One of my 20 hobbies is reading about the cold war and I came across this nugget after reading this entire write up on wiki on Vladir Putin.......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin
"One of Putin's favorite sports is the martial art of judo. Putin began sambo (a Soviet martial art developed for the Red Army and the NKVD) at the age of 14, before switching to judo, which he continues to practice today.[90] Putin won compe ions in his hometown of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), including the senior championship of Leningrad. He is the President of the Yawara Dojo, the same St. Petersburg dojo he practiced at when young. Putin co-authored a book on his favorite sport, published in Russian as Judo with Vladimir Putin and in English under the le Judo: History, Theory, Practice.[91]
Though he is not the first world leader to practice judo, Putin is the first leader to move forward into the advanced levels. Currently, Putin is a black belt (6th dan) and is best known for his Harai Goshi, a sweeping hip throw.[92] Vladimir Putin is Master of Sports (Soviet and Russian sport le) in Judo and Sambo. After a state visit to Japan, Putin was invited to the Kodokan Ins ute and showed the students and Japanese officials different judo techniques.[92]
Putin is also a fan of mixed martial arts, and is considered a friend of Fedor Emelianenko. He attended the BODOG Fight event in St. Petersburg.
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It was surreal seeing him at Bodog in the front row
