The Professional Bullfighters’ Daisy Protection Bullfight Tour features the top bullfighting athletes competing against the most dangerous bulls in North America in protection bullfighting competition.
The Professional Bullfighters’ Daisy Protection Bullfight Tour will be featured throughout the United States this year. The tour will culminate in the Professional Bullfighters’ Daisy Protection Bullfighting World Finals to crown the World Champion Protection Bullfight Team.
The protection and freestyle bullfighters have no ropes, spurs or devices of any kind in which to battle the bull. They are armed with an inner courage reserved for those that are willing to face death with a defiance that is unparalleled in any sport. The bullfighter relies on his athletic prowess, precision timing, and ability to think and make decisions in milliseconds that could mean life or death for either him or the bull riders, whose life has been placed in his hands. There is no room for mistakes.
Protection bullfighting competition is making bull riding even more exciting for the fans and athletes alike. It is the only sport in the world where the competition is based upon saving lives. The bulls are hotter and the danger factor of both the bull’s bucking ability and his fighting tenacity are brought into play. The bull rider must master the fury from his back for 8 seconds, as the bullfighters position themselves to engage the beast on his terms at Ground Zero to extract the bull rider to safety once he has dismounted. The action never stops until the Bull exits the arena. The Bullfighter does not create the action; he anticipates the action and reacts to position himself to engage the situation the bull and bull rider create good or bad! One bull, one bull rider, two bullfighters competing in the ultimate extreme multi-player competition where the ultimate reward is to survive.
The bullfighters compete as two-man teams in protection bullfighting.
The bullfighters work as a team to maintain protective coverage for the bull riders escape. The bullfighters teamwork is crucial, they must be able to react to each others moves to maintain a parallel position on either side of the bull at all times. One wrong move or misread could be dangerous for both the bull riders and the bullfighters.
TURNING BULLS BACK: The ability to engage the bull to make him turn back and spin, if needed, to gain the rider more points.
DISMOUNT POSITIONING: To be in the right place when the bull rider dismounts takes precision timing and a great deal of bull savvy. The bull dictates where the bullfighters will be at all times during the ride. The bullfighters must be able to react instinctively to the bull’s actions to be able to give the bull rider the best possible opportunity to escape unharmed.
HOOKING PREVENTION: The bullfighters analyze not only every move the bull makes but the rider, too. By doing so many times the bullfighters can prevent the wreck before it happens by spotting little things that cause the bull rider to be bucked off and possibly hooked. Sometimes there is nothing they can do to prevent the injury but are engaged in the wreck distracting the bull to give the bull rider a chance to escape.
HANG-UPS: When the bull rider gets hung up, the bullfighters will work as a team, with one getting the bulls head under control, while the second bullfighter goes to the riders hand and works to free it from the rope.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: The danger factor of not only the bull, but also the situation. A horned bull that hooks will have a higher degree of difficulty than a muley bull that hooks. Many times the difficulty lies in the situation the bull rider is in, such as a hang-up, where the bullfighters have to expose themselves to risk more.
AGGRESSIVENESS: The bullfighters’ aggressiveness to the action taking place during and after the ride.
SHOWMANSHIP: The ability to take the situation and make it entertaining for the audience.
The teams each compete on an equal number of bulls. They will be given a cumulative score on each section of bulls. The scoring is different than other rodeo events in that Protection is not scored on a 1-100 scale for each bull. Instead each technical maneuver that the bullfighters make has a point value. The maximum points that can be earned on a single bull are 18 points per judge. The judging is performed by Professional Bullfighters as they are the only person capable of reading a situation and determining if the bullfight team was at the right place performing the right maneuvers based upon the action taking place.
