Bull Fighting Training

Written on February 15, 2010.

On Saturday, after running errands with the family in Santarem, we ended up watching some bull fighting training. We pulled up to a small arena on a back street in the small town in which my host family lives. The concrete arena was about the fourth of a soccer field. The walls were more than ten feet high. There was a platform around the outside of the arena where men were standing, watching the events below. There was were stands where some girls were sitting googling at the guys below. There were about twenty guys between the ages of 18-40 (mostly younger guys) clustered in the arena. The arena was muddy; in some spots the dirty water was over six inches deep. My host father explained that they train for bull fighting about twice a month. They use wild cows to train, which are gentler than bulls (or suppose to be). There were about four concrete barricades set up around the arena close to the wall. There was just enough space between the barricade and wall to fit a body and about four could fit shoulder to shoulder behind the barricade. The men clustered behind them and then a door was opened and the wild cow charged into the arena. It's hide was flanked with dried mud. The cow stood there confused in the light for a second before charging at its first victim. The men yelled to get it to change directions. They continued to distract the bull and tire it out.

The men train to "catch the bull". In bull fights, after the bull is stabbed and run down a group of guys have the difficult task of catching the animal. In the arena, one man stood in front and a group stood a few feet behind him in a single file line. The man in front yelled and the cow charged. Instead of fleeing, the man took the cow's impact fully in the stomach and grabbed it by the horns. The horns are wrapped in leather so the are a little less lethal, though they can still cause damage. The men in the group grabbed the cow and got it under their control. Once they had control, they set it lose and another group stepped up to practice catching the cow. Many guys were pushed to the muddy earth by the cow, rolled on by the animal, and basically trampled. Every time they got right back up and continued on trying to tackle the animal. Bull fighting starts after Easter so they only have a few more times to practice before encountering the real wild bull in the arena surrounded by anxious spectators. My host brother said he never wanted to be a bull fighter, because of the danger. Many men end up with permanent injuries from bull fighting. My host father said guys can start training at age 15. But little kids can also "bull" fight. He showed me a book of bull fighting and there were pictures of seven year olds catching calves. Watching was interesting, but I'm not going to have the urge to get in an arena with a wild bull to grab it by the horns anytime soon.