Quick Okinawa Info
Bullfights |
Updated on : March 31, 2005 |
When 1,000-kilogram animals collide, something has to give
In Okinawan bullfights, two bulls fight each other. There are no picadors or matadors and the bulls leave the ring alive. Big bullfights are held in the spring and fall. There are also regional contests; in fact, there is a bullfight somewhere almost every weekend. There are 16 arenas around the prefecture, these being circular rings 18-20 meters in diameter surrounded by an iron fence.
Bullfights began as recreation in farm villages, held as part of annual village observances. At today's events, the spectators get match schedules and the bulls have red ribbons tied to their tails to tell them apart.
The horns of the bulls are differently shaped. There’s the Togai (horns grow forward); Tachu (horns sticking straight up); Kabura (horns curving downward); Bonu (horns that grow laterally); and the Hige (uneven horns). Before a fight, the bullkeepers file and sharpen the horns. Bulls commonly get their names by combining the name of a bull's horns, body color or fighting technique, the name of its keeper, or its home location or company.
The sound of two 1000-kilogram plus animals crashing together is everything you would expect and the bulls emit terrific bellows during their struggle. Sometimes the fight is over in seconds; other times it goes on for more than 10 minutes. Right alongside each bull is its keeper. These keepers urge their bulls with yells and body movements and also try to intimidate the opposition.
In bullfighting, there are numerous fighting moves: Oshiai (butting and pushing foreheads); Motashikomi (one bull leaning its neck against the other bull's neck and pushing); Kake (hooking horns and throwing the opponent off balance); Hane-age (pushing the opponent's head up); Wari (thrusting a horn at the opponent's head or face); Hisamanchu (crouching down to defend against the opponent's attack); and Harawari (seizing an opening and coming at the opponent's flank). No one teaches the bulls these moves. They just emerge naturally from the animal's fighting nature.
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