Introduction to Spanish bullfighting

Popular knowledge and culture about bullfighting

Nobel Prize winner Hemingway once said: "Bullfighting is the only way to make artists Art under threat of death. "Indeed, Spanish bullfighting gives this competitive sport artistic beauty. It is the original form of art and the perfect combination of strength and beauty.

Bullfighting, as the national quintessence of Spain, has a history of centuries or even thousands of years. In the Neolithic rock paintings found in the Aldamira Cave, people saw some depictions of humans fighting cattle. According to historical records, the ancient Roman Emperor Julius Caesar who once ruled Spain was passionate about bullfighting on horseback. Later, matadors evolved to fight the bull while standing on the ground. At this point, the prototype of modern bullfighting has basically taken shape. For more than 600 years since then, this competitive sport has been considered a symbol of bravery and fighting skills and was quite popular among Spanish nobles. By the mid-eighteenth century, during the reign of the Bourbon dynasty, the first king, Felipe V, was deeply disgusted with this sport and believed that this cruel sport that could easily cause harm to royal members should be banned. Since then, this traditional aristocratic patent has spread from the palace to the people.

Some people say: "As long as the Spanish nation exists, bullfighting will not disappear!" Today, in the Iberian Peninsula, bullfighting is regarded as a noble art, starting from March 19 every year The seven-month period starting on St. Joseph's Day and ending on October 12, Spain's National Day, is called bullfighting season. Among them, the famous Fire Festival in Valencia in March and the Corpus Christi Festival in Granada in June will have a series of grand bullfights. In addition, what is popular among the people is the annual Running of the Bulls festival that we are familiar with. .

About bulls

Spanish bullfighting is a wild animal with pure blood. Generally, North African bulls with violent nature are used. They are cultivated by special training farms. It will be ready for competition in four to five years. But the aggressive nature of Spanish bullfighting is not something that can be trained, but is innate. In fact, Spanish bullfighting is color blind, so no matter what color cloth you use to show it still, the bullfighting has no feeling. Only shaking objects can arouse their fighting spirit (previously, the red side of the red and yellow cape in the hands of the matador was used To irritate the bull (the idea that the yellow side makes the bull quiet is not conclusively verified), so don’t be surprised if one day the bullfighting head-first collides with a speeding train. The weight of the official bullfight is between 400 and 500 kilograms. The trainee matadors usually face cattle under three years old of 200 to 300 kilograms. During the performance, the bulls that are not stabbed to death by the matador will eventually be led into the bullpen and stabbed to death by others with swords. But in some places, such cattle are regarded as sacred cows until they die of old age and are buried, and their meat is absolutely inedible.

About the Matador

In Spain and even the entire Spanish-speaking world, the matador is regarded as a brave and fearless man, and is highly respected and worshiped by the Chinese people. The status of Spanish bullfighters is higher than that of ordinary social celebrities and entertainment industry personnel. This unique group of people has elegant and brave souls. They perfectly combine technology and physical strength, grace and bravery. In fact, bullfighting is not just for men. Women had always participated in this sport before the 1930s, but then female matadors were banned. But in the past ten years, many women have joined in this brave challenge. In this year's Oscar-winning film "Speak to Her" for Best Screenplay, Spanish actress Rosario Flores showed people the story of Lidia, a strong and brave female matador. image. Although the Spanish government strictly prohibits teenagers under the age of 16 from participating in bullfighting, the sport is wildly praised in Spanish-speaking areas. The famous Spanish talented young bullfighter Julian Lopez Escobar was born in his early years. He started his bullfighting career in Mexico. Therefore, it is not impossible to associate matadors with women and teenagers.

Matadores are divided into official matadors and apprentice matadors according to their levels. Apprentice matadors can only fight bulls under three years old, and only formal matadors can challenge ferocious bulls weighing 500 kilograms.

About the Arena

There are circular bullfighting arenas in many important cities in Spain. The buildings are magnificent and magnificent, covering an extremely large area and can accommodate tens of thousands of people. people. The layout is similar to the Colosseum in ancient Rome. It is usually an open-air arena surrounded by auditoriums with cement steps. Tickets for seats facing the sun are cheaper, while seats not exposed to the sun are more expensive. In the center of the oval arena is the bullfighting arena. The surface is thinly spread with even yellow sand. The desperate fight between the bullfighter and the bull is staged in this area. There are 2-meter-high thick wooden wall railings and passages around the bullfighting venue to separate it from the audience seats. There are doors on all sides that can be opened and closed at any time to control the entry and exit of humans and animals. There is a wide gap between the door and the wall. When the bullfighting scene cannot be controlled by others, the matador can temporarily hide here to avoid the sharp edge of the bull and avoid unnecessary injuries. Directly opposite the rostrum and at the top of the auditorium on the left, there is a brass band. They direct and regulate the entire bullfighting process.

Opening ceremony and personnel

Usually a bullfighting performance consists of an entrance ceremony and three fights. The entrance ceremony was gorgeous and ostentatious. The trumpet sounded, and bullfighters in various costumes appeared. There were mounted policemen in classical costumes from the 16th century, long and short gunmen, flower escorts and many sidekicks. There were about twenty people. Of course, the most What stands out is the most gorgeously dressed main matador. After the audience gave them warm applause, they all returned to the resting area outside the fence to wait for their respective appearances. The on-site referee (called the chairman in bullfighting performances) is usually a well-known person in the local society.

There are certain limits on the time and number of times the matador can kill the bull. If the performance exceeds 25 minutes or fails to hit or kill the cow after three attempts with the sword, the chairman will notify the performance to terminate.

Among them, if you miss the flower dart, you can make up for it once. If the Changzha gunner misses and is overturned by the bull, he can only have the substitute Changzha gunner come in to make up the stab or he himself can mount the horse and stab again.

Matador Equipment

The clothing of Spanish matadors today still inherits the tradition of their predecessors in the 16th century. The main matador usually wears mainly red clothes with gold rims and some golden ornaments on them to make them look dazzling and dazzling when performing movements in the sun. In the 16th century, people were accustomed to bunting their hair, so all bullfighters wore headdresses. This tradition has been continued to this day. Gradually, the headdress became a kind of decoration, and the main matador was the only person wearing the headdress in the arena, which in turn evolved into a symbol of the main matador's identity. Although all matadors today have short hair, we can still see the symbolic black bun on the heads of many of them.

In addition, red cloth and cloak are also two very important tools. The red cloth is the patent of the main bullfighter. In fact, the so-called red cloth is red on one side and yellow on the other, which is consistent with the colors of the Spanish flag. The three matador assistants hold cloaks. The difference between the cloak and the red cloth is that the red side is replaced by pink.

Of course, the most important thing is the sharp weapon used to stab the cattle. A full set of matador tools include: a spear, six darts, four different swords and a dagger. Among them, the dagger is the most challenging and enjoyable to watch. The main bullfighter will choose different tools at different stages of the performance: in the initial stage, he usually uses a sword without an elbow and supports it with a red cloth to lure the bull. In the final assassination stage, a sword with an elbow is used. The matador thrusts the dagger into the heart of the bull's back. In addition, the main matador is also equipped with a cross-headed sword, which is used to stab the bull's central nervous system.

Go straight to the whole process

After the slightly noisy opening ceremony, it was the exciting performance stage. At this time, the stadium suddenly became silent, and the audience waited with bated breath for the appearance of the bull. When a huge figure weighing four to five hundred kilograms was released from the fence, it began to run wildly in the field, dust was flying, and its two curved horns were its deadly weapons. There are several pieces of bright ribbons stuck on the cow's back, which are also marks for people to attack it. It seemed a little panicked, slightly uncomfortable with the sudden attention of tens of thousands of people. After running a few laps, it stopped alone, and the audience would scream in surprise. Indeed, facing such a behemoth, the atmosphere of the arena was raised to a new level.

After the savage bull appears, it is the turn of the respected matador. At the beginning, many matadors took turns to attack. The main matador was still the protagonist in the arena and the leader of the atmosphere. In addition to some regular actions, he also uses some adventurous and exciting methods. For example, kneeling on one's knees, holding a red cloth, and letting the bull pass by. Every time such a scene occurs in the field, it will cause a high-decibel exclamation. At the same time, the main matador's assistants also take turns using The cloak teased the bull, with the purpose of consuming the bull's physical strength. After more than ten minutes of galloping around the field, the big guy was panting from exhaustion.

Subsequently, a horn sounded in the arena, and two knights holding spears and wearing armor entered the arena. The main bullfighter actively ran, directing the running route of the bull to the side of the spearman. When the bull was "fooled" and pounced on the spearman, the spearman used the momentum to thrust his spear into the cow's back, but he was using a broad-bladed spear, and it was slightly raised during the stabbing. As for killing the bull, after this fight, the sand was stained with blood, and the bull's physical strength was almost exhausted!

At this time, the game has completely become a stage for matadors to perform. The bull is already covered with scars and its momentum is not as strong as before. This seems to be a bit like taking advantage of the bull's danger, but the Spanish appreciate the matador. With their strong and vigorous postures and heroic ease, they held the sword in one hand and held the cloth at their waist with the other. They slightly raised the red cloth in their hands as they advanced. When the dull-eyed bull rushed towards the matador, the matador stopped and turned around. , under the raised red cloth is a bull that has jumped into the air. At this time, the matador, who has a strong desire to perform, not only shows off the beauty of his body, but also raises the difficulty of his movements to the maximum.

After a few rounds, the bull was at the end of its crossbow. When the matador saw that the time was right, he replaced it with a shorter but sharper sword from the staff, raised his wrist with one hand to look at the sword, and aimed at the bull. He used a red cloth with one hand to make the bull move forward, and then the bullfighter gave the last stab. Blood immediately flowed out, and the bull staggered a few steps and fell to the ground.

This fatal blow must accurately hit the cow's shoulder blades about 3 inches wide. If the position of the stab is slightly off, hits the cow's bones, or does not reach the heart, the cow will not die, and the matador will have to Use a short knife to stab the cow's neck. When a cow collapses, the butcher will rush forward and kill the cow to prevent it from suffering.

The winner in the arena receives cheers from the people. If the audience is satisfied with the bullfighter's performance, they will wave the handkerchief vigorously and reward the bullfighting hero with the bull's ears as required by ancient etiquette. The brave bullfights who died on the "battlefield" were quickly dragged in and out of the field by carriages with red flags and bells amidst the sound of majestic horns. A life ended... The blood stains on the sand drew an unforgettable and soul-stirring memory.

Eternal beauty

Exquisite and elegant artistic modeling, a display of wild and uninhibited power. The two are a pair of contradictions, but they are so perfectly combined. Exquisite and elegant, it allows people to experience the intelligence and wisdom of modern people. Wild and uninhibited, it inherits the bravery and bravery of its Spanish ancestors. This is the crystallization of wisdom, courage, skill and will. Bullfighting gives humans a strong body, exquisite skills, adventurous spirit, and iron will! In the entire process of bullfighting, fierce and fair competition is reflected at all times, and qualifications are not respected. In the elegant movements of the matador and in his cold and arrogant eyes, the bloody side of the primitive instinct of sports is revealed.

Bullfighting competition is brutal. Its bloody cruelty has attracted a lot of controversy. While it gives people noble honors, it is accompanied by much more pain and even life. It can make an excellent bullfighter become a rich man admired by everyone, and it also has the power to make an originally healthy person lose the ability to take care of himself, and even people like Joselito die in the bullring! The true meaning of bullfighting is built in the souls of those who sacrificed their lives for this cause. On the bloody road trodden by the bull's hooves, there are also the blood stains of countless matadors.

The Spanish say: "Behind every outstanding matador who becomes a multimillionaire, there are hundreds of matadors who have fallen on the road to the top." A matador needs to fight hard every moment. It’s not just the Bulls who have to defeat but themselves. What is grasped in the fleeting moment is not only the opportunity, but also the opportunity of destiny. At this moment, only a few people succeeded, but the pursuit process itself is a success of greater significance!

In the end, we still have to say that the charm of bullfighting lies in that it is an adventurous sport. The process is full of thrilling blood and beautiful and sublime. The entanglement between the matador and the bull is worthy of being a gorgeous spectacle. The dance of art.