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Many times, when I go to a corrida de toros---and also on occasion when I
go to a tentadero in the countryside---the same thought jumps into my mind: How
is it possible that this animal that is so beautiful and powerful, so strong
and fierce – how is it possible that it would follow a cloth that moves in
front of its eyes and nose over and over again?
I recognize that even to me---and I am the one posing the question---it
seems absurd, but for the many corridas that I have 
gone to in my 20 years of
professional work in the mundo taurino and for the many hours of faenas that I
have been privileged to see in the countryside, this miracle does not cease to
amaze me. And I come to this conclusion: the fact that the bull pursues the
capote and the muleta---and never veers from its path---is nothing less than an
authentic miracle. The miracle of “bravura”, and what a profound mystery it is!
Because if you go deeper into this absurd reflection, you quickly get to
the conclusion that the bull is not a trained animal, nor a docile being that
you can easily coax to do a task and do it in a certain way. No, here there is
no training ahead of time, nor any pact with the wild animal to collaborate.
That the bull follows the muleta time after time---and some do it
untiringly!---is a consequence of a miracle called “bravura” which has been
selected in breeding by man to the point of converting it into habitual
behavior for this race.
The bull does not follow the muleta because someone has taught him to do
it, but because man has observed the bull’s behavior and been able to isolate
and select this behavior generation after generation. What was at first a
defense instinct is now an impulsive nature, which has been iherited through
habit.
The words and the idea in this last phrase are taken from a person that
for me---and for many ganaderos---is the authority on the study of bravura: the
veterinarian Cesáreo Sanz Egaña. It was in his book HISTORIA Y BRAVURA DEL TORO
DE LIDIA that I first read that this animal that I took as the poster child of
violence and valor, is really a zoological coward because its reaction when
endangered is to flee in a herd.
In reality, 
I have had the opportunity to confirm this assertion many
times out in the fields, but to find it so explicitly stated in a book
published in 1958 seemed to me all the more impressive. You see, as a child I
would escape on my bicycle and go to the finca ‘Peñalosa’, which belonged to
the famous torero Litri, with the sole objective of being near bulls, and I
would look at these animals for hours on end in their natural surroundings.
When I arrived and they were near the wire fence, my heart would race. Equipped
with a modest camera, I would work my way towards the group with slow movements
with the innocent intention of taking a snapshot. Quickly I learned that my
approach or the simple crack of a twig that I might step on would provoke the
immediate flight of the whole herd. The bulls were afraid of me and my camera,
or at least they were taking precautions.
So if bulls in the field generally take flight, then why do the attack in
the plaza? Why do they not tire of following the muleta that the man puts in
front of their noses time after time? Why do most bulls not take a shorter,
more intelligent route, and liberate themselves at the first opportunity of
this glittering person that is harassing them?
In my need to know and to learn about bulls, I
encountered a wise man, a man who I sometimes even suspected of being able to
think like a bull. This man was Alvaro Domecq y Díez. First I read (his book)
and later I made his acquaintance and developed the most profound admiration
and unending respect for him. Don Alvaro answered my first basic doubt with
pre-eminent simplicity in his book EL TORO BRAVO: “The bull”, he wrote, “does
not throw the first punch. You have to start the fight and bother it in order
to get it to respond.”
It was clear: the man had observed that the bull, when it is irritated,
attacks and charges, and has bred to promote this irritability. It is
definitely the work of observation and selection [breeding]. The ganaderos have
kept those animals that had the capacity to attack that Sanz Engaña defined as
a “forward flight”. With these animals they formed their herds and
created today’s bull that Álvaro Domecq defines as “an animal that always
attacks fearlessly”.
This bull is the consequence of selective breeding: “By selectively
breeding, the ganadero has known how to purify the bravura and multiply it”,
according to Don Álvaro.
I agree with this idea, and also with the idea that today’s bull has more
bravura than at any time in history, in the sense that the percentage of bulls
that charge is much greater than the percentage that refuse to charge as they
did at the beginning of the century according to reports that talk about bulls
that went to the tablas and stayed there or mansos [cowardly, non-aggressive
bulls] that had to be pursued by the toreros [as the animals ran away].
Actually we still have those today, of course – but a lot fewer.
For our objective tonight, which is to offer some key insights into the
behavior of bulls, let us take as a basic premise the idea of that wise man,
don Álvaro: “A bull that is bravo never gives up and dies attacking.”
But this concept of ‘bravo’ can be dissected and nuanced to the point of
driving one crazy. The behavior of a bull during its performance has 100
distinct nuances and 1,000 changes, and the spectator has to pay constant
attention. The bull is the needle of the compass around which turns the
spectacle. Whoever understands the bull will understand the lidia
and get closer to the secrets of toreo. The first thing you have to do is
follow the bull, observe it, never let it out of your sight, intuit its
reactions, take note of them but never believe that anything is for sure.
I learned to use simplicity to define concepts from the people who live in the countryside. The mystery of bravura was easily reflected in a simile that I heard for the first time from José, a wise ranch hand of Litri who worked in ‘Peñalosa’. “Bulls are melons waiting to be opened” he would say, looking at them through his eyes that were small but with a vivid intensity that I will never forget,
They are very much their own selves, don’t you think, you see them there so tranquil and they seem to be your friends, but you can never trust them – they are bulls. Look”, and showed me, with a certain degree of pride, a scar on his right arm: “A noble bull did that to me, a bull that I used to pet every day when I fed it. One day it got its signals switched and....
The first time that I went to the finca of Victorino, in my first years
of being a taurine journalist, I heard a story from Victorino’s
son that I will
never forget. He told me about the hours that he had spent on the ground out in
a field, gravely wounded, after a bull had thrown him off his horse, gored him
and then kept him pinned to the ground by watching him during the whole time
without permitting him to even raise his head. “It was as though the bull
was waiting for a movement so that it could give me the coup de grace and
finish off its victim”.
Those stories did nothing more than increase my obsession to understand
the behavior of the bull. I knew that without understanding the behavior of the
bull, I would never understand the essence of toreo. And I also knew that
understanding the keys to the bull’s behavior was an essential study that I
would have to undertake in order to advance in the profession that I had
chosen---that of being a taurine
journalist.
In this presentation we are going to attempt to really see the bull, get
close to its most basic behavior, and also get into some of the more advanced
nuances of its performance during the lidia and get close to the new way of
naming the behaviors that the young toreros and banderilleros have.
Before getting into the behavior of the bull in each of the tercios,
let’s take as a point of departure the characteristics of the toro bravo set
forth by Álvaro Domecq.
For him, for a bull to be truly bravo, it has to start out and attack
promptly, charge straight (without looking for shortcuts), always press
forward, galloping not trotting, and it should accept the fight in each moment
and never run away, and never get tired of charging.
To learn to see a bull we have to assimilate the nuances of bravura that
can be considered positive factors. These are the following:
Don’t get lost in this labyrinth of concepts. They will appear one by one
when we observe the bull in the three distinct tercios. The other challenge is
to get inside the mind of the torero. They perceive bravura in a distinct way,
in a direct way, without intermediaries, and in direct contact with the animal
as it brushes by them. The toreros are close to the bravura, they can feel it
in their hands, they know its rhythm and its pulse...That is why they will be
valid guides on our voyage.
The bull enters the ring
When the bull enters the ring, you must look more for impressions than
conclusions. A bull transmits sensations to toreros and to the aficionado as a
function of its presence and appearance in the ring (a bull with trapío--- well
built, impressive looking---predisposes one to think it has bravura much more
than a bull without trapío). But when the bull really starts to give us clues
is when it starts to move in the ring.
It is preferable that the bull is not surprised by his new environment.
The entry should be frank, crisp, and without fear or suspicion. The bull that
enters and stops to think, or that does not move and looks around with
curiosity, is a bull that does not transmit positive things to the torero. It
is most likely that the animal is timid and cowardly, and that it will put on
the brakes in the capote and try to dodge the capote with a charge that is
complicated for the matador.
On the other hand, the bull that comes out with momentum, with a clear
stride and that charges the burladeros with its head lowered is sending
positive signals to the torero, who will begin the performance with a better
predisposition. If the bull’s first charges [at the burladero] are with its
head low, this can be a first signal that later he will lower his head
[when he charges the capote and the muleta].
In the first contact with the capote, it is preferable that the bull does
not ‘put on the brakes’ and stop its charge or cut short its trajectory or veer
from the path that is being outlined by the torero with the capote. It is not a
good sign when the bull throws 
its front hooves forward and up in the air and
jumps forward---which is a sign of a defensive attack---but instead the bull
should charge the capote lowering its head into it and follow the capote to the
end of the trajectory without cutting in on the torero.
The bull that takes the first charge in the capote and then stops to think
about what its next action will be is signaling to the torero a certain
anxiety, or at least precaution. If the bull also paws the ground between the
passes in the capote, this adds another defect to its behavior, and this action
bothers the toreros. Another negative behavioral trait is when the bull runs
away after beginning the charge into the capote. This behavior is the precursor
of ‘mansedumbre’ [cowardice, lack of aggression], which we will understand as
not wanting to fight or the tendency to run away.
There are certain encastes [breeds] of bulls that are characterized by
animals that are ‘cold’ in the first tercio, and with these you have to be
patient, interpreting these initial flights as part of their character.
Examples are bulls from the encaste Núñez and all those that come from
Atanasio.
I repeat that none of the keys should be taken as dogmas of faith. As the
ganaderos say, in a bull, two plus two does not equal four! So the best thing
to do is keep on observing and be open to whatever sudden change may destroy
the theory that you are creating about this or that bull.
Before ending this first look at the bull, we should also understand that
there are some bulls that give very clear signals from the get-go that they
have bad intentions. The danger of a bull is shown in the capote when it goes
directly for the chest or the ankles of the torero, and it is perfectly
oriented as to where the body is even though the body is almost completely
hidden by the capote. There are bulls that show their ‘sentido’ [uncanny
‘sense’ of where the man’s body is] from the moment they enter the plaza; these
bulls cut in, look for the torero above and below the capote, lean in, cut
their charge short, stop suddenly and turn in....they definitely put the torero
in danger.
Encounter with the horse (A video was
shown to reinforce this part of the presentation)
After receiving the bull with the cape---in what is an increasing brief
interaction---the picadors come out on their horses. Their function is basic
for today’s toreo. Only with a bull well picced, with a suitable amount of
blood letting, and not excessively punished, is it possible to arrive at the
perfection of today’s toreo, which needs regular, measured charges with rhythm,
with temple and control, and without any abrupt movements that would be
disruptive and make it difficult to perform the slow, smooth and aesthetic
toreo that we see increasingly often today.
You should not look on a good picador as an enemy of the fiesta, but as
one of fiesta’s necessary intercessors. More up for discussion are the tools of
this suerte [this part of the performance] – the horse and the puya.
It is not the objective of this report to get into the controversy as to
whether changes are needed in the suerte de varas [the part of the performance
where the bull is picced], but what is logical is that using a horse that
weighs less and is smaller gives the bull advantages that it does not have
today. The above-mentioned Álvaro Domecq talks about a “destructive” first
tercio that limits the behavior of the bull because it has smashed against an
authentic wall [i.e., the horse].
But leaving this controversy aside, let’s concentrate on the behavior of
the bull in the horse.
First, the horse and the picador have to be in the counter-querencia of
the bull. ‘Querencia’ is the place where the bull wants to go, and one of the
natural querencias propitiated by the memory and instinct of the bull, is the
place from where the bull comes out when he enters the ring, i.e. the ‘chiqueros’.
For this reason, the chiqueros are the place where the bull wants to return,
and the picador and horse thus are put at the spot diametrically opposed to the
chiqueros because in this spot it would require greater effort, as well as more
courage and aggression, from the bull to go against this new ‘enemy’ in the
plaza.
Once set up in the suerte (with the bull in front of the horse and with
its rear to the chiqueros) the bull that is truly bravo will 
charge the horse
promptly and without letup. It will go direct, without taking any shortcuts or
curving around to find the chest or the rear hindquarters of the horse. Both
actions must be interpreted as making it easier for the animal.
It is good when the bull smashes against the peto
(this is a symptom of commitment to the attack) and stays fixed in the peto and
pushes straight ahead, without moving its head, which is lowered. To see if a
bull is really giving its all in the horse, you have to concentrate on the
lower part of its back where its kidneys are located. If the bull tenses the
muscles in this area, getting the most power out of it muscles in each attack,
then the animal will be putting its all into it. [This is called ‘meter los
rinones’ – or “putting the kidneys into it”.]
Then there are other bulls that stay in the peto but they do not push. Of
these it is usually said that they ‘letting themselves get picced’ simply.
Others push but only with one horn (which means that their commitment is less)
and others put themselves on the side parallel to the horse, making it look
like they are fighting but they are not really, and they are actually looking
for a quick way to get away once they find an exit. For this reason, a
“carioca” is performed on this type of bull. The carioca was invented by the picador
Miguel Atienza to cut off the exit of manso [cowardly non-aggressive] bulls
that want to run away and thus to be able to administer the necessary
punishment.
It is also negative if when the bull feels the steel tip enter it takes a
few steps back - they call this
“repucharse” [stepping back to avoid the punishment of the picador].
This behavior is a sign of mansedumbre [cowardice, lack of aggression]. And it
is bad when the bull tries to get the tip of the vara out and this points
directly to mansedumbre and also shows that the animal has sentido. We will
understand the “sentido” of a bull as the precursor to the animal being
dangerous. “Sentido” can also be equivalent to intelligence or cleverness,
keeping in mind that animals are not human beings.
So far we have talked about bulls that at least to some degree stay in
the horse. But there are others when they feel the steel tip, they cowardly run
away and some run away before they even touch the peto--- is frightening enough
for them just to see the challenging presence of the picador and his mount.
It is difficult to evaluate the bravura of a bull in a plaza where the
bull goes to the horse only once because in this tercio “bravura” should be
understood to be the capacity for a bull to grow or get better and fight back
more as it is punished. If there is not at least a second pic, then we do not
have a reliable approximation of the bravura of the animal. This is because
bulls go to the first encounter without knowing what is going to happen, but in
the second and successive encounters they go knowing what awaits them and this
is where you can see the true dimension of their bravura.
For me--- and for exigent, demanding ganaderos---a bull is not worthwhile if
it pushes spectacularly in the first pic and then in the second it hesitates,
thinks about it, takes steps backwards to avoid the punishment, paws the
ground, shakes its head making the stirrups clang or runs away when it feels
the steel tip. The bull should accept the punishment in a progressive manner,
getting better and pushing with its rear quarters, without turning its head
around and without any clanging of the stirrups.
Moreover, the bull should resist the capotes of the banderilleros when
they try to take it off the horse. A bull that leaves the horse rapidly having
seen just the first flap of the capote demonstrates that it does not have
sufficient zeal and determination to have real bravura.
Banderillas (A video was shown to
reinforce this part of the presentation)
Once punished in the horse, it is time to see in what state the animal is
now. The first thing to test is whether the effort in the horse has overly
diminished its strength. This can be seen in the way it moves through the
capote of the banderillero who is doing the brega [leading the bull around with
a capote].
You have to be careful with this: brega is always (or at least it always
should be) conducted in a way that is favorable to the bull and betters its
charge and corrects its defects. The banderillero should not bother the bull,
and for this reason they almost always move the capote in straight lines for
the bull to follow rather than force the charge. If you add this to the fact
that the banderillero is moving backwards while spreading out the capote in
front of him, this makes it easier for the bull to charge.
A pass with the capote in a straight line with the man moving backwards
and not lowering his hands is not the same thing as a pass where the torero
remains stationary and the animal is forced into a long, low trajectory that
curves around the man. Hence many bulls that appear to have good recorrido [the
distance covered in the charge while the head is down] during the brega with
the capote, get distressed later in the first series of muleta passes. These
bulls do not have excessive “raza”, the motor that maintains the fight.
In banderillas you definitely have to look for factors like the bull’s
strength, the promptness with which the bulls sets out to charge at the man,
the degree of concentration it has in the capes and above all, the recorrido
[distance covered] and the length of the charge – on the right horn and then
the left. One can also note, although sometimes this is more complicated, if
the bull leans in one horn or the other, if it cuts in or if it marks a
querencia that later should be taken
into account by the matador in order to choose where in the ring to perform the
faena with the muleta.
In the encounter with the banderilleros one can also note specific
positive behaviors: it is good if the bull gallops smoothly towards the
banderillero who is citing it with the banderillas in his hands; it is also
good if the bull initiates the charge promptly and goes straight without taking
any shortcuts (which is what the toreros call ‘cortar’ or cutting) because it
wants to get to the man the most direct way. If this happens, we have to begin
to suspect the bull and be alert to the possibility of dangerous behavior later
on. It is also not good if the bull paws at the ground, or if it thinks about
charging rather than just doing it or if it sort of stampedes at the
banderillero, which can be very disconcerting.
The muleta, the definitive test (A video was
shown to reinforce this part of the presentation)
The evolution of the Fiesta has gone on giving ever more importance to
the last tercio, to the point that now we can say that the first two tercios
dispense with highlighting the animal so that it can arrive at the last tercio
in the best possible condition. In today’s spectacle, it does not matter very
much if the bull puts up a great fight in the horse if later it does not have
good behavior in the muleta.
Simplifying it greatly, we can say that the purpose of today’s bull is to
give a good faena in the muleta. The selective breeding that the ganderos have
done in the last decades has taken the path of getting the optimal bull for the
last tercio, often forgetting that the test in the horse is fundamental to
determine and select for bravura, strength and endurance.
In this sense, our guide in the difficult path of bravura, the
fondly-rembered and respected Álvaro Domecq, was unequivocal and clear. He
would say that the ganadero “should look for bravura with strength, that
transmits and has mobility” and he added that strength is based in two
factors: good health and casta.
Don Álvaro was alarmed that ganaderos were breeding more and more for
charges that were smooth and gentle. For him, smoothness or gentleness was a
dangerous element in the selection because the consequence is that you get a
bull that is limited in strength, raza and bravura. A bull like, so sadly, we
see so many afternoons in the ring.
To understand the behavior of the bull in the muleta, we must clearly and
precisely understand some parameters or concepts and get them right from the
beginning. We will attempt to analyze the charge of a bull and apply a name to
each one of its behaviors.
The function of the torero in his encounter with the bull at the
beginning is didactic: he has to show the path to the bull, channeling the
power of his charge to create art. According to this premise, the beginning of
the faena with the muleta often
has only this didactic function. The first
passes with the muleta serve to try out and gauge the charge, as well as to put
the bull in the muleta.
With these muleta passes, the torero can evaluate various factors: the
promptness with which the bull charges (if the bull immediately charges or if
the torero has to insist several times to get it to charge); the degree to
which the bull lowers its head (if it puts its head down to the ground or if it
charges at mid-height or if it carries its head high in the charge); the bull’s
recorrido or length of the charge (how far it goes before finishing the
charge); and the rhythm (if the bull charges temperately, smoothly, or if it
does the opposite and comes to the muleta strongly and fast). The torero will
also evaluate (and the ganadero too) if the bull has nobleza – the factor
perhaps most difficult to evaluate from the tendidos.
Nobleza is less visible and more difficult to measure. It is more a
sensation that the bull transmits although there are keys to knowing whether or
not a bull is noble. Nobleza shows itself in a charge that is straight and a
head that is very much “in the muleta”, in the clarity and frankness of the
bull while it pursues the muleta, without paying any attention to the torero,
as though no enemy existed other than the red cloth that moves in front of its
eyes.
The ideal bull for today should be bravo and noble. The right mix of both
factors makes for a bull that is good for the toreo that is demanded today, an
animal that makes for good faenas.
The professor Rodrigo García González-Cordón points out in a study that
bravura is based on eight factors that seem to me to be interesting as guidelines
for observation:
1. Fixation or concentration, which is the attention that the bull pays to
stimuli
2. Mobility, which is the constant activity of the bull [always willing and
able to charge]
3. An immediate attack, as soon as it starts out
4. The charge in the horse
5. The charge in the capotes and the muleta
6. Strength, which is nothing other than the power of the bull
7. Nobleza, which is manifested in a clear charge
8. Fierceness, which is the combativeness and “the quality of the bull to
pusue vehemently and try to catch whatever cloth or object is presented to it”[6]
Let’s take a look at some of these and add others that I think are
important but are not included above.
The first thing that the torero does is to cite the bull, calling its
attention by moving the muleta in front of it. So the first thing that we can
evaluate is the promptness and the aggressiveness of the animal. If the bull
charges on the first cite, at the first stimulus, we say that it is “pronto”.
If the bull thinks about it and delays charging, we say it is “tardo”. Amongst
the bulls that are tardos we can distinguish this that do not get going and
charge due to pure apathy (cowardice, lack of aggression or lack of raza) from
those that do not do it because they are plotting bad intentions, which are
called “reservones” [reserved] because they are there lurking, saving
themselves for some later surprise which will be nothing pleasing for the
matador.
If the bull gets distracted in the cite, looking towards another place or
moving around complaining
about pain from the banderillas, this will
demonstrate a lack of concentration and fixation that will be bothersome for
the torero. Fixation is the capacity for the bull to stay fixed on the battle
for the full time, without anything taking its attention from the muleta that
directs its charge.
When the bull charges in response to the cite, it is good if it gallops
towards the muleta. Galloping is always a sign of a bull’s commitment and
giving its all. Bulls that go to their encounter with the matador at a walk or
a trot are not committed to the fight. And even less those that are “gazapando”
– i.e. they do not stop walking around.
The moment when the bull enters the muleta is called the “embroque” and
many conclusions can be drawn from this – both positive and negative. If a bull
arrives at the “embroque” and lowers its head in order to try to catch the
muleta from underneath, it is said that this bull “humilla”. “Humillar” is
equivalent to committing to the fight. If the bull raises its head high, it is
not giving its all and is not truly committed. Moreover the matadors have the
idea that the bull that does not humilla [lower its head in the charge] ends up
orienting itself which is to say creating danger for the matador.
In the embroque [head meeting the muleta] we can also see if the bull
thrusts its horns upward moving its head violently; moves its horns around
rapidly, lightly and repeatedly; swings its head from one side to the other
(and thus making its charge very uncertain); or makes upwards thrusts with its
horns that are brusk and violent. All of these actions are attempts to get the
muleta with its horns with dexterous, skilled, clever and violent movements of
its head. And this behavior is not seen exclusively in the embroque because
there are bulls that move their horns around rapidly and repeatedly during the
entire pass and others who do it at the ending of the pass. All of this type of
behavior is negative and bothersome for the torero. The bull that is bravo
should commit itself to the fight, without this meaning that it should become a
submissive lamb –--heavens sake, no!
After the embroque, the torero drags the muleta to draw the trajectory of
the pass. In this we will find more keys to the behavior of the bull. If the
pass is long, we will say that the bull has “recorrido”. If the pass is shorter
and the charge wears out and stops half way through, we will say that the bull
“se queda corto” [comes up short]. The bull that is bravo follows the muleta to
the end with a lowered head. The toreros say that when the bull does this, “se
rebosa” [the cup runneth over....].
Linking muleta passes is a fundamental quality of today’s toreo, and to
do this the bull must repeat its charge. To link muleta passes is simply to
chain them together and make up what is called a “serie” [series]. There are
bulls that repeat their charge 
without stopping because they have a temperament
that is bravo and encastado [having casta]. But the toreros prefer that the
bull stop briefly between the passes, so that each muleta pass can both be
linked with the previous one and still be appreciated individually for itself.
There are bulls that do not follow the muleta and come up short in their
charges, and others that run off after several passes. There can be various reasons:
lack of raza, lack of strength or simply have “sentido”, understanding that
sentido is always the precursor of danger. A bull with sentido will quickly
know where the torero is and will stop following the muleta to follow the
shortest path to its enemy. These bull become very dangerous and the danger
increases as the faena advances.
For Álvaro Domecq, the casta of a bull is the sensation of danger
that it transmits, but you should not confuse the terms. A bull that is
“encastado” transmits the sensation of danger, which is to say the sensation
that there is a bull in the plaza and not a docile lamb. For the professor
Rodrigo García González Cordón, casta goes one-in-one with the capacity of the
bull to transmit.
Many times critics confuse “casta” with “raza”, and what is worse, they
confuse “casta” with “genio”. Let’s try to separate these concepts. Casta is
the sensation of liveliness, of danger, the impression that there is an enemy
in the ring. On the other hand, raza is
more linked to the capacity of the bull to maintain the fight, to the endurance
of the animal. Genio is casta, but in a bad form.
Danger is a condition of the bull that is easily detectable, although on
occasions this danger remains hidden and only comes out when the bull 
literally
hunts the torero. A dangerous bull always looks for the torero, paying almost
no attention to the capote or muleta. To detect this danger, the toreros are
very watchful of the eyes of the bull.
The eyes of the bull give away whether it has good or bad intentions. If
the look of the bull leaves the muleta and centers on the torero, the animal
will start to signal its bad intentions for the torero. The dangerous bull
threatens, tests, doubts whether it should charge and waits in each pass of the
muleta and tries to get its victim by cutting the charge short in the middle of
the pass, or thrusting its horns up abruptly and violently at the end of the
pass with the intention of goring the torero.
There are bulls that hide their intention better and act like good bulls
until they are sure of their path to gore the torero. These bulls that have a
danger that cannot be seen are called “peligro sordo” [silent danger]. They lie in wait until they are sure that
they can get their victim.
Bulls that run away from the muleta can also be classified into several
categories according to how noticable and strong their sensation to flee is.
There are those bulls that simply wander off and then come back to the fight,
denoting a mansedumbre that is not too strong. We call these bulls “sueltos”
[bulls that wander off distracted]. Those that run off and seek the protection
of the tablas we call “aquerenciados” [looking for the querencia, the place
where they feel safer]. And those that run away at any suggestion of fighting
from the torero are “mansos integrales” [complete unaggressive cowards]. In the end, running away is always a sign of mansedumbre that is the
natural cowardice that we talked about characterizing bulls in the general
zoological sense.
Juan Pedro Domecq defines bravura as “the capacity of the bull to
fight to the death” and for this reason he values highly the endurance of
the animal when he evaluates the bravura. The bull that is truly bravo gets
better as the fight goes on, charges more and better each time during the faena
of the muleta.
The behavior of the bull also has a lot to do with how the torero handles
it. Using technique, the torero can optimize the charge of the bull or spoil
it. A mediocre bull in good hands can look good. And a good bull in poor hands
can go downhill and pass unnoticed.
Observing the bull and understanding its behavior is complex undertaking
in which new aspects are always being discovered and there are no infallible
rules. So the best advice is never to lose sight of the bull and, if you think
it worthwhile, follow some of the hints that have been offered in this talk.
And another piece of advice: do not get discouraged if others can see
things that you do not see. Keep in mind that when we talk about bravura and
its nuances we are trying to decipher a profound mystery that neither the
ganaderos nor the toreros have been able to figure out. The great mystery of
bravura is that it makes the bull charge and follow the muleta time after time,
without tiring, which is something that does not stop surprising me. Instead of
getting discouraged, enjoy the bull and the fiesta. It is good to be analytic
and try to go into all this in depth, but never forget that toreo is an art of
sensations and emotions.
