, making it lighter and much easier to handle. The estoque de verdad (real sword) is made out of steel. At the end of the tercio de muerte, when the matador has finished his faena, he will change swords to take up the steel one. He performs the estocada and kills the bull with a pierce through the heart, if all goes according to plan. Many times the bull does not get pierced through the heart during the estocada initially, and repeated efforts must be made to bring the bull down and end his life.
Recortes
Recortes, a style of bullfighting practiced in Navarre, La Rioja, north of Castile andValencia, has been much less popular than the traditional corridas. But, recortes have undergone a revival in Spain and are sometimes broadcast on TV.
This style was common in the early 19th century. Etchings by painter Francisco de Goya depict these events.
Recortes claims to differ from a corrida in the following ways:
- The bull is not physically injured. Drawing blood is rare, and the bull is allowed to return to his pen at the end of the performance.
- The men are dressed in common street clothes rather than traditional bullfighting dress.
- Acrobatics are performed without the use of capes or other props. Performers attempt to evade the bull solely through the swiftness of their movements.
- Rituals are less strict, so the men have freedom to perform stunts as they please.
- Men work in teams but with less role distinction than in a corrida.
- Teams compete for points awarded by a jury.
Since horses are not used, and performers are not professionals, recortes are less costly to produce.
Comic bullfighting
Comical spectacles based on bullfighting, called espectáculos cómico-taurinos or charlotadas, are still popular in Spain and Mexico. Troupes include El empastre or El bombero torero.
Encierros
An encierro or running of the bulls is an activity related to a bullfighting fiesta. Before the events that are held in the ring, people (usually young men) run in front of a small group of bulls that have been let loose, on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets.
Toro embolado
A toro embolado (in Spanish), bou embolat (in Catalan), roughly meaning "bull with balls", is a festive activity held at night and typical of many towns in Spain (mainly in the Valencian community and Southern Catalonia). Balls of flammable material are attached to a bull's horns. The balls are lit and the bull is set free in the streets at night; participants dodge the bull when it comes close. It can be considered a variant of an encierro (correbous in Catalan). This activity is held in a number of Spanish towns during their local festivals. In recent years, animal welfare activists have tried to stop the practice because of cruelty to the animal.
Portuguese
Most Portuguese bullfights are held in two phases: the spectacle of the cavaleiro, and thepega. In the cavaleiro, a horseman on a Portuguese Lusitano horse (specially trained for the fights) fights the bull from horseback. The purpose of this fight is to stab three or fourbandeiras (small javelins) into the back of the bull.
In the second stage, called the pega ("holding"), the forcados, a group of eight men, challenge the bull directly without any protection or weapon of defence. The front man provokes the bull into a charge to perform a pega de cara or pega de caras (face grab). The front man secures the animal's head and is quickly aided by his fellows who surround and secure the animal until he is subdued. Forcados are dressed in a traditional costume of damask or velvet, with long knitted hats as worn by the campinos (bull headers) from Ribatejo.
The bull is not killed in the ring and, at the end of the corrida, leading oxen are let into the arena and two campinos on foot herd the bull among them back to its pen. The bull is usually killed out of sight of the audience by a professional butcher. It can happen that some bulls, after an exceptional performance, are healed, released to pasture until their end days and used for breeding.
In the Portuguese Azores islands, there is a form of bullfighting called tourada à corda, in which a bull is led on a rope along a street, while players taunt and dodge the bull, who is not killed during or after the fight, but returned to pasture and used in later events.
French
Since the 19th century, Spanish-style corridas have been increasingly popular in Southern France where they enjoy legal protection in areas where there is an uninterrupted tradition of such bull fights, particularly during holidays such as Whitsun or Easter. Among France's most important venues for bullfighting are the ancient Roman arenas of Nîmes and Arles, although there are bull rings across the South from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic coasts. The French version of bullfighting is unique in that the bulls have a choice not to fight.
A more indigenous genre of bullfighting is widely common in the Provence and Languedoc areas, and is known alternately as "course libre" or "course camarguaise". This is a bloodless spectacle (for the bulls) in which the objective is to snatch a rosette from the head of a young bull. The participants, or raseteurs, begin training in their early teens against young bulls from the Camargue region of Provence before graduating to regular contests held principally in Arles and Nîmes but also in other Provençal and Languedoc towns and villages. Before the course, anencierro—a "running" of the bulls in the streets—takes place, in which young men compete to outrun the charging bulls. The course itself takes place in a small (often portable) arena erected in a town square. For a period of about 15–20 minutes, the raseteurs compete to snatch rosettes (cocarde) tied between the bulls' horns. They do not take the rosette with their bare hands but with a claw-shaped metal instrument called a raset or crochet (hook) in their hands, hence their name. Afterwards, the bulls are herded back to their pen by gardians (Camarguais cowboys) in a bandido, amidst a great deal of ceremony. The stars of these spectacles are the bulls, who get top billing and stand to gain fame and statues in their honor, and lucrative product endorsement contracts.
Another type of French 'bullfighting' is the "course landaise", in which cows are used instead of bulls. This is a competition between teams named cuadrillas, which belong to certain breeding estates. A cuadrilla is made up of a teneur de corde, an entraîneur, asauteur, and six écarteurs. The cows are brought to the arena in crates and then taken out in order. The teneur de corde controls the dangling rope attached to the cow's horns and the entraîneur positions the cow to face and attack the player. The écarteurs will try, at the last possible moment, to dodge around the cow and the sauteur will leap over it. Each team aims to complete a set of at least one hundred dodges and eight leaps. This is the main scheme of the "classic" form, the course landaise formelle. However, different rules may be applied in some competitions. For example, competitions for Coupe Jeannot Lafittau are arranged with cows without ropes.
Persian Gulf
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Bullfighting is found in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. This form of bullfighting is not lethal: two Brahman bulls are presented to each other and allowed to lock horns and fight, while their handlers hold ropes to separate them if necessary.
The origins of bullfighting in Oman are unknown, though locals believe it was brought to Oman by the Moors who had conquered Spain. Its existence in Oman and the UAE is also attributed to Portugal which colonized the Omani coastline for nearly two centuries,and also introduced bullfighting to Omani Zanzibar.
United States
Freestyle bullfighting is a style of bullfighting developed in American rodeo. The style was developed by the rodeo clowns who protect bull riders from being trampled or gored by an angry bull. Freestyle bullfighting is a 70-second competition in which the bullfighter (rodeo clown) avoids the bull by means of dodging, jumping and use of a barrel. Competitions are organized in the US as the World Bullfighting Championship (WBC) and the Dickies National Bullfighting Championship under auspices of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR).
A distinct type of bloodless bullfighting is practised in California's Central Valley. In this historically Portuguese-settled area, a form of bullfight has developed in which the bull is taunted by a matador, but the lances are tipped with velcro and aimed at velcro patches secured to the bull's shoulder. Fights occur from May through October around traditional Portuguese holidays.
Balkans and Turkey
Grmeč, a mountain in the extreme west of Bosnia, is the best-known site of bullfights in the Balkans. They are called the Corrida of Grmeč (Grmečka korida) and have been organised on every first Sunday in August for over 200 years, attracting thousands of visitors. These are fights between bulls themselves and there is no death of a bull. Fights happen in an empty field.The Corrida of Grmeč was depicted by the sculptor Slobodan Pejić. The sculpture of two bulls in a fight, made in bronze in 2004, has been compared to a confrontation of the oppressor and the oppressed or of the Bosnian people and the Austrian Emperor.
A similar type of bull-against-bull wrestling found in Turkey is known as boğa güreşi (Turkish). Each year, third week of the June, a festival takes place in the city of Artvin. From the beginning of the festival, certain rules are applied in order to prevent the bulls from damage. Such as if a bull retreats from fight, it means defeat, etc.
Tanzania
Bullfighting was introduced by the Portuguese to Zanzibar and to Pemba Island, in modern Tanzania, where it is known as mchezo wa ngombe. Similar to the Portuguese Azorean tourada a corda, the bull is restrained by a rope, generally neither bull nor player is harmed, and the bull is not killed at the end of the fight.
Okinawa (Japan)
In Okinawa a wide variety of animal-against-animal fights are popular, including a non-lethal form of bullfighting (known as tōgyū or ushi-aasee in Okinawan language) in which two bulls attempt, as in sumo wrestling to push one another out of a ring. The sport originally came to the Ryuku Islands from mainland Japan.
Hazards
Spanish-style bullfighting is normally fatal for the bull, but it is also dangerous for the matador. Matadors are usually gored every season, with picadors and banderilleros being gored less often. With the discovery of antibiotics and advances in surgical techniques, fatalities are now rare, although over the past three centuries 533 notable professional bullfighters have died in the ring or from injuries sustained there.
Some matadors, notably Juan Belmonte, have been seriously gored many times: according to Ernest Hemingway, Belmonte's legs were marred by many ugly scars. A special type of surgeon has developed, in Spain and elsewhere, to treat cornadas, or horn-wounds.
The bullring has a chapel where a matador can pray before the corrida, and where a priest can be found in case a sacrament is needed. The most relevant sacrament is now called "Anointing of the Sick"; it was formerly known as "Extreme Unction", or the "Last Rites".
The media often reports the more horrific of bullfighting injuries, such as the September 2011 goring of matador Juan José Padilla's head by a bull in Zaragoza, resulting in the loss of his left eye, use of his right ear and facial paralysis. He returned to bullfighting five months later with an eyepatch, multiple titanium plates in his skull, and the nickname 'The Pirate'.
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