As old as Roman times, Spanish wild bulls were hunted by men with axes and lances who played with the beasts before killing them. The concept of bull fighting thus originated from those ancient ages.
Bull fighting is a popular sport in Spain, Portugal, Southern France and Latin America. This sport was first introduced by the Moors in the 11th century and it was taken over by the aristocratic professionals, particularly in Spain and Latin American countries, in the 18th century.
It is a very exciting sport and is highly enjoyed by people. In this ‘sport’, a bull, specially bred for the purpose, fights a man in the arena. In modern bull fighting, the fighter is called a ‘Matador’. He makes use of a red cloth to make the bull angry. When he waves the cloth, the bull is excited and attacks the fighter. Since the bulls are colour blind they can’t distinguish between colours; the popular belief that only red colour can excite a bull is not correct. Simply waving of a cloth of any colour can excite the bull. In Spain the sport is called “Corrida de Torros”.
The greatest Matadors of the 20th century have been Rodolfa Gaona, Armillita Chico and Carlos Arruza from Mexico. Belmonte, Joselito, Dominga Orgata and Manlete from Spain are also recognized as daring and graceful bull fighters.
The modern bull-fighting descends from the earlier customs that originated during the 18th century. Today it has more to do with the skill of the Matador than with the killing of a bull. He must be graceful and daring in his movements and able to thrill the crowd by playing as near to the bulls horns as possible.
The best Matadors are often gored by bulls and perhaps as many as a third of the greatest of them have been killed in the ring.