Experts have discovered a new gait pattern among several well-known top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The authors term this "gunslinger's gait" because it may be triggered by KGB or other forms of weaponry training.
The gait features a consistently reduced right-sided arm swing, highlighted in rich and compelling video material that accompanies the paper (see links below).
Writing in the Christmas issue of The BMJ, they say this distinct walk could be mistaken for early Parkinson's disease and they advise doctors to keep this in mind when assessing patients.
Movement disorders enthusiasts Professor Bas Bloem and colleagues often scrutinize the way people walk - and were struck to find several YouTube videos of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, showing a clearly reduced right-sided arm swing on a series of different occasions.
Reduced arm swing can be a sign of early Parkinson's disease, raising the question whether Putin - and the other Russian top officials - might all be in an early phase of this disease too.
Searching for other possible explanations, the team encountered a training manual of the former Russian KGB, giving the following instruction on how operatives should move in the field: "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."
The researchers wondered whether this could explain President Putin's gait, since he had received KGB training earlier in life.
If this were true, then it would be reasonable to expect a similar gait "abnormality" in other Russian officials who might have received similar instructions during weaponry training by the KGB or by other military or intelligence agencies.
They therefore performed a YouTube search for videos of other Russian officials, with surprising results.
An asymmetrically reduced arm swing was identified in several highly ranked Russian officials, including not only President Putin, but also current Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, two former Ministers of Defence (Anatoly Serdyukov, and Sergei Ivanov) and Anatoly Sidorov, a highly ranked military commander.
Rather than interpreting this gait pattern as being pathological, "we feel that there is another - and perhaps more plausible - explanation, namely a behavioural adaptation resulting from military or intelligence training," write the authors.
Indeed, they found other examples of a reduced arm swing related to weaponry training. For example, cowboys of the Wild West, depicted in movies, also frequently have a reduced arm swing.
"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 weaponry 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," they explain.
"This should be included in the differential diagnosis of a unilaterally reduced arm swing," they conclude.
Explore further:
Increased arm swing asymmetry is early sign of Parkinson's disease
More information: Paper: "Gunslinger's gait": a new cause of unilaterally reduced arm swing, www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.h6141
Video links to top Russian officials walking:
Video 1: bcove.me/6dnnnqzp
Video 2: bcove.me/k8xj9xvy
Video 3: bcove.me/mtskr9uu
Video 4: bcove.me/mpgxlem7
Video 5: bcove.me/76icm8mq
Shootist
1.3 / 5 (12) Dec 14, 2015AGreatWhopper
Dec 14, 2015jeffensley
4.9 / 5 (10) Dec 14, 2015gopher65
not rated yet Dec 14, 2015As mentioned in the article, the researchers are attempting to narrow down the criteria doctors use to determine whether they should run tests for early Parkinsons and similar syndrome. Not worthless research at all. They just used Putin as a marketing tool for their research.
cantdrive85
Dec 14, 2015Valentiinro
3.7 / 5 (3) Dec 15, 2015That's why he said VALUABLE research!
Whydening Gyre
4 / 5 (4) Dec 15, 2015binra
2.5 / 5 (8) Dec 15, 2015If there is felt to be an advantage - then certain forms are adopted as part of one's persona - which is a kind of meta-communication - through which identity can be masked and allegiances can be indicated.
If there are enough videos going back, the researcher might discover if Putin is a primary seeder as one might expect. When Hilary re-emerged after losing to Obama as part of his team - her diction had become a clone of his.
In fact once you tune in to this - it all shifts to reveal a masquerade
pntaylor
3 / 5 (4) Dec 15, 2015"Keep the right hand close to the chest"????
A gunslinger would keep his hand close to his thigh, you know, where his gun is.
NealWV
1.8 / 5 (5) Dec 15, 2015Protoplasmix
3.7 / 5 (3) Dec 15, 2015Captain Stumpy
3.7 / 5 (3) Dec 15, 2015depends upon where they keep their gun
it's called the Gunslingers gait because it is painfully obvious (especially to those looking for it) and the hand stays close to the weapon
if the hand stays close to the body front, then you can tell the person is carrying in a shoulder holster. you would then observe for other tell's like rolling shoulders or the adjustment of the arm over the weapon (it gets uncomfortable after long periods, and the roll/adjustment tends to be a reaction that is not thought about)
... if they keep [their hand] close to their side, it is in a belt holster or maybe a back holster
.
@Proto
you can tell the difference if you watch carefully
Irukanji
5 / 5 (1) Dec 16, 2015Captain Stumpy
3.7 / 5 (3) Dec 16, 2015it is taught in law enforcement academies (some of them, anyway ) as well as in certain military academies
Border patrol "should" have been trained in spotting armed assailants and the tactics used to conceal weaponry
this doesn't mean all people have the same level of competence thoughthat depends: considering his past, i wouldn't put it past him to also remain armed for self protection...
i (personally) sure as heck would continue to carry if i were POTUS
high profile = target
antigoracle
2.3 / 5 (3) Dec 16, 2015Brought to you by the Ministry of Silly Squawks.
Nik_2213
not rated yet Dec 17, 2015xponen
not rated yet Dec 20, 2015I suspect a more obvious answer: because you usually carry stuff with your right hand.
shabd
not rated yet Dec 21, 2015