Rene Tirado has been taunting death since he was 13 years old, and is still alive to tell of his passion for being a forcado. You won’t find this word in the Spanish-English dictionary because it’s Portuguese, defining a man whose role relates to the ancient blood sport of bullfighting. When he confirmed the date for this interview, Rene added, “si Dios quiere”—if God wishes it, and he probably really meant it. “Pega”, this particular style of bullfighting, exists only in Portugal and Mexico, according to Rene. “There are eight forcados in each bullfight,” he explains. “Their job is to jump onto the bull’s head, tease and annoy him, in preparation for the rejoneador.” We might call the rejoneador a matador—but in this style of bullfighting, the rejoneador rides in on a horse and fights the bull to the death. The word “job” is also a misnomer for the work of the forcados, for it isn’t a paying proposition. “The only money we receive is symbolic—like gifts,” Rene says. “When we are invited to bullfights in other parts of Mexico, our travel, accommodation and expenses are paid, but we don’t get any money. We are feted at the end of the bullfight and that’s very nice.” Rene, 26, and his brothers, Sergio, 31, and Carlos, 18, are all members of Forcados Mazatlecos, a group of 20 men whose association celebrated its 20th anniversary this year in October. Rene is el cabo, the captain of the group, and decides which eight members will attend each bullfight. Some members might have to work, to earn a living. “We have as many as 35 corridas in a year,” Rene says, “and some of the members can’t take the time off.” Rene’s livelihood comes from his bar, El Tertulia, located at the corner of Belisario Dominguez and Constitucion in Centro Historico. The name means “get together” and the place is a shrine to bullfighting. The walls are covered with Toros posters, many of them featuring Forcados Mazatlecos. A number of head and cape-mounted bulls hang high on the walls, trophies not unlike those adorning the walls of deer hunters in Canada and the United States. In the corner of the bar stands an altar with a matador’s jacket encased in glass. Rene’s uncle, Jose Ramon Tirado was a famous Mazatleco matador, so his respect for this sport is not necessarily specific to Pega. Beneath the

jacket, spent roses lean against votive candles and religious icons, an altar where prayers are offered for protection before a bullfight, or perhaps thanks is given if they all return alive. In a small room beyond the bar, en route to the washrooms, a shrine of forcado memorabilia commemorates Rene and his brothers’ fearless passion. Rene does not yet have a son, but he says that if he did he would be a proud father if his son wanted to be a forcado. His own father attends all the bullfights in which Rene and his brothers participate. What about his mother? “My mother came to our bullfights for about two years,” Rene recalls. “She would sit in the stands with her hands over her eyes. And then she stopped coming.” Who could blame her? To look at a photo of the three brothers, taken a couple of years ago, one wouldn’t think that they had just escaped the jaws of death—or the horns, in this case. Dressed in their chaquetillas, jackets worn by forcados, they appear joyful and vibrant. Maybe that’s because they are still alive. When Rene was 13 years old, he began training at the Plaza de Toros here in Mazatlan. “There is an artificial bull there,” he explains, “and we train by running at the bull, jumping at, and grabbing its head.” This happy, go-lucky, looking guy has been gored by more than one angry bull; last year he suffered one goring that put him in the hospital. But, he says that was a rough year and this one is better. One would think that this ancient sport would have lost its popularity in this digital, computerized world, but according to Rene, interest continues to exist among young people. Two of the youngest members of the Forcados Mazatlecos are 16 years old. In the brotherhood of forcados, they help each other. There is a sense of family among the group, Rene explains. “Before a corrida the forcados meet in one or two hotel rooms”, he explains. “We talk about the bulls. We never ever drink before a bullfight,” Rene claims. “ We need to be sharp. We have to help each other and it would be terrible if one of us was hurt and everyone had hangovers. We celebrate after the bullfight,” he says. When asked what he felt when he is participating as a forcado, he places his hand over his heart and says, “It feels very nice here.” Perhaps that’s because he’s still alive.