Bullfighting
Bullfighting is a tradition, art and athletic sport combined in one. Bullfighting originated in the classical world. The first bullfights supposedly took place in Knossos, Greece, "a contest of some sort is depicted in a wall painting unearthed... dating from about 2000 BC. It shows male and female acrobats confronting a bull, grabbing its horns as it charges, and vaulting over its back." (Encarta) Bullfights stayed popular after the Greek era had declined, in Rome. The spectacle of bullfighting during this time period was scarcely an art form but pure sport. It was not until the Moors of North Africa conquered the Visigoths of Europe in 711 AD that bullfighting started to evolve into an art. The Moors would ride skilled horses on feast days on which they killed the bulls. During this time period, when the Moors were redefining bullfighting, there were those bullfighters that rode horses and killed the bulls but there were also those men who stood on the ground with capes. The men that wielded the capes aided the horsemen in how the bull was positioned during the fight. These men began to draw most of the attention from the crowd due to their expertise and craftsmanship with
Bulls used for bullfighting are a special breed of animal and their lives and breeding reflect that fact: Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1954. today. With this development, a corrida de toros ("the running of the bulls") began to take the shape in which it is seen today as modern bullfighting. In 1726 Francisco Romero of Ronda, Spain fit the last piece into the bullfighting puzzle when he introduced the estoque (the sword) and the: down and smoothing out the bull's charge, and dominating the bull and controlling it's path, respectively. These are some of the basic passes of bullfighting. An experienced matador would also add more complex, artistic and beautiful passes such as the manoletina, the arrucina, and the afarolado.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1741
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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