Mi primera corrida de toros...

Yesterday I went to my first bullfight. I say first because I will definitely go again. And I'm really disappointed because I didn't get photos this time. Because my family didn't tell me where we were going before we left. So like. Next time there will be photos.

Now before you get all 'this is a vicious bloodsport, how could you enjoy watching a poor animal get stabbed until it falls over?' on me, listen to what I have to say...

So. In México we have Portuguese style bullfights, but with some differences. I will proceed to explain how bullfights work. Unlike Spanish bullfighting where los matadores are the main fighters, here los cavaleiros are. Los cavaleiros are men dressed in traditional 18th century costumes who fight the bulls from horseback. Los matadores are still the guys who dress up in beautiful costumes and torment the bull by waving a piece of cloth in its face, but they are used more of a distraction whilst el cavaleiro waves to the crowd and carries on and they don't get to hurt the bull.

There are also guys called forcados. And these people are absolutely insane. There are about eight or nine of these guys. And basically, when el cavaleiro is getting more spears or taking a breather or getting a quick medical examination after being thrown of his horse by the bull, these guys go out and stand in a line and provoke the bull unarmed. The front man provokes the bull into a charge to perform a pega de cara (face catch). He then man secures the animal's head and is quickly aided by his fellows who surround and secure the animal until he is subdued.

These are the three types of fighters that I managed to pick up on yesterday, but there are probably more. And now I will take you through a Corrida de toros Méxicana step by step.

1. Los forcados come out into the ring and bow to the crowd. They are followed by los matadores who step in front and take their turn at bowing to the crowd and carrying on. Then four cavaleiros ride into the ring and prance around for a bit, as they are the main players.

2. Everyone disappears except for the first cavaleiro and a cute little man runs into the ring and holds up a large bit of wood with the name of the fighter, the bull's weight and all the stuff you need to know about the fight on it. After hes given the crowd a good look he hightails it back to the stands so as to avoid the bull.

3. The bull comes charging out and los matadores provoke it a bit while el cavaleiro gets the crowd more excited. Then he is given spears and stabs the bull a few times. When he stabs the bull, the end of the spear stays in the bull and the rest of the spear becomes a flag, which he then throws to the crowd.

4. After the bull has been speared a few times los matadores provoke it a bit more, after which los forcados get their go at fighting the bull. Then el cavaleiro is given these other weapons which are pieces of metal about a foot long with a sharp end that (you guessed it) gets put into the bull. At this stage your bull is beginning to look like this.

5. Los forcados come out and do their thing again. El cavaleiro is then given the spear to end the fight with the bull and usually he taunts it a bit and then shoves it into the bull. He then jumps off his horse and faces the bull as it falls down, too weak to stand anymore. Then some guy in blue runs out and knifes the bull in the back of the head (this is the main difference between Portuguese and Mexican fighting. In Portugal the bull is not killed in the ring). If the bull is a real fighter and doesn't fall down el cavaleiro gets to grab a sword and a cape and torment the bull some more before shoving the sword into the bull's head.

So yeah. This whole deal is pretty savage. And it happens four times. Each cavaleiro gets a turn. Then at the end the winner is given the two ears of the bull that he killed.

Now. When I saw this happen the first time, the bull was a real wimp and basically just stood there and took it. So I was very sad and all 'my god. look at this poor animal. they are just attacking it and its not even fighting back. why would you enjoy this?' But the second bull was an absolute psycho. It knocked el cavaleiro off his horse and broke the nose of one of los forcados. They both were whisked away by officials and I think el cavaleiro was kocked out.

This is when I started to get into the fight. I started cheering for the bull (which you are totally not supposed to do) and began to wish that it would totally shred up some of these guys that were trying to kill it. And it was a very feisty bull. It didnt go down without a fight. When el cavaleiro went back in the ring it was so angry. But you know. Eventually it got killed. Because that is how it works.

The third fight was really good too, because el cavaleiro was very charismatic. He was fantastic with the crowd and a very skilled fighter (and rider) so it was good to watch. Did I mention that the horses and riders are all trained in dressage and if el cavaleiro is particularly good he will show off his horse riding maneuvers to the crowd? Well yeah. They do. And this guy was great. So yeah. He was good to watch.

The fourth guy won. Which I was annoyed about. Because I didn't like him. All the previous riders had respect for their opponent. You could tell by the way the moved and even though they acted like they were in control, you could tell that they knew something could go wrong any second. You could tell that they were scared of this fierce animal. The fourth cavaleiro was not like this. There was nothing but contempt. He just wanted to kill the animal and that was it. He was competitive alright, but there was no respect for the animal. I cant really put into words what I want to say, but this guy was different and I didn't like him one bit. So I was annoyed that he won. But yeah.

The whole thing was very exciting. After I got over the initial shock of it I began to realise that there is more going on than a fight between a man and an animal. The rider is absolutely scared shitless the whole time. Well. he should be. The last guy wasn't. He was just like 'go me. I'm the man!' But yeah. Its like... the inner struggle that makes it exciting. Watching him taunt the bull but then ride away as fast as he can. Because he knows that even though he will win the fight, if something goes wrong he could die too.