https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/1... "In recent years, Putin has received honorary martial arts awards, bestowed not so much in recognition of his actual skills as for his advocacy. In 2014, an international karate organization awarded him an eighth-degree black belt for his work promoting a form of full contact karate in Russia. The previous year, he was made a grandmaster of taekwondo by the World Taekwondo Federation after a visit to South Korea, even though he doesn’t practice the sport."