Why? The Audacity Factor

A bullfighter is now judged and paid much more on his ability to pass the bull quietly, slowly, and closely with the cape than on his ability as a swordsman. (It) has become a moment of truth… The danger is so real, so controlled, and so selected by the man, and so apparent, and the slightest tricking or simulating of danger shows so clearly… The matadors rival each other in invention and in seeing with what purity of line, how slowly, and how closely they can make the horns of the bull pass their waists, keeping him dominated and slowing the speed of his rush with the sweep of the cape controlled by their wrists; the whole hot bulk of the bull passing the man who looks down calmly where the horns almost touch and sometimes do touch, his thighs while the bull’s shoulders touch his chest, with no move of defence against the animal, and no move of defence against the death that goes by in the horns except the slow movement of his arms and his judgement of distance. (Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon 1)