This Amazing Woman Has Been Training India’s Special Forces for 20 Years without Compensation!
The amazing Seema Rao is one such woman and this is her story.
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A
7th-degree black belt holder in military martial arts, Seema Rao is
India’s only female commando trainer. A prominent expert in close
quarter battle, Seema has been giving commando training to various armed
forces in India for 20 years, without taking any monetary compensation
in return! Seema is also a combat shooting instructor, a firefighter, a
scuba diver, an HMI medalist in rock climbing, and a Mrs India World
pageant finalist.
This incredibly multifaceted lady is also one of the only 10 women in the world certified in Jeet Kune Do, a unique martial art form created by Bruce Lee in the 1960s.
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Seema
Rao is the daughter of freedom fighter Prof. Ramakant Sinari, who
helped in the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese. The deeply
patriotic Seema grew up listening to stories of India’s struggle for
independence and always wanted to serve her country. She finally had the
opportunity to convert this desire into reality when she met her future
husband, Major Deepak Rao, at the age of 16. Major Rao had been
practising martial arts since the age of 12 and it was he who introduced
Seema to this empowering field.
Major Deepak Rao is Seema’s co-pioneer in the field of close quarter battle training. In 2011, he received the President of India’s honorary rank award of [Major] for his 20 years of contribution to the Indian Army. Others who have been honoured with the same award are Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra.
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After
marriage, the couple continued to learn and excel in martial arts,
shooting, and weapon defence while they simultaneously pursued an
education in medicine. After becoming certified doctors, Deepak equipped
himself with the prestigious CLET Law Enforcement certification, while
Seema did her MBA in crisis management. The formidable couple then
started thinking about how they could channelise their desire to
do something constructive for the country. After much thought, they
decided to train the soldiers of the Indian armed forces without
accepting any compensation in return.
There
were two factors that inspired them to take up this Herculean
challenge. One was the desire to serve the personnel who guard India and
the other was their instinctive need to remain engaged in combat and
martial arts. So, in 1996, they approached the Service Chiefs of Army,
Navy, BSF & NSG. The chiefs were impressed with the couple’s
dedication and decided to try out their training programme. There was no
looking back after that.
Seema has since spent 20 years as a full-time guest trainer of the Indian armed forces.
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The
journey wasn’t easy. The couple had to face several financial hardships
in the initial years of their marriage but they stuck to their decision
of not charging a single rupee for their work. Also, since Seema was
constantly travelling to hostile locations, through harsh weather and
inhospitable terrain, she could not even attend her father’s funeral.
Realising that it would be impossible to carry a pregnancy through,
given her rigorous training schedule, Seema consciously decided not to
have her own child and instead adopted a girl. In the course of work,
Seema also suffered multiple injuries that included a vertebral fracture
and a severe head injury that made her lose her memory for months (she
could not recognise anyone but her husband). She was also shot at by
insurgents but her determination to serve her nation never wavered.
Along
with her husband, Seema has provided training to almost every elite
unit of the Indian Forces, including the NSG Black Cats, MARCOS, GARUD,
Paracommandos, BSF, the Army Corps Battle Schools and its Commando Wing.
She has also trained officers of the National Police Academy, the Army
Officers Training Academy and the Police Quick Response Teams of almost
every major city in India.
Though
Seema has repeatedly proven herself in the male-dominated field of
commando training, she still meets trainees in every course who are
reluctant to learn from a woman. In an interview with Naaree, Seema saine
them, but I also had to gain their confidence in my ability to teach.
However, eventually, I have always managed to earn the respect of
commandos that I have trained.”
In
2009, after training the GARUD commandos, Seema was invited by the Air
Force Chief for the official IAF Para Jump course. Here, she earned her
IAF Para Wings, another rare achievement.
Seema is also the only external combat training resource appointed by the Indian government to date and, with her husband, she has received 4 Army Chief citations, a record unparalleled by anyone.
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Seema’s
strength lies in her skill in Close Quarter Battle (CQB) – the art of
proximity combat that focuses on physical prowess, skill, and protocol.
It involves techniques like reflex shooting with rifles, quick shooting
with pistols, and bare-handed combat. It also entails the precise use of
knives, bayonets, and other appropriate combat weapons. Room combat and
confined space combat such as anti- hijack operations also come under
the purview of CQB.
In her interview, Seema laughingly said:
“I
can shoot an apple off a person’s head from 50 yards without giving him
a scratch and I can evade a speeding bullet aimed at my head with
ease.”
Seema and her husband have also developed a unique and modern method of CQB exclusively for the use of Indian forces. The Advanced Commando Combat System, or Bison System as it is called, is different from the conventional CQB.
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In
this system, the reflex shooting method is unique and the unarmed
methods can quickly handicap or cripple the enemy with the least effort.
The team tactics in Bison System differ from conventional western CQBs
and are unique too.
The Raos have also developed an indigenous method of reflex shooting, which is known as the Rao System of Reflexter
to this need in modern warfare, we devised the Rao System of Reflex
Fire. The Indian forces have found this very beneficial.”
The
Rao couple has also established the Unarmed Commando Combat Academy
(UCCA), an elite military martial arts academy, to help train the Indian
forces and also to publish training books for the Forces. The Academy
also offers training in Jeet Kune Do and a variety of other exotic
martial arts to civilians. There is also an Unarmed Combat Blackbelt
program for civilians. Says Seema:
“With UCCA, we have published seven books till date and three of these are limited editions for the exclusive use of the Indian forces. Our book Encyclopedia of Close Combat Ops is the world’s first encyclopedia on CQB training and it has found a proud place in the FBI library and the INTERPOL library.
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