Putin to Fight French President

[Mr Bean]

I know sixteen ways to kill a man with my bare hands

You might remember when Putin reportedly saved a camera crew from a rampaging Tiger. Well now the former King of the Former Commies is at it again. It seems that he's going to kick the President of Frances ass.

Well not really, but close...

PARIS (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a champion judo, could soon be flooring France's Nicolas Sarkozy with some of his famous throws after agreeing to pass on some of his black belt skills to the French president.
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"He (Sarkozy) is interested in martial arts and we have decided to do some training together," Putin was quoted as saying in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro published on Saturday.

A press officer at Sarkozy's office had no immediate comment.

The 55-year-old Putin's prowess in the martial art of judo is well documented and videos of him wearing his black belt and throwing opponents to the ground are easy to find on the Internet.

Sarkozy, 53, was not previously known to have an interest in martial arts. He has often been photographed jogging.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

First off, the fact that the former head of the KGB knows a Martial art is not surprising, the fact that he's a Black-Belt wearing Champion is.

So to the subject at hand, is Putin in fact on some sort of myth building campaign? He takes down Tiger's, he took down the French President?
What's next pistols at dawn with the Queen?

[Mobius]

Why does Puntin's Reign reminds me more and more of Dance! Kremlin Palace?

[Mayabird]

Well, he IS in very good shape for his age. But on the other hand...



That's a ten year old Japanese girl tossing him while he was on a state visit to Japan.

[darthdavid]

Well, he IS in very good shape for his age. But on the other hand...



That's a ten year old Japanese girl tossing him while he was on a state visit to Japan.

Really there's no good option in that scenario. If he doesn't do the fight he's called a coward, if he lets the girl win he's called a weakling and if he wins he's called mean. While it's possible that a 10 year old girl was skilled enough to kick his ass legitimately it seems more likely to me that he didn't want to look like a big meany who goes around beating up little children...

[Singular Intellect]

Much more likely that, as is with Judo, both opponents practice falling and throwing the other.

[Mayabird]

*sigh* Forget to add a and everybody takes it so seriously. Come on, people. This is a thread made of funny!

[Kanastrous]

Reminds me of Idi Amin Dada's offer to fight the President of Tanzania, back in the 1980s. To settle a trade or border dispute, I think is was.

[Darth Wong]

Well, he IS in very good shape for his age. But on the other hand...



That's a ten year old Japanese girl tossing him while he was on a state visit to Japan.

What's the last time you picked up a 10 year old kid? I don't care how skilled the kid is: a strong, fit adult can easily kick his ass. Obviously, he was letting her do that.

[Teebs]

What's the last time you picked up a 10 year old kid? I don't care how skilled the kid is: a strong, fit adult can easily kick his ass. Obviously, he was letting her do that.

Obviously, but can you imagine how awesome it would be being that 10 year old kid. "Yeah, I chucked Vladimir Putin around. Nice bloke."

[RedImperator]

This is just a little bit of personal diplomacy. Sarkozy, like every French leader since...well, Charlemagne, probably, wants to increase French prestige and position France as the leading power in Europe. And Putin knows that the more powerful friends Russia has in Europe, the better. So Sarkozy goes to Putin's dacha, they spar for a while, have a drink or two afterwards, shoot the shit. And then the next time there's a crisis involving Russia--and there will be another crisis involving Russia--Sarkozy is the go-to man to negotiate because 1) he's already done it once, and 2) he and Vladimir are pals. Likewise, when Russia needs a friend in Europe to speak up for its interests, Putin can call up his sparring partner and ask for a favor. The judo is, ultimately, irrelevant. If Vladimir Putin was a world class pool player, Sarkozy would be asking for eight-ball lessons; if he liked art, Sarkozy would give him a guided tour of the Louve; if he loved hashish and whores, they'd take a trip to Amsterdam together.

[Vympel]

France and Russia have had very good relations lately, especially in terms of military cooperation - all of Russia's new tanks and fighting vehicles have Thales Catherine-FC thermal imagers with their gunner's sights (i.e. I'm talking the Russian Army's new shit, not just stuff for export) and they're about to start licensed production of their Damocles targeting pods for equipping their bombers. Pretty much a first for a European defence company.

[Patrick Degan]

Forget all this other trivia. When do we get down to the serious meat of handicapping the upcoming match?

[Sidewinder]

France and Russia have had very good relations lately, especially in terms of military cooperation - all of Russia's new tanks and fighting vehicles have Thales Catherine-FC thermal imagers with their gunner's sights (i.e. I'm talking the Russian Army's new shit, not just stuff for export) and they're about to start licensed production of their Damocles targeting pods for equipping their bombers. Pretty much a first for a European defence company.

Do you have links to a site with this and more info? I have an interest in military technology.

[Vympel]

Link

There's links on Thales website too I think.