Sports

Vladimir Putin Releases Instructional Judo DVD

by Jon Azpiri | October 7, 2008 at 01:51 pm

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is releasing a new instructional judo DVD to celebrate his 56th birthday. The DVD, entitled "Let's Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin", was produced in conjunction with several top judo practitioners, including former world champion Yasuhiro Yamashita.

The former president has a black-belt in judo and last month told a French newspaper that he offered to give French president Nicolas Sarkozy a few lessons.

While the DVD features plenty of footage of Putin throwing opponents to the ground, most of the actual instruction comes from other judo masters.

At a presentation to journalists and other guests, Putin said anyone watching the DVD "will be learning not from your humble servant but from real geniuses" of judo, describing the title of the video as an "advertising trick".

Putin is an avid sportsman and has often showed off his athletic prowess to Russia's state-controlled media.

Last year, he was pictured bare-chested and wearing combat trousers as he entertained international dignitaries on a fishing holiday in Siberia.

Other exploits shown on Russian state-controlled media have included tiger tracking and truck racing.

Putin said the health of a country was expressed through sport. "The level of developing of sports undoubtedly defines the level of development of the country itself," he added.