Russian President Vladimir Putin's unusual walk has been the subject of debate for quite a while now. Neurologists, however, now believe they have the explanation as to why Putin walks differently, rejecting speculations that the Kremlin has suffered from polio while a child or that he now has Parkinson's disease.
Putin has an unusual gait - walking with his right arm stiff while his left arm swings freely. Because of this, some people claimed the renowned politician may have suffered from in-utero stroke or as a child, suffered from polio. Some also speculated that this is already a symptom of an early onset of Parkinson's disease. However, neurologists now claim none of these speculations are right. Instead, Putin's walk is just the result of his national security training.
The group of Dutch neurologists analyzed a YouTube footage of Putin as well as a training manual of the KGB, the Soviet Union's national security agency to arrive at their conclusion.
According to the manual, KGB operatives were trained to hold their weapon using their right hands and hold their hands close to their chest. They were then asked to move forward on one side only, usually the left, so that they can draw their gun quickly when faced with an opponent.
"When moving, it is absolutely necessary to keep your weapon against the chest or in the right hand. Moving forward should be done with one side, usually the left, turned somewhat in the direction of movement," a chapter from the manual reads.
The neurologists evidenced their claim through Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and three other more highly ranked Russian officials, who walk the same way. Their findings were considered valid enough to be published in the British Medical Journal this week. They termed the walk "gunslinger's gait."
"We propose that this new gait pattern, which we term "gunslinger's gait," may result from a behavioural adaptation, possibly triggered by KGB or other forms of weapons training where trainees are taught to keep their right hand close to the chest while walking, allowing them to quickly draw a gun when faced with a foe. This should be included in the differential diagnosis of a unilaterally reduced arm swing," the report provided.
In a related but weird news, there is a report currently circulating that the Russian leader is actually immortal. Daily Mail UK reported that a photograph from almost a century ago has surfaced, which showed a Russian soldier with an uncanny resemblance to Putin. Also, another photo of a Russian soldier in 1941 who looks just like the current leader is also circulating. These photos make people believe that Putin is more than just 63 years old. Some people believe that either he is immortal or can time travel. These speculations add on to the other weird news on Putin by Buzzfeed that he was once actually Lisa Gherardini, the subject of the Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting.
