Vlad Walks the Walk Only It's the "KGB Stomp"

This is really weird. Vladimir Putin's rise to the top began with a career in the Soviet Union's dreaded KGB where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Scientists who've been looking at the curious way Putin walks think he's showing that old habits die hard. When he walks his left arm swings normally. His right arm doesn't. He also seems to lead with his left side.

So what's with the right arm?


The study, published on Tuesday by the British Medical Journal, notes that Putin has shown a “clearly reduced right-sided arm swing”, possibly related to weapons training he received when he was part of the Soviet KGB.

Citing a KGB training manual they obtained, the researchers suggest that his style of walking is linked to training he underwent in the feared security agency, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel before retiring at the twilight of the Soviet Union.

“According to this manual, KGB operatives were instructed to keep their weapon in their right hand close to their chest and to move forward with one side, usually the left, presumably allowing subjects to draw the gun as quickly as possible when confronted with a foe,” the researchers, based in Portugal, Italy, and the Netherlands, wrote.