How good is Vladimir Putin at Judo?

Over the years, there have been a number of high-profile politicians to practice the art of Judo. From Theodore Roosevelt, to Justin Trudeau, it’s quite clear that Judo is popular among world leaders. However, what about the credentials of Vladimir Putin? Before continuing, it should be noted that this article shall try to remain as impartial as possible. This isn’t a propaganda piece for or against Putin. Instead, it’s simply looking at his life on the Judo mats – and trying to see if he’s a legitimate Judoka or a fraud.

Does Vladimir Putin know martial arts?

As the title of the article states, Vladimir Putin is very well versed in Judo and has literally trained the martial art for tens of years. A KGB agent for 16 years, he also trained Sambo for many years whilst acting as a Russian agent. In the KGB, it is common for agents to learn a martial art as it is considered an important part of the job.

With this said, he literally had to learn how to fight, as otherwise, this would have been unprofessional. However, Judo is his favorite sport, and he was once quoted as saying “Judo is my favorite sport.” Putin is also good friends with actor Steven Seagal who is a black belt in Aikido. In brief, it’s fair to say that Putin does know quite a lot of martial arts, especially for a politician.

What Judo rank is Vladimir Putin?

Back in 2012, Putin was awarded the rank of 9th dan in Judo. To this day, there are very few people who have ever achieved such a rank. In general, getting above the rank of 5th dan in Judo is ridiculously difficult and takes years of consistent training. With this said, Putin’s 9th dan is probably politically motivated as much as anything. In a similar way that Jair Bolsonaro was given a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, this ranking may have been a bit of a publicity stunt from the world of Judo to raise its status.

Although this may sound cynical, this sort of thing happens in martial arts to raise the profile of combat. Does this mean Putin’s Judo is not legitimate? Read on for more information.

How good is Vladimir Putin at Judo?

It’s fair to say that Vladimir Putin is very good at Judo and is a legitimate black belt. Although he may not be at world champion level, he is in his 70s after all and has dedicated most of his life to politics. However, there is certainly evidence to prove his prowess. The best proof of this was in his youth when he won a Judo competition in St Petersburg. Here, he was ranked as lightweight and achieved gold in the local tournament.

As anyone who has ever competed in a martial arts competition will testify, they can be mentally and physically tough. With this in mind, there’s probably no greater way to test yourself than in competition. Combined with years of training after this, it’s fair to say that he is good at Judo, at least by most people’s standards.

These days, a lot of his Judo seems to be done for PR work. Again, we should stress that he is a leader who needs to uphold an image. However, from a drilling perspective, his Judo certainly looks fluid for a man of his age.

Put has also released a Judo book and DVD

Back in 2004, Putin released a book on Judo called Judo: History, Theory, Practice. This is fairly rare these days and costs well over $50 as a result. Here, he outlined moves, techniques and the most efficient way to train and practice. In many ways, it’s just an ordinary Judo book that happens to be written by Putin. For the most part, this was probably written out of love, rather than propaganda as it didn’t get much attention at the time. The book was released in Russian, Japanese, and English.

Four years later, he also released a DVD called Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin. This DVD is actually available on Youtube and is roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes in length. Here, Putin doesn’t feature in the demos. However, he does provide voice-over commentary of his favorite moves and how to do them. Like his book, this is like many other instructional DVDs and isn’t particularly bad either in providing solid commentary.

Final Thoughts

In summary, it’s fair to say that Vladimir Putin is skilled and worthy of his black belt in Judo. Whether you love him or hate him, looking at his years of training, competition win, drilling, and commentary, it’s fair to say that there’s enough evidence to credit him with being a solid black belt. Whilst we’re being fair, it’s also only correct to also argue that his 9th dan is for an image and promotional tool that benefits both he and Judo, and he was probably fast-tracked to the rank as well.