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September 14, 2013
Putin: Obama's “bored kid at the back of the classroom”
He became extremely accomplished in the sport -- competing with distinction at the regional and national levels. Putin frequently underscores how much he benefitted from the qualities of judo. Naturally hotheaded and scrappy, the young Putin learned discipline through studying judo; it taught him self-restraint. His training focused on how to leverage his opponents’ strengths against them, and how to wait for the right moment to capitalize on their missteps. The real skill in judo is keeping the opponent perpetually off balance, not roughly pushing him down to the mat. Finesse, not force, earns points with the judges. Fiona Hill | Putin Has the Upper Hand on Syria | Foreign Affairs
Posted by gerardvanderleun at September 14, 2013 1:20 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
I would love to play poker with Obama. I would hate to play poker with Putin.
Posted by: BillH at September 14, 2013 7:44 AM
In high school, deep in the last millennium, I rose to brown belt in judo. Balance is everything. You exploit the inherent imbalancing in any kind of movement of your opponent's body to amplify his disadvantage.
Judo is inherently defensive. But when an opponent strikes, he finds his own momentum and initiatives are used against him.
That's exactly what Putin has done to Obama.
Posted by: Donald Sensing at September 14, 2013 9:03 AM
Think Putin would have tried this with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bolton? The "Art of war" says "know your enemy" and apparently Putin knew his.
Posted by: .45 GAP at September 14, 2013 9:51 AM
Team America: World Police
In this world there are dicks, pussies and assholes. Assad is an asshole. Putin is a dick. And Obama is a pussy.
And what does the dick do to the pussy?
Posted by: Mikey NTH at September 14, 2013 11:54 AM
For reference of Mikey's post you need these two clips.
Posted by: Potsie at September 14, 2013 2:13 PM
For all his snake-eyed KBG evil, I find Putin a fascinating character. The Russians are, historically, great chess players - a game characterized by threats, maneuvering for position, and exchange of pieces with the ultimate goal of control of the center of the board. Think Cuban Missile Crisis. Sure, we got the missiles out of Cuba. Great Victory! But the trade-off was the removal of *our* intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Turkey that were a threat to Moscow.
Chess is a game of force on force. But Putin is also skilled in judo, the art of never confronting force directly, but instead, using your opponents strength and momentum against him. The next few years will be interesting. Barry and the boys have no idea what they are up against.
Posted by: SteveS at September 15, 2013 12:05 AM