Snapshot of the Day: Aleksander Emelianenko's Back

by Kid Nate on Jun 25, 2008 11:11 PM EDT in MMA News

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Sherdog reporter Evgeni Kogan is spending a few days with the Red Devil fight team in Russia.

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tattoos

I’ve always wanted to know the story about his tattoos. I Netflixed this documentary about Russian prison tattoos and the prison system called Alix Lambert’s The Mark of Cain, and the prisoners talked about certain tattoos and how you have to earn them to get them done, for example the stars that Aleks has on his shoulders and knees. Are there any articles or videos of Aleks’ tattoos and the history of those tattoos?

by FeloniousFunk on Jun 25, 2008 11:58 PM EDT reply actions

Eastern Promises was a pretty decent flick that vaguely covered the meaning of some of the common russian mafia tattoos. Nothing like the documentary you mentioned but a decent show nonetheless.

by pr0cs on Jun 26, 2008 1:00 AM EDT reply actions

eastern promises

Yup, the reason I caught the documentary is because of Eastern Promises. I watched the making-of special feature and director David Cronenberg mentioned that he did research on tattoos by watching that documentary.

by FeloniousFunk on Jun 26, 2008 1:35 AM EDT up reply actions

From his Wikipedia entry...

* Right arm: Cathedral with five domes: symbolizes five years of imprisonment. * Shoulders: Stars: Symbolize a “career criminal” or Vor v Zakone in Russian (English translation: thief in law). * Right shoulder: cobweb: Aleksander did not explain its meaning other than saying that contrary to what has been suggested by some, it does not have anything to do with the Mafiya. In Russian prisons, tattoos using this symbol typically denote drug addiction. * Left shoulder: Russian script. * Left forearm: Half cat’s head, half skull: "Homo homini lupus est." Translated: Man is a wolf to his fellow-man. * Back: Grim Reaper holding a baby. * Back: “Gott Mit Uns”, meaning "God is with us" in German: for Aleksander, it’s a symbol of revival. This tattoo caused a controversy, since this slogan was written on belt buckles of German soldiers in the Second and Third Reich. * Knees: Stars: symbolize that the owner will never be brought to his knees. These tattoos also stirred up controversy, after a picture published on his website revealed a swastika in the middle.[6] * Pirate tattoo: stands for article 167 of Russian Criminal Code: "armed robbery". * "Fortis fortuna adiuvat" Translated: Fortune favors the bold. * A name on his lower abs (Maybe ‘Marina’). Later covered by a tribal tattoo. * A spider web on scalp.

by Chris Nelson on Jun 26, 2008 3:22 AM EDT reply actions

Swastika

Has he ever explained that one? I know he’s explained (or at least tried to explain) away the tattoos that have Russian mafia implications as having other criminal but not mafia meanings. And I know he’s explained away having the Third Reich’s motto on his back as having a different meaning to him. But what about the swastika? Any reasonable explanation for a swastika in the middle of that star?

by Kierkegaard on Jun 27, 2008 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions