--- title: "Tim Kennedy Tests His Luck In ‘Hard To Kill’ By Stepping Into The Arena As An American Bullfighter" date: "2018-08-08" modified: "2018-08-08" authors: - name: "James Clark" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/james-clark/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/tim-kennedy-hard-to-kill-american-bullfighter/" categories: - "Culture" - "Entertainment" tags: - "special operations command" --- # Tim Kennedy Tests His Luck In ‘Hard To Kill’ By Stepping Into The Arena As An American Bullfighter ![]() It’s one thing to be tough, but it’s another to be *Hard to Kill* — and that’s precisely what former UFC fighter and Army Green Beret Tim Kennedy sets out to illustrate in his new Discovery Channel docuseries by the same name. [In last night’s *Hard to Kill*](), Kennedy tested his luck, and his reflexes, by squaring off with a 1,500-pound bull as he got a crash-course in American bullfighting from five-time World Champion bullfighter Rob Smets ahead of one of the biggest rodeo events in the country at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r-VLLvp9vM But first, Kennedy had to make it through training — and the results were mixed. “Day one of my training just took a turn,” Kennedy narrates. “I've learned the footwork, the fake, and the step-through, but when when a live bull is charging at you, it's a whole different story.” ![]() Not only can Tim Kennedy take a hit like a champ, he springs back up like crash test dummy come to life.Discovery Channel/Hard to Kill Aside from demonstrating how to execute a forward roll and spring back onto your feet after being tossed through the air like a ragdoll, the goal of the August 7 episode was to provide viewers a glimpse at the incredible risks American bullfighters face when they step into the arena. “Do not call a bullfighter a rodeo clown, because there is nothing funny about what they do,” Kennedy explains at the episode’s start. The role of a bullfighter is simple in theory, but exceedingly dangerous in practice: Their job is to hang on the periphery as a cowboy rides the bull, and as soon as he falls they spring into action, distracting the animal so the rider can get to safety. In other words: They’re human targets. Related: Tim Kennedy Spars With Death In New TV Show ‘Hard To Kill’ » A bullfighter’s greatest fear “isn't risking their life,” Kennedy explains, “it's making a mistake that can cost a bull rider theirs.” Like all the professions that are spotlit in the adventure docuseries, this job isn’t for the faint of heart — and even for a decorated Green Beret and accomplished fighter, it’s tough. Kennedy’s tutors, a number of professional bullfighters, are living proof as to just how risky this job is: They boast an array of old wounds, from fractured skulls, torn flesh, dislocations, broken necks, bones, and a mural of scars from angry bulls’ hooves and horns. "There is no way you can understand just how tough a bullfighter is," Kennedy says in the episode. "One lone man standing in the center of that ring right there is about to fight a wild animal. There's nobody who is going to save him, he's in that ring by himself.” [*Hard to Kill*]() *premieres every Tuesday on Discovery Channel at 10 p.m.* **WATCH NEXT:** ## Author James Clark is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. He is a former Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [LinkedIn]()