Bull fighting...

Today, we went with a group of people to the Okinawa bull fights in Ishikawa. Yes, bull fighting, haha. When I heard about this, I thought of a colorful matador challenging this big old bull with only one of them walking away alive. Well, it wasn’t quite that dramatic, but it definitely was entertaining! This type of bullfighting began as a pastime for farmers who raised the animals and the sport grew and became a sort of tradition here in Okinawa.

So, the fight begins when the bulls lock horns and attempt to wrestle the other to the ground. Kind of like bovine sumo wrestling in a way ;) A winner is declared when one bull gives up by turning away and running from the fight. They’re trained to not intentionally hurt each other, but they did get a little banged up with a few cuts and bumps on their heads. Not the violent gruesome battle that some of the guys were hoping for I’m sure, but I’m happy that the bulls walked away without any serious injuries.

Another big attraction of these fights are the handlers who train the bulls from the time they were calves. They are so loud and energetic and during the fight, they circle around the bulls and scream words of encouragement at the top of their lungs over and over again… “Ayeee-ayy!!!!” (sounded something like that, who knows). They slapped the bull, stomped their feet and urged the bull on, especially when the bulls got tired. Unfortunately, one of the handlers today got in the way of the bulls and got knocked to the ground and trampled on a little bit. He got up and ran out of the ring, so hopefully he wasn’t too injured. Scary!

Toward the end of the fighting, there was a raffle for some prizes. Not the normal prizes you would expect though. They did give away a bunch of kitchen stuff, a fan, and a box of t-shirts (I think) but the major prizes were… alive. Hahaha! Yep, we had the chance of winning a pig, a goat, or a very large bull. Normally, I would have kept my fingers crossed when they announce the winning number, but today I was like “Oh pleeeease don’t call my ticket. I don’t want a goat or a bull!” But today, we weren’t lucky enough (whew) to bring home any farm animals. On the way to the parking lot though, I looked up and saw this brand new vehicle drive past us… a Honda Cube I believe…with a very handsome looking goat tied behind the back seat and a very proud owner in the front seat. Classic! :)