The President

He is the authority of the bullring. His duty is to interpret and enforce the rules regulating the bullfight. He is the director of the corrida. He determines the timing, he punishes and he gives rewards. Normally he is the representative of the Government in the district or a police officer. His is not an easy job. Frequently, the audience whistles to presidents in order to protest their decisions.

The president has shawls in different colors. He shows them to give orders and transmit them to the ruedo and the callejón.

White Shawl
Used to command the beginning of the corrida, the release of each bull, the changing of a tercio (stage), to warn the bullfighter of an excessive prolongation of the faena and to award the trophies

Green Shawl
To command the return of a bull to the bullpens

Red Shawl
To command the use of banderillas negras (extra large harpoons)

Blue Shawl
To authorize the return of a bull to the ruedo

Orange Shawl
To pardon a bull and command the bullfighter not to kill the animal

The Trophies

First Trophy: An ear is cut out of the carcass and given to the matador as a recognition of his good performance. The president will award this if the majority of the audience claims for it waving their shawls.

Second Trophy:Two ears are cut. The president alone will decide if the performance of the matador deserves this honor. A good performance with the capote and the muleta, as well as killing the bull in a superb way are necessary to receive this distinction.

Third (and maximal) Trophy: Two ears and the tail are cut. The lidia must have been perfect.

Pardon of a Bull

Excellent bulls who have demonstrated superb attributes, courage and strength during the lidia can be pardoned and avoid being killed. A herd of bullocks will enter the ring and drive him out. Pardoned bulls spend the rest of their lives as stallions.

The bullfighting bull

According to historians, the current breed is a descendant of an extinguished species which used to live in Central Europe in ancient times. In Spain and Portugal, this original breed was transformed trough selection into the modern bullfighting bull, specifically created to be killed in the corridas. In the XVIII century ganaderías (cattle firms) consecrated to produce fierce aggressive bullfighting bulls are recorded to have existed in Spain. The main difference between a wild and a tame bull is their way to react when they feel to be menaced. The Spanish bullfighting bull will attack ceaselessly whoever or whatever moves in front of his eyes.

La casta

It is the pedigree of the bullfighting bull. All modern bulls descend from six original cattle firms (castas fundacionales) founded in the XVIII century

Casta Jijona
Casta Navarra
Casta Morucha
Casta Cabrera
Casta Vazqueña
Casta Vistahermosa

El trapío (appearance)

It is defined according to the appearance of the bull and his behavior during the fight. Bullfighting pundit José María de Cossío defines it as the set of visually detectable traits that allow to deduce future conduct patterns during the fight. Breeders endeavor to create energetic vibrant athletic silky skinned bullfighting bulls. The shape and size of the horns is also crucial.

La bravura (the courage)

It is the essence of a bullfighting bull. The animal will show courage by repeatedly attacking after having been punished instead of trying to escape, as a tame bull would do. Bullfighting bulls will always warn their potential victims before goring. They would place themselves in front of their opponent, stare, raise their ears and head and even dig with their hoofs before attacking.

Herrajes del toro bravo (marks on the skin)

* Divisa: Colors of the cattle firm
* Brand of the cattle association
* Guarismo: Number showing the year of birth of the bull (this would be 2009, 2019, 2029…)
* Brand of the cattle firm
* Number of the bull branded oh his ribs

La suerte de capote

Very often called also tercio de quites. At this stage the matador measures the strength of the bull, the way it gores and tries to detect the characteristics of each animal. Capote is the name of the cape used by the bullfighter to provoke the bull and dribble its attacks. It is normally held with both hands and used to carry on artistic manoeuvres, as well as conducting the bull to different places of the bullring.

El capote (the cape)

Is woven with heavy synthetic materials. Normally the side shown to the bull is fuchsia and the other yellow. In ancient times, capotes were manufactured in a wide variety of colors. It is common to dip capotes into starchy water to make them stiff.

Principales quites de capote (Most usual passes performed using the capote)

Chicuelinas: The matador holds the cape with both hands in front of his breast and provokes the bull. When the animal gores, the bullfighter wraps himself in the cape and turns around

Verónica: The most common pass in bullfighting. When the bull attacks the bullfighter, he moves the cape to the right or to the left using both hands and steps forward with one of his legs to be prepared for the next pass.

Gaoneras: The matador holds the capote with both hands at his back and faces the bull in an asymmetric position, showing more of the cape in the left or the right side. When the animal attacks, he raises the cape so that the animal will pass very close to his body without touching the cape with his horns.

Revolera: Performed only with one hand, in this pass the matador twists the capote around himself while the bull is goring

Tafallera: The bullfighter shows his back to the bull and provokes it. When the animal gores, he raises the cape with both hands and lets the bull run below.

Tercio de varas

Tercio de varas (Stage of Pikes) Two are the goals of this stage of the lidia. First, testing the courage and strength of the bull. The picador identifies the brave or tame character of the animal, as well as his ability to get focused in his opponents and attack them repeatedly. Second, the picador has the chance to wound the animal thus reducing his strength and allowing the matador to successfully conduct the faena later. It is important that the picador wounds the bull very carefully, not too much neither too little.

Picador

The picador is supposed to drive the pike into the loin of the bull when the animal is attacking the breast of the horse. After, that he should make the horse turn so that the bull will impact the rib area of the horse while he is harming the goring animal with the pike.

The first step to successfully perform the suerte de varas is to place the bull in the right place with the capote (cape). From this position, the bull will focus his attention on the horse and subsequently attack it and the rider. Until the XVII century, torear (to bullfight) meant exclusively to provoke the bull with the vara (pike) and force him to gore. That is what modern picadors still do in the first stage of the lidia. The behavior of the bull can vary substantially in different parts of the ruedo. A good picador is able to understand those differences and force the bull to attack his horse in the room he is assigned, only one tendido (stand), no matter if he is front of a brave or a tame bull. This is an art as complex as the one matadors perform with the muleta (scarlet cloth), in which slight movements are preferred to shouting at the bull or moving excessively. The two circle white lines painted on the ruedo act as indicators of the correct distance for the picador to perform, however it is not compulsory to respect that distance. A good picador will try to face the bull as close as possible to the central part of the bullring.

The bull should attack the picador and the horse blindly confident and galloping. It is also important that he lowers his head while goring the horse and that he pushes with his rear legs, which is called meter riñones (literally push with his kidneys)

Tercio de banderillas

 

It was a great invention by the founders of the art of bullfighting. The goal of this stage of the lidia is to ‘revive’ the bull, who normally tends to slow down after the tercio de varas. When the harpoons are driven into his loin, the courage and brave character of the bull will anger him and force him to gore again when he is provoked. This can be a very spectacular and risky performance, which requires talent, dexterity and agility from the bullfighters.
 

This stage of the lidia implies a lot of movements and different techniques. The situation of both the bull and the bullfighter at the beginning of the cite (provocation) will give different names to the performance. If the bullfighter has already began to run towards the bull when the animal begins to gallop, it is said that the banderillas (harpoons) are put de poder a poder (in a power balanced situation). If the bull is close to the barrera (wooden fence) and the bullfighter is aligned with him and has to run to the center of the bullring, then the banderillas are driven al sesgo (tilted). Banderillas can also be driven de fuera a dentro (from the outside to the inside), de dentro a fuera (from the inside to the outside), al cuarteo (dribbling in a circle), al cambio (dribbling statically), al quiebro (dribbling laterally), de frente (dribbling frontally) and a topacarnero (not dribbling).
 

A strict order is necessary to perform this stage successfully. Normally, the matador who is in charge of killing and fighting that bull will wait close to the burladero and let his subalternos harpoon the bull. Despite this is the normal behavior, occasionally the matador would help the secondary bullfighters or even put the banderillas himself. During the tercio de banderillas, one bullfighter called lidiador will be in charge of conducting the bull and placing him correctly, so that his colleagues can harpoon the animal properly. Two banderilleros will harpoon each bull. One will put two pairs of harpoons and the second only one. At the beginning of the tercio de banderillas, they stand in the medios (central point of the bullring) and provoke the bull. While they perform, the matador and the members of other cuadrillas will distribute along the ruedo in order to be able to act if an accident occurs.
 

The banderilla (little harpoon)

Rounded dowel wrapped in colored paper, with a harpoon shaped steel point. The prog of the harpoon is articulated allowing the banderillas to hang during the faena the muleta in order to avoid possible accidents.

La suerte de muleta

The muleta (scarlet cloth folded over a wooden stick) is the tool used by the matador to perform the passes during the tercio de muerte, also called tercio de muleta (last stage of the lidia). Only matadors are allowed to use the muleta, although a subalterno can replace them if they suffer an accident and cannot kill the bull. Is the more artistic stage of the faena.
 

The muleta (literally the prop). It is a scarlet cloth folded over a wooden stick (and sometimes also over the sword). It is used by the diestro to dominate the bull and force him to gore in artistic passes. The wooden stick used to fold it is called estaquillador and is made of beech wood. The muleta can also be called franela, lienzo, muletilla or pañosa. The size of this bullfighting tool will vary according to the personal preferences of the matador. Normally, the tip of the cloth is supposed to touch the ground while bullfighting.
 

Most usual passes performed with the muleta

- Pase natural (Natural Pass): A very classical pass performed using only the left hand. When the bull gores, the matador twists slightly and pushes his left arm and the muleta backwards, creating a circle effect with the cloth. His feet must move fast, allowing him to perform several consecutive naturales
 

- Derechazo (Right Hand Pass): Same as the natural but performed with the right hand and normally folding the muleta also over the sword
 

- Pase de pecho (Breast Pass): A very usual way to finish a serie (round) of passes. It is performed raising the hand with the muleta to the height of the breast, thus forcing the bull to gore upwards.
 

- Manoletina: The matador grasps the cloth of the muleta with both hands, one of them behind his back.

The bull will attack the bullfighter, who will stand still as a statue while the animal gallops very close to his body. This pass is named after the famous matador Manolete.
 

- Trincherazo: In this pass the matador moves the muleta slowly and very close to the ground and then removes the cloth very fast in the face of the bull.

Tercio de muerte

The aim of the last stage of the lidia (fight) is focused in preparing the bull to be killed using the estoque (sword). It is the most crucial time of the lidia and when the matador most evidently shows his skills.

Some variations for this suerte exist:

- Recibiendo (Receiving the bull). It is the most ancient way to kill a bull. It requires the animal to be still strong enough to gore in a speedy tenacious way. The matador will very carefully chose the right distance and position, aligned with the right pitón (horn) of the bull, the muleta slightly folded, his right hand with the sword close to his breast and the elbow as high as his shoulder.
 

- Volapié (with flying feet): This way of killing the bull was invented to terminate animals lacking strength and unable to move fast enough. The matador will run to the bull holding the muleta in his left hand and the sword in the right. He would force the animal to lower his head with the cloth while, simultaneously, he stabs the sword into the animal. It the most common way to kill bulls.
 

- Al encuentro (meeting each other): Both the bull and the matador run towards each other. When they meet, the matador stabs the sword.
 

An ideal bull would attack the matador galloping, blindly confident and will lower his head to gore while in front of the matador. He would also would push with his rear legs, which is called meter riñones (push with the kidneys)
 

Depending on the orientation of the matador when he dribbles the bull after stabbing the sword into the animal, two suertes (ways) of killing exist:
 

- Suerte natural: (Natural Way). The matador would finish between the barrera and the bull

- Suerte contraria: (Opposite Way) The bull would run between the barrera and the matador