Putin is a Judoka?

[WhiteBeltJones]

Wow, stumbled across this on Amazon: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1556434456.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556434456/ref=reg_hu-wl_list-recs/002-9818277-7521609?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance)

At first I was thinking it was just a coincidental name, but on closer inspection, I realized it was indeed the Pres. of Russia. Howzabout that?

According to Wikipedia:



One of Putin's favorite sports is the martial art of judo. It has been stated that Putin began judo at the age of 14 and he continues to study judo even today. Putin has won competitions in his hometown of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), including senior champion of Leningrad. Now he is President of the Yawara Dojo, the same St. Petersburg dojo he studied at as a youth.

After a state visit to Japan, Putin was invited to the Kodokan Institute and showed the students and Japanese officials different judo techniques. Though he is not the first world leader to practice judo (Teddy Roosevelt was the first to do so), Putin is the first leader to move forward in the advanced levels. Currently, Putin is a black belt (6th Degree) and is best known for a "wicked" sweeping leg throw called the Haraigoshi.


Ya learn something new every day. Anybody have his book? :cool:

[TonyU]

I myslef don't have it, but one of our moderator's found the book and mentioned it here;
http://www.budoseek.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=8783&highlight=Putin

[djrand]

I was wondering that myself the the other day, we watched a video about modern russia in russian 101 and it had a few scenes of him practicing.

[Erik]

He used to be pretty good. 6th dan, though... I think the judo world upped his rank so as to look good.

As Konstantine, the Russian guy at our BJJ club said, "Putin is a good KGB guy - good swimmer, Judo, boxing, runner..." with a big roll of his eyes.

[WhiteBeltJones]

So if you roll with Putin and get the upper hand, do the Russian equivalent of the SS guys jump on you before you can make him tap out? ;)

[DragonMind]

I think you have to go to Siberia to get the answer to that one... :eek:

[Aaron T Fields]

Putin is more than just a player, he loves judo, it is one of his favorite past-times. In regards to the book, I own it and there are a few things that are very worth while, but it is an so-so book overall.

Aaron Fields

[TIRAGION]

Putin is not a pushover. He earned his master in Sambo (equivalent to a BB) many years before he went to work for KGB. Later on when the Sambo players divided into Judo and Sambo he went with his coach and became a pure Judoka, prior to that Judo players were usually high ranking Sambo players.
Hope this gave you a bit of insight, if you want more information on Putin's wrestling carrer look for a book by David Rudman, he has a whole chapter dedicated to Putin.

All the best,

Alexander Rakita

[WhiteBeltJones]

I did find it interesting that he would practice Judo instead of Sambo. Sambo does seem to borrow a lot of techniques from Judo though, so I guess it isn't that great of a leap.

[Luebbers]

And here I thought he was a vicious striker in Pride:

http://www.newgenevacenter.org/portrait/putin.jpg

http://www.cagewarriors.com/uploads/Igor%20Vovchanchyn_PR_01.jpg

[TIRAGION]

Sambo, especially sport sambo is about 40-60% old style (Kano) judo. Some people will say more, some say less. But yes Sambo counts Judo as one of their parent styles; amongst several other indigenous styles. When Judo first became an olympic sport, Russia did not have an organised Judo program. So the Sambo players ended up going to compete. In regards to Putin switching to Judo, based on the info in David Rudmans book, He did it due to his coach deciding to go over to Judo, once the program got government funding.

Alexander Rakita