Bullfighting Research Paper
Did you know that each year a range of 10,000 to 40,000 bulls die each year in bullfights? The spectacle of bullfighting pits a man against a charging bull. The bullfighter, called a matador, faces the bull in a large dirt-filled arena that usually surrounded by spectators. Aided by a group of apprentices, the matador will test the bull’s strength by a series of taunts and stabbing. A common bullfight will approximately feature three matadors, six bulls, and in each bullfight one matador kills two bulls each. The contest begins with a colorful grand entrance by participants. Then the matador will enter and tests the bull’s strength by a series of taunts and passes. The bulls that farmers raise are not the same ones that fight in arenas. These bulls are of a distinctly savage breed and are especially trained to kill humans. Then the matador will take out his cape and gracefully charges aside when the bull charges. Next the picador will come out and start the actual fight; picadors are the members who are horse-mounted. They will fend off the bull’s attacks with sharp steel-pointed pikes, called pics. They weaken and anger the bull by piercing its next and shoulders. Then come the banderillos, named after their banderillas, or brightly decorated barbed pics. Clutching a stick in each hand, they rush toward the bull on foot and plant the barbs in the animal’s neck, weakening and angering the beast even more. Finally the matador comes in for the kill. Brightly dressed, he uses a sword draped in a cloth, called a muleta. After a number of intricate passes with the muleta, during which the matador the matador sights the bull along his sword, runs forward and plunges it in, for the spot in between the shoulders. If the sword enters correctly between the shoulder blades the animal will die almost instantly. During this part of the bullfight if the matador is injured, another replaces him. After the beast is killed it is tied up and a pack of horses drag it