Finito de Cordoba
When Juan Serrano Pineda, born 6 October 1971 in the town of Sabadell, near Barcelona, started as an apprentice bullfighter in Marbella, spectators were filled with great expectations. That day, all of us who watched this bullfighter, along with one other Julito Aparicio, who at that time was also starting out, were touched.
Excitement is the essence of a bullfight. It is often said that people go to watch bullfights for entertainment, and while the bull in the ring is the reason why they are there, many go purely for the excitement. There is excitement when there is a bull in the arena and when there is a matador present.
This is an excitement that the spectator experiences from two aspects. Firstly for the sheer power of the bull coupled with the matador's fantastic skill. Secondly the excitement that is experienced when the two celebrants of the ritual surrender to the flirtation with death, performing an unsurpassable art, fleeting but real. No other art can surpass it.
To see an apprentice with these qualities and characteristics was not a common sight in the eighties. In fact, it is not common to see this in any decade except for those novices touched by God and I can assure you that this does not happen often. However, Finito, like an angel sent to us, captivated me with his elegance and depth. I fell in love with his way of tempering the bull. In reality, Finito de Córdoba was giving the sport the chance to bring the great bullfighters of the past back to life. What he was actually doing was nothing new this was the original bullfighting, classical bullfighting.
Looking at the methods of this bullfighter from Catalonia, turned Andaluz when his parents moved back to their homeland, Finito de Córdoba reveals bullfighting qualities such as spirit, pace and power. These are same qualities were possessed by three Andalucian bullfighters, Manolete, Antonio Ordóñez and Paco Camino in particular, who in the words of Juan himself were his role models. The truth is that these three bullfighters alone, masters of masters, define the sport of bullfighting.
The style of bullfighting called 'a la Verónica', when used by Finito, reaches new levels. It is his way of handling the stages of the fight, gaining ground on the bull and matching his moves to perfection. 'Natural' style bullfighting, that which is done with the muleta in the left hand, is considered bullfighting in its purest form, earning bullfighters honorary parades, has become exclusive to Finito de Córdoba. His bullfighting methods require a bull with nobility, rhythm and temper in his charge. A bull that moves. Finito has spared many bulls throughout his career in bullrings such as Córdoba, where the admiring fans have made him feel the true pride of a true matador.
