Vladimir Putin seems to believe every problem facing Russia can be solved with B-level western celebrities.
You might recall that Putin recently brought in Boyz II Men to sing some mad sexy doo-wop that would put the ladies in the mood and inspire women to have more babies. No word on how that went but empty maternity wards are standing by.
I didn’t think it could get sillier than that but it just did.
Time Mag reports:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has enlisted Hollywood action man Steven Seagal to help him promote a return to Soviet-era fitness.
The unlikely pair opened a new martial arts center outside Moscow on Wednesday, reports Reuters, to kick off Putin’s attempt to bring back a mass physical training program first introduced in the 1930s under Joseph Stalin.
“Children should become strong, they should be healthy, love sports and have an opportunity to practice them, should know how to defend themselves, their loved ones, their family. Ultimately, they should be able to defend their motherland.”
Yes. Look at this fat gluttonous Hollywood has-been. Doesn’t he inspire you to get fit?
I guess if Putin was holding Seagal up as a “Before” picture, it might make sense. I mean, this guy doesn’t look like Fat Elvis. He looks like he ate Fat Elvis.
If he wanted fitness, he could’ve called Stallone or Van Damme. But Seagal is not your guy. Now, if it were punch someone in the throat day, Seagal is your guy.
You know, this would all be a lot funnier if Russia didn’t have nukes.
March 17, 2013 at 5:39 am
Amusingly, the martial art Seagal does is associated with old people's self-defense—the quintessential aikido practitioner is a 95-lb, 80-year-old man who puts giant bruisers on the ground with one hand.
Kind of the point of the art is that good technique renders physical capabilities irrelevant.
March 18, 2013 at 1:11 am
In his first movie, Seagal was slender and Sharon Stone was an unknown and played his wife. He gained an entire extra person by the 4th movie… inside himself. Ya know when a person says "I was beside myself"… Seagal is beside himself within himself. Money leads to constant restaurants and few people attend restaurants for salad. He did wonderful work though for years with the police in a southern city on patrol. Putin must have offered serious money. I wonder how his Asian wife though likes the move to Moscow from the US south.