section_path: Personal life/Sports
section_name: Sports
paragraph_text: Sports
  
  Putin watches football and supports FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. He also displays an interest in ice hockey and bandy, and played in a star-studded hockey game on his 63rd birthday.
  
  Putin has been practicing judo since he was 11, before switching to sambo at the age of fourteen. He won competitions in both sports in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). He was awarded eighth dan of the black belt in 2012, becoming the first Russian to achieve the status. He was rewarded an eighth-degree karate black belt in 2014.
  
  He co-authored a book titled Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin in Russian (2000), and Judo: History, Theory, Practice in English (2004). Benjamin Wittes, a black belt in taekwondo and aikido and editor of Lawfare, has disputed Putin's martial arts skills, stating that there is no video evidence of Putin displaying any real noteworthy judo skills. During Putin's visit to Japan in 2000, a small Japanese girl with a green belt in judo tossed Vladimir Putin to the floor using a judo throw.
  
  In March 2022, Putin was removed from all positions in the International Judo Federation (IJF) due to the Russian war in Ukraine.