Is Vladimir Putin A Judo Phony?

by Isaac HimmelmanThanks to adoring coverage from Russian state media, Vladimir Putin’s martial arts skills are the stuff of legend. But is the Russian president really a judo expert or are reports of his skills a little, shall we say, exaggerated?Putin is believed to possess a black belt and has received multiple martial arts honors from organizations of varying levels of legitimacy. He’s even co-authored books about judo and starred in an aptly-named instructional video, “Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin.”But not everyone is convinced. Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and an editor of the national security blog Lawfare, is one of the most vocal skeptics of Putin’s skills. Wittes went so far as to challenge Putin to a fight to really show what he’s capable of on the judo mat.It’s unlikely Putin will accept the challenge, however, especially since Wittes insists the fight would need to take place in a country where Putin couldn’t have him arrested.
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