A very manly response which is not so manly

reply to post by DerepentLEstranger


As far as I know, there are only two types of bullfight today, the Spanish (the most widely known) and the Portuguese.

In the Spanish bullfight, they start with the "picadores", that, on horse back and using long lances, stab the bull behind the head, to make it lose some energy, to test it's strength and will to fight and to make it impossible for the bull to lift the head and makes it easier to kill the bull with a estoque at the end. Today, the horse are protected by a kind of reinforced skirt, but originally the horses didn't had any protection and several died in each fight. Apparently, the record is one bull that killed 21 horses. The second part has some men on foot putting "baderillas" on the bull, and the final part is the more famous one, with the "matador" confronting the bull with a cape, and, at the end, with a sword (estoque) with which he kills (if successful) the bull.

In a Portuguese bullfight there aren't any "picadores", it starts with a horseman putting the "bandarilhas" on the bull. The second part is the "pega de caras", with the "forcados" trying to, literally, grab the bull by the horns. Sometimes, instead of the horseman, the first part has a matador, but the bull is never killed on the arena in Portugal (except for a small village, near Spain, in which the people refuses to follow the Portuguese law).

As far as I understand it, during the Middle Ages, rich people in Spain used to kill a bull with a lance in special occasions, like weddings, so it looks like that's the origin of the present day bullfight.

In some countries (I think mostly in France) they still do the jumps over the bull, as in that old fresco (at least it looks like a fresco) that you posted.

I hope that helped.

you have the BULL
and you have the BULLIES

that is the etymology of the phrase right there

reply to post by Suspiria


That also protects the horses that do the first part, before the "forcados" enter the arena.

One thing I forgot to say is that the forcados only do that, they do not stick the bandarilhas on the bull or do anything else, they just grab the bull with their hands.

Also, they do it for free, as they are all from amateur associations that get no money for their appearances.

reply to post by Danbones


But that is all lost in translation...

To add a little variety of opinion, I don't feel sorry for the bull. Maybe when it evolves means to prevent being captured by humans, I will fear it

Too bad the bull did not kill them all. I would love to have seen that.

reply to post by groingrinder


Why?

Really not a fan of torturing animals for sport. All for eating them though.

Originally posted by ArMaP

this is not a sport.

Nobody sees bullfight as a sport, it's seen more as an art.

I,m sorry but I do not class a spectacle in which a living creature is subjected to such barbarity as art,art should educate and be a celebration of the higher capabilities of the human spirit.it,s bad enough that we as a species only appear to be at our happiest when injuring or killing our own kind,but to force our bloodlust onto any innocent creature is unforgivable.

I absolutely LOVE when Matadors get jacked up... I also like when those fools go to Pampalona to get trampled. I don't see sport or art in torturing animals , and this is coming from a hunter. If the kill isn't ethical , clean and serves no means then I'm against it. When I harvest a deer, I try to do it in the most humane manner possible , I then thank it for providing food for my family.

Originally posted by nake13
I,m sorry but I do not class a spectacle in which a living creature is subjected to such barbarity as art,art should educate and be a celebration of the higher capabilities of the human spirit.it,s bad enough that we as a species only appear to be at our happiest when injuring or killing our own kind,but to force our bloodlust onto any innocent creature is unforgivable.

I do not see the whole bullfighting as an art, but I see how it can be seen as several individual arts, in the case of the Portuguese style three different arts: the art of maneuvering the horse in front of the bull, the art of the on foot torero and the art of the forcado. In the first two, their actions end with the sticking of a bandarilha on the bull, but the forcados do not harm the bull in any way.

As only the bandarilhas are any direct violence against the bull, Portuguese style bullfights in which the bandarilhas are not harpoon-like but attach to a velcro piece glued on the bull's back are allowed in the US.