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Vladimir Putin presents judo DVD

MOSCOW: Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin marked his 56th birthday on Tuesday by presenting an instructional judo DVD film he helped make.

The video titled “Let’s Learn Judo with V.V. Putin” is a supplement to a judo manual Mr. Putin co-authored in 2000, shortly after he was elected President. It is the product of collaboration between Mr. Putin and Japan’s former World and Olympic judo champion Yasuhiro Yamashita.

In the film Mr. Putin, an avid student of judo for more than 40 years, talks about the history of judo and throws a practice partner in a demonstration of basic judo techniques.

The film also features Japanese and Russian judo champions performing throws and holds.

Mr. Putin, who began studying judo at age 13 and has been perfecting his skills ever since, said judo is more than a sport, it is a way of life.

“The fundamental philosophy of judo is in its name, which means ‘gentle way’. It enables one to achieve results by applying small but effective efforts,” said Mr. Putin at the film presentation ceremony in his home city of St. Petersburg.

Mr. Putin likes to say that judo helped him master the art of being President. “Judo allows compromises and retreats, but only when they help attain victory,” he said at Tuesday’s ceremony.

Mr. Putin became the first world leader to achieve an advanced rank in martial arts. He holds a sixth degree black belt in judo and is a one-time champion of his home city of St. Petersburg. Mr. Putin’s love for sports — he also goes in for swimming, mountain skiing and horse riding — helped boost his popularity with Russians, who deeply detested his hard-drinking predecessor Boris Yeltsin.

The Russian leader admitted that his name in the video’s title was an advertising gimmick to help popularise judo.

“The level of sports in a country defines the level of the country’s development,” Mr. Putin said. “Without sports, it’s impossible to speak of a healthy way of life, about the health of the nation as such.”

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