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by Agustín Hervás
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.
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