LA GLORIA, Texas – Bull fighting is a blood sport dating back centuries to Spain, Portugal and Mexico.
Now, the tradition is taking place at a ranch in deep South Texas, with a twist.
The bullfights at the Santa Maria Bullring in La Gloria are bloodless.
Hundreds come to watch bullfights that end not with a sword, but when the matador plucks a flower from the back of the bull.
"The 13 countries that kill the bull refer to it as the 'ballet of death.' I call it the ballet of life," said Fred Renk who owns the Santa Maria Bullring.
Fred Renk and his son David built the ring for bloodless bullfighting after David retired as a matador, one of only six Americans ever to earn the title.
Now Winter Texans and local ranchers come to see up to five bullfights each winter.
Katherine McAllen lives on a nearby ranch and brings her three children to the bullfights.
"You see the matadors dressed up in their traditional costumes and they have all the same moves but there's no killing of the bulls, so it's less violent at the end," McAllen said.
The fights draw world class matadors.
Cesar Castaneda is ranked fourth in the world among Mexican Matadors.
"Bloodless bullfighting is more challenging because the bull keeps his strength throughout the fight. Every performance, every bull, it's fear. Once you're inside there is fear but you control it," said Castaneda
Castaneda controls his fear and the bull. With his cape, the matador taunts, then turns the 1,200-pound animal as the horns come dangerously close.
Every time the bull charges the cape, the crowd yells "Ole!"
This is the second time Larry Wolf and his wife have seen the bloodless bullfight. The Wolfs live in Missouri but spend every winter in South Texas.
They enjoy watching the skill of the matadors.
"He just played it so close and took a lot of chances. That's what makes it interesting. He's really nervy to play it so close," said Wolf.
Under U.S. law no animal can be harmed. That does not apply to the matadors.
As the crowd of 800 watched, Matador Isaac Leal Montalvo was tossed into the air by a bull. Although injured, he finished the fight, plucking the flower from the back of the bull.
He was rewarded with a standing ovation and shouts of "Bravo!"
Sixty miles west of McAllen, the pageantry and drama of a centuries old tradition comes to an end with all walking away alive.
