After graduating college, Putin spent the next 16 years as an intelligence officer for the KGB where he learned the basics of becoming a sort of Bond man.
No guns, no problem. Putin also holds a sixth-degree Judo black belt and a second black belt in Kyokushin kaikan karate. The "sweeping hip throw" is his signature move.
The high council of Russian bikers unanimously voted him into a Hells Angels rank. His nickname is "Abaddon," a Hebrew word that fittingly translates to "The Destroyer."
He is all about fast cars too. Putin once drove a Renault Formula One car and reached the maximum speed of 150 miles per hour.
Putin promised Russia's junior ice hockey team he'd master the sport following their win in the 2011 world tournament. Here he is leading the team in a friendly game against Finland.
He also excels in outdoor sports like hunting, fishing, and hiking. Here he walks with a rifle in southern Siberia's Tuva region.
And in 2009, Putin showed off the most advanced of all the swim strokes, the butterfly. At 56-years-old, he rotates both arms simultaneously with a difficult two-legged kick in a freezing Siberian lake.
An expert fisherman, Putin poses for a photo with a massive pike he caught while fishing in Siberia.
Former President Bush knew Putin loved the sport so he invited him to Walker's Point in Maine for a quick fishing trip. Naturally, Putin was the only one who caught anything.
Taking to the skies Putin flew a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber jet while conducting a training mission.
He also flew a motorized hang glider, in order to help endangered Siberian cranes begin their migration routes.
He has led scientists on various expeditions like this one from a tiger hunt in the Russian far-east. Putin was the one who shot this 5-year-old tiger with a tranquilizer dart, which allowed researchers to tag the big cat with a satellite tracker.
He did the same thing with this 507-pound polar bear in 2010.
And since we're counting, Putin also shot an endangered grey whale with a crossbow from a motorboat, again to help researchers track the animal.
He also goes on underwater expeditions to see some of Russia's historical shipwrecks.
In 2011, he went on a dive with a team to an archaeological site off the Taman peninsular in southern Russia.
The hunt was "successful," given that Putin found two artifacts that were placed there by the archaeologists beforehand.
When his long-time Judo coach died, Putin shooed away his security detail. Here, the man walks, and mourns, alone.
From Judo extraordinaire, to former KGB operative ...
