Bullfight

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to observe a bullfight. Though very bloody and hard to understand, I did find it interesting, and somewhat beautiful. Bullfighting originated in Spain, and the dress of the bullfighters is modeled after traditional Andalucian dress. First, the fighters all parade out into the ring to pay their respect to the visiting dignitary. Afterward, the bull is released into the ring, and his stregnth and temperment are tested by the matador and banderilleros. Next, the picadores come in on armored horseback and stab a mound of muscle on the bull's back. This lowers the bull's blood pressure, so it won't die of a heart attack before the fight is over. Once the picadores leave, the banderilleros attempt to stick small barbed sticks into the bull's back to forther weaken him. Finally, the matador faces the bull alone, and ultimately runs a sword between the shoulder blades and into the heart.

The Fights I saw were both interesting in their own way. In the first fight, two unusual events occurred. In one fight, the bull was let go. As I heard it, if the bull stumbles enough times before the picadores get summoned, the bull is allowed to go free. The other unusual incident was that there was a woman matador. While not as showy as the others, she did do a good, professional job of killing the bull cleanly. The second show I saw had a lot more showmanship. One of the banderilleros actually laid down and invoked the bull to charge almost directly over him, escaping unharmed. In either show, the amount of skill required was evident. Around this time of year, the bullfighting is in its off season, and the more inexperiences fighters are given the ring for practice and crowd exposure.