BULL FIGHT 101
(A beginners guide)

This page is for beginners to the world of bull fights. Perhaps, some of you are contemplating attending a bull fight during your coming visit to Spain, Mexico or wherever and/or you have already seen a bull fight and are curious to find out more about  this unfamiliar event  you attended.

It is difficult to find bull fight material that does not assume some knowledge of Spanish.  However, in this "course" we will avoid Spanish unless the meaning is obvious.

Most of the bull fight information on the world wide web is intended for experienced fans.     Perhaps the best overall reference for the beginner is Ernest Hemingway's classic, Death in the Afternoon.  This book has a good glossary of Spanish terms and makes a fine addition to any library. Another good reference source is Barnaby Conrad's Encyclopedia of  Bullfighting; however, availability of this book may present a challenge.

A recent book, Ritual and Sacrifice in the Corrida-the saga of Cesar Rincon, by Allen Josephs has good introductory information in the first chapter.

Another recent (2005) book, Death and the Sun, by Edward Lewine provides great information about the bullfight  and the daily life of the bullfighter and his team.

The best way to really understand the bull fight is to sign up for  "hands on" classes such as those offered at the California Academy of Tauromaquia.  This requires a significant investment of money and time but could be well worth it and, beside, what a cool way to spend your vacations!  By-the-way, "tauromaquia" refers to the art of bull fighting, in general.  "Taurine and taurino" are two other words that refer to anything having to do with bull fighting.

Be advised there is no definitive description of the bull fight that is satisfactory to all and, doubtless, many seasoned experts will take exception to some of what is said here.  .   One can spend a lifetime learning the many fine points of the bull fight.

Oh, yeah.  We will refer to the bull fighter (matador) and his team in the masculine rather that constantly use "him/her" but be advised that there are very accomplished female bull fighters.

OK.  With the above caveats let's get started on Bull Fight 101.  Please pay close attention as there may be a pop quiz at any time!

"I am going to cheer for the bull"!   This is an almost universal sentiment expressed by those who are uninterested or not well informed on the subject at hand.  It is based on the popular misconception that a bull fight is somehow analogous to a boxing match, a wrestling match or even a dog fight or cock fight.  This leads to the most important lesson from Bull Fight 101-a bull fight is NOT a sporting event and it is NOT a fight!

It is understandable that one would think the bull fight is some type of bizarre sporting event.  After all, it certainly looks like a sporting event as it occurs in a  stadium with lots of beer drinking, cigar smoking, girl ogling and cheering fans.  And besides, isn't it called a "bull fight"?

Well, "bull fight" is an English phrase which is misleading but we are stuck with it.  The corresponding Spanish terminology does not use words that have to do with "fighting" in the usual sense.

Sporting events are characterized by an uncertain outcome.  Even the lowest underdog team can get lucky (or good) and win the event!   

By contrast, a bull fight almost always has the same overall outcome.  The matador and his team, depending on performance and fate, receive accolades and the bull is dragged out to the butcher shop.

Well then, what is a bull fight?  It is a type of performing art.  The whole point of the event is to appreciate how well the matador performs in his dangerous dance with the bull.  Graceful, smoothly flowing, carefully rehearsed and practiced motions with the cape in the presence of a charging bull  is what the knowledgeable fans are cheering about (or jeering if they are not seeing satisfactory art).

A single bull fight takes about 30 minutes from the time the bull enters until he is dragged out.  During the first few minutes the matador and his team must understand the behavior of this particular bull and train him to follow and attack a "lure", the cape. With some luck and lots of skill an accomplished matador can then execute a continuing series of linked passes with his new dance partner, a half ton of ferocious fighting bull!

A single pass is a charge towards the cape and then past the matador.  Sometimes each pass is clearly distinct and at other times the passes all seem to blend into one continuous, graceful flowing motion.  There exist a seemingly infinite number of passes with the cape; each has its own name (veronicas, derechazos, pases de pecho, to name but a few) and  each has its own variations and a right way and wrong way to do it.

A description of any of the passes is beyond the   scope of this course and acquiring some understanding of them is left as an exercise for the serious student.  Never-the-less, one should learn to recognize a few passes to gain appreciation of the matador's art.

Music is an important part of the bull fight and the above "dance steps" are frequently accompanied by the plaza's band or orchestra. This generally occurs during the"final act" (the faena) of the bull fight as described in following paragraphs. Bull fighting has its own brand of music, the pasodoble, which adds a lively and pleasing dimension to the whole event.

As with other artistic performances, the outcome of a bull fight is highly subjective.  Art is in the eyes of the beholders.  This is where the fans get involved. The fans really make the decision on quality of performance by demanding a reward for the matador or a punishment (via boos or thrown cushions) if they think the performance was bad.  The judge or president of the ring has the final say on awards but he ignores the fans' demands (as evidenced by their whistles and waving of white handkerchiefs) at his own peril!

There is a quantitative measure of the matador's performance as manifested in the awards deemed appropriate by the fans and the judge. From worst to best the sequence is as follows: boos and jeers (sometimes a near lynching) for poor performance; silence and indifference for lackluster performance; polite applause for a reasonable act;  award of one ear, two ears or two ears plus tail (from the recently deceased bull) for a really outstanding performance.

There is intense competition among matadors (but not between the matador and bull as one may have guessed prior to taking Bull Fight 101).   Being ranked highly among matadors is, obviously, the goal of each matador for personal satisfaction; not to mention lucrative contracts for future performances. Frequently, the number of "trophies" taken during a life time or during the season is listed in the literature when various matadors are being compared but one should remember that these trophies were received based upon subjective feelings of the fans and the judge.

This wraps up the first session to Bull Fight 101.   Now we will take a peek at what you will see at an actual bull fight and then in the final session we will talk about the bulls.

In most bull fights there are three matadors and six bulls-two for each matador. The most senior  matador gets top billing on the advertisement posters (carteles) regardless of his actual standing in performances and the rancher who is providing (selling) the bulls is listed at the bottom.  This does not mean that the breed of the bulls is relatively unimportant for sometimes well known breeds are a key selling point for a bull fight.

The bull fight  takes place in the afternoon and commences with a bugle, music (pasodobles) and a procession across the ring of the afternoon's "performers" (except for the bulls who are out of sight  in individual corrals awaiting their turns).  The opening procession (paseo) is led by the three matadors with all their team behind them strolling abreast towards the judges' box above the ring .  If you are sitting close enough take a good look at the matadors faces and notice that their "suits of lights" (the classic matador outfit) usually include gold colors.  The other members of the team are similarly attired but do not have gold colors in their outfits. This is important to the beginner to avoid later confusion about who is out there, the matador or one of  his team.

One important note; if the matadors are not dressed in the classic, colorful, tight fitting "suit of lights" then you are witnessing an informal festival event rather than a true bull fight (corrida de toros).   Regardless, the following descriptions still apply.

The matadors take  turns with their respective bulls; the most senior  going first and fourth and most junior going third and last of the day. Each individual bull fight (that is, one matador and one of his two bulls) consist of three "acts". 

The first act opens with the bull charging into the ring and then being "trained" to follow and attack the cape.  The bull is not a happy participant and he instinctively tries to kill anything that threatens him; which in this case is any thing that moves in the ring.  During this act the matador will, hopefully, demonstrate his skills with the large and very heavy cape (the capote which is typically colored yellow and magenta).  The classic pass with the capote is the "veronica" or one of its many variations.  The first act concludes with the entrance of the "picadors"; the (usually chubby) guys on horseback.   The picadors' job is to weaken the bull's very powerful neck muscle by enticing the bull to charge the heavily padded horses and then to pierce the neck muscle with a long lance.   It is important to weaken the neck muscle so the bull will tend to keep his head low for the final act.  The picadors are ushered out of the ring by a bugle announcement from the judge's box and the second act begins.

The second act may include more passes with the big cape but some matadors allow their team to do most of the work with the bull during the second act  saving themselves for the grand finale at the third act. The second act concludes with the placing of the "banderillas" (the brilliantly colored short harpoons) into the bull's neck and shoulders. This is done primarily for traditional reasons but practically to correct any tendencies for the bull to hook his horns to left or right.  Usually the banderillas are placed by one of the team members (the banderillero) but sometimes, especially in Mexico, the matadors are encouraged  by a ritualistic chorus of whistles from the fans to place the banderillas themselves.

The third and final act (the faena) is arguably the most important part of the bull fight.  At the beginning of this act  the matador symbolically request permission from the judge to kill the bull and then dedicates the animal to an individual by handing him/her his hat (montero) or by placing the hat on the ground; hence, dedicating the bull to everyone.  At the beginning of the third act the matador trades in his large cape for the much smaller, red cape (the muleta) and carries a ceremonial sword in his right hand.  He then executes a long series of, hopefully, highly artistic passes with the cape and bull and will likely perform some crowd pleasing acts such as kneeling in front of the bull.  By this time the bull is tired and weak from injury but still extremely dangerous.  He will also be defending a much smaller territory than during act one and may take a lot of encouragement to charge.

This final act concludes when the matador trades his ceremonial sword for a real one and prepares to kill the bull.  This is the most dangerous time for the matador since he must quickly lean in over the horns and find a very small target (about the size of the palm of your hand) to place the sword between the bull's shoulder blades. If done well this event is over in seconds and the bull expires within a few minutes or less.  The fans and the judge then decide how well the overall performance was from acts one to three and rewards the matador accordingly.

In this final session we will address the most controversial part of the bull fight.  What about the bulls?  In a true Spanish style bull fight there will be blood;  the animals will be killed;  and the final process may be ugly and without any artistic merit. For some people this sight is unacceptable.  There are "bloodless" bull fights in the United States which are frequently mentioned on the web and this may be a viable option for those who want to know about the event but are reluctant to see the killing.  The above descriptions still largely apply to the bloodless bull fights.

Contrary to some opinions; the fans do NOT like to see the animal suffer.  In fact, a matador who does not kill quickly and cleanly is not likely to gather  awards for his efforts despite an otherwise good performance.

To put things in perspective: bulls that are raised on a ranch that specializes in fighting bulls actually share the same ultimate fate as their unfortunate brethren raised on beef ranches-they all will end up on the dinner table as steaks or in tacos. There is one exception to this ultimate fate for fighting bulls (but not beef cattle) that will be mentioned later.

Fighting bulls are raised as a business and they have value mainly (about 80%)for fighting qualities and the remaining 20% for beef.  The bulls that are lucky enough to be chosen when young calves for a future bull fight are then raised essentially as wild animals roaming with their brothers and cousins over the ranges. They must be at least four years old for a full fledged bull fight with matadors.   During these four years (contrast this with about 18 months to 2 years for beef cattle) the bulls have minimal contact with humans and never see a man with a cape until they enter the ring.

The bulls are carefully breed  for appearance and bravery-willingness to charge the cape over and over again.  Ranchers maintain long records of pedigree and success in breeding leads to fame and sometimes fortune for the breeders.

Once a bull has been in the ring and has encountered a man with cape he must never be fought again (this is the law).  The reason is that a bull will eventually tire of the lure and will no longer charge the cape but may focus his attention on the matador instead.  At this point the whole artistic performance is impossible because the bull is no longer a possible dance partner. There is no art in watching a matador spend his whole time dodging the horns.

Hence; the bulls end up in the butcher shop after the bull fight even if it was a "bloodless" fight.  It is more convenient to slaughter the animals in the ring but this is not allowed in the US.

The exception to this final fate, which is possible for fighting bulls but not beef cattle, is called the "indulto".  Occasionally, the bull shows such outstanding characteristics during a bull fight that the fans demand his life be spared.  If the judge agrees then the animal is ushered back out of the ring, a vet patches up his wounds, he goes back to the ranch and spends the rest of his life in bull heaven-grazing and making baby bulls.  This is quite practical outcome since such an animal is more valuable for breeding than for slaughter.

One final comment on the ethics of the bull fight.   We mentioned in the first session that a matador is a performing artist, not an athlete.   What is the bull?  The bull is to the matador as a violin is to a violinist or a block of stone is to a sculptor.  He is the living object that the matador uses to perform his art.  

This concludes our course, Bull Fight 101.  Good news! We were just kidding about the quiz.  Hopefully, this will encourage your interest in the Fiesta Brava.