KGB gun training has given Putin a certain swagger

Russian President Vladimir Putin strides purposefully to a podium, or nearly anywhere else he strides, with his right arm swinging notably less than his left.

In the article, the team of movement disorder experts examined the walks of Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov, chief of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov and commander of the Western Military District Anatoly Sidorov.

This unlikelihood that all five men had developed Parkinson’s and absence of other symptoms, led researchers to a KGB training manual that seemingly explained the distinct gait, as a section entitled movement detailed proper walking posture.

In fact, they write, he shows “excellent motor skills” as evidenced by video footage of him enjoying athletic activities like judo and swimming – a key component of his public image that has always been fodder for fawning Russian state media coverage – and signing official documents.

The roots of what the BMJ has dubbed “gunslinger’s gait” can be traced, apparently, back to a KGB training manual, which the medical journal says instructed agents to “keep your weapon against the chest or in the right hand”.

A study found that Putin and his cadre of high-ranking officials walk in a manner consistent with Soviet security agency training.

The outlier in this group is Medvedev, a lawyer by training who has no clear ties to the KGB and did not serve in the military, though he underwent brief reservist training during his university years.

The walk involves holding the right arm close to the body with a reduced swing to the left. “We feel that there is another – and perhaps more plausible – explanation [for the gait], namely a behavioural adaptation resulting from military or intelligence training”, they said.

Wondering whether prolonged and intensive training in this method could explain Mr Putin’s gait, as he was a KGB operative in the Cold War, the team carried out a trawl on YouTube for videos of other Russian officials.

Bloem told AFP that in Putin’s case the arm swing could “in part be overlearned”.

“What we are putting forward, but very cautiously, is a new hypothesis”, he said”.

Vladimir Putin’s distinctive way of walking could be the result of KGB training, according to a new study.

The report, authored by neurologists, found that Putin has the walk of a “gunslinger”.