A bull's long journey to the fighting arena

A bull's long journey to the fighting arena

BONDOWOSO, East Java (JP): Running 40 kilometers twice a week
with a 60 kg iron chain is enough to get anything fighting fit.
Add to it a few strategically placed hills and that is what the
Bondowoso fighting bulls have to go through to train for their
matches.

Like professional athletes, Bondowoso bulls must endure a hard
series of spartan exercises before entering the ring.

Besides the marathon with the 60 kg load, the bulls are also
forced to perform exercises called bayangan, pan pan and esek in
Madurese. During a bayangan exercise, the bull rams its head
repeatedly against a dry bund. In a pan pan exercise, the bull
crashes into a big tree with its horns. The tree is also used for
the esek, when the bull rubs its head on the tree.

The marathon through the hills strengthens its hind feet.
Strong back feet are needed for it to defend itself properly. The
60-kg iron chain around its neck builds up extra-strong neck
muscles, a key factor for a fighting bull. It is also important
for self defense when rolling and stabbing during the fight. The
bull should also be able to bow its neck as low as possible to
avoid its opponent's attack.

A powerful body is not enough for a fighting bull.

"Bulls must have the fighting instinct," explained Samaruddin
Karyokusuma, a prominent bull trainer from Bondowoso.

The instinct can be improved through hard and intensive
exercise, but the bull is no good if it hasn't had the instinct
since birth. Trainers rightly believe that the instinct is handed
down from one generation to another.

A calm, courageous and quick calve will become a good fighter.

Without any formal education in genetic science, a good bull
trainer can see whether a calve will become a fighter or is only
good for steak.

The bulls also undergo extra-strict diets. Fat is eliminated
from the muscles because it may slow the animal down. A fighting
bull gets only 30 kg of grass and 15 liters of water per day.
Even after the exhausting run, it doesn't get any extra food or
drink. The bull eats in the evening before it sleeps.

"The diet is important because a bull can't eat or drink
during the fight," explained Samaruddin.

He said that trainers force bulls to drink lime juice if they
continue to carry excess weight. They believe that the juice
burns fat.

Trainers also force the bulls to drink herbs, honey and eggs.
Samaruddin said he has a special recipe for his bulls. To
stabilize a bull's emotions, for example, he gives it honey,
eggs, calamondin and nuts. If he wants to improve the fighting
spirit of his bulls, he gives them honey, eggs, lean goat meat,
pepper and eggplant.

On average one bull munches through two liters of honey, 15
dozen eggs and one kilogram of goat meat a month.

A fighting spirit, demanding physical exercises, drinking
traditional tonics and an extra-strict diet is not enough to
create a good fighting bull. Trainer must also pay attention to a
number of other small things.

The bull's stable is one of the most important factors. Health
must be a priority when building a stable. Air circulation should
be good, but should not be so drafty that the bull catches cold.
A plaited bamboo structure has proven to be the best.

The manure should be cleared from the stable immediately. To
make things easy, stables are usually built on stilts and have
close-meshed bamboo floors. The manure can fall directly to the
ground below.

The bull's hooves must also be kept healthy because a bull
with a splayed duck-shaped hooves is not able to defend itself
properly.

Another important thing a trainer does is comfort the animal.
Samaruddin said that psychology is needed to take care of the
fighting bulls. He always chats with his bulls in the evening
before going to bed.

"I know that the bulls understand me," he asserted.

After all this work the bull is ready to be fielded in the
fighting arena.

One other factor comes into it, though. Bondowoso people also
believe very much in luck. For punters luck is everything. They
believe that they can calculate their luck based on the number of
days in the Javanese and Christian calenders on which the bull
fighting contest is held. This is very common in Javanese
culture.

They believe that a bull with a triangular face will win its
fight if the number of days is uneven. And a bull with a square
face will win if the total is even. What happens if bull with
similar faces fight each other?

Dwi Setyo Irawanto/K. Candra Negara/ X-T Feature Syndication