Bullfight Basics May 17, 2012
Posted by cantueso in bullfight, Spain.2 comments
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Once you have seen a few fights you can tell a cowardly bull from a brave one, and even a calculating mean bull from a “noble” one: and “noble” in this context is one that does not calculate his risks……
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There is always somebody presiding the corrida. If the audience think that the bull, as he comes in, does not seem fit to fight because of a limp, they hold up a white hanky. If the man who presides the fight sees that a large majority hold up their hankies, he will order the bull to be returned to the stables.
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A bullfight where the torero fights on horseback is called rejoneo. It is rare because it is very expensive and may have survived as part of an aristocratic tradition.
See it on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnI-15kOicA
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What you get to see at the beginning, a man on a horse and both heavily protected, is nothing. It is an ugly device used to test the bull, a survival of an older tradition where that horse came in unprotected and the bull was allowed to tear it up.
The man on that horse is called a picador.
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It does not happen often, but when a bull excels in performance and bravery, people hold up a hanky to ask the President to spare its life.
The bull goes back to the farm and many people will remember him by his name.
The same bull cannot be used again in another fight because he becomes too dangerous once he has learned.
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A large red cape is used in the first part of the fight, when the bull runs very fast and is not yet as dangerous as he will be a moment later:
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This photo is from an insider’s blog at http://torear.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html, a great place.
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The smaller red cloth called a muleta is used in the second part of the bullfight. If all goes well, the bull obeys as if in a dream, charging slowly and so close that its blood wipes off on the bullfighter’s belly.
Most foreigners would assume that these bulls are similar to cows and bulls elsewhere, but they are not, and a zoologist could probably explain the difference.
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In the past the fighting bulls were kept on farms that were so immense that the animals would not get into contact with people. Now the bulls are kept on large farms but herded almost like domestic animals and so they have become weaker.
There may be some cheating, too: hormones, prefab food, miscalculated breeding techniques.
The bulls of the famous breeders are very expensive.
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The bullfight should not be judged as a spectacle or a sport. It is a ritual or an art, though by now severely fudged by tourist interests.
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There is a short bullfight sequence by Almodovar in his film “Speak to her”. The death dance and the song accompanying it give you an idea of what a corrida could be to some, and not to others.
Notice that Almodovar’s bull is no good, should not have its mouth open, its tongue out, and may even be a bit too young. And wasn’t there also something about those horns?
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This is a thumbnail of the Madrid bullring. You can see how large it is compared to the man and his bull. On TV you would see things from up close, and that changes their meaning.
The picture was taken from high up. The seats are cheaper up there now — though they used to be expensive in the past, reserved for the happy few.
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What you can’t see on a photo is the awful SPEED of the bull.
He is a banderillero. Those sticks are called banderillas, little flags. They are meant to make the bull lower his head. The banderilleros are rarely famous, rarely known by name, but tourists understand and admire their art more.
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Sometimes bullfighters make fun of each other. This photo is called “A bullfight in France”.
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This is the Wiki thumbnail of a Goya drawing, the death of a famous torero. In the past, bullfighters died of horn wounds because there was no penicillin to keep their wounds from rotting.
Ignacio Sanchez grieving the death of Joselito.
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The most dangerous moment in a fight is the kill. As the bull is tired out, he will carry his head low, which would allow the bullfighter to lean in across and over his horns to reach a spot between the bull’s shoulder blades with his sword.
In his death, before collapsing, the bull might throw up his head and horn the torero. When there has been a good fight and the bullfighter gets ready to kill, there is an awful silence invading the plaza.
You know he is going to kill when you see the bull stop and lower his head; the bullfighter moves into a position in front of the bull; he lowers his cloth almost to the ground, he lifts his arm with the sword and waits one more second as if praying or judging his risk –
Maybe if you have never been to a fight, this photo means nothing to you.
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However, the bullfighter’s most dangerous enemy is the wind and gusts of wind that make it impossible for him to control the movement of that red cloth, his muleta.
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The Goya drawings are Wikipedia, 3 photos are from an American’s travel blog that no longer exists and from this studio blog.
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Now, should the bullfight be prohibited ? You tell me.
Kids love it. See kids playing with a bull: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKsOEuEb8AY
It is cruel, but not as cruel as many films and computer games and wars started on flimsy pretexts.
For four or more years, until they are called to the ring, these bulls live in complete freedom, better than almost any other animals kept by man.
Remember the awful facts of industrial meat production?
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Below is a woodcut about 200 years old from Wikipedia.
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