Jack Of All And Master Of All: Dr. Seema Rao
The phrase “Jack of all and master of none” is so very untrue in the case of Dr Seema Rao. She has defied this phrase with elan to make it “Jack of all and master of all”. Dr Seema Rao is just an example of those people who have accomplished great feats, and in the process of doing so, have become a guide book for generations to come. The list of her achievements is never-ending.
Seema is the first and only Indian woman commando trainer. She has been training the Special Forces for the past 20 years--that too, without compensation. Apart from this, she is a 7th degree black belt holder in the military martial arts, shooting instructor, scuba diver, author, beauty pageant finalist, firefighter and a medal holder for Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in rock climbing.
Seema is a freedom fighter’s daughter--and is a doctor (MD) and MBA in crisis management. Her medical knowledge has been of tremendous help in commando training as she understands the vital parts of the body that should be targeted to kill or maim a person. She is also a PhD in martial science.
When she was 16, she met her husband, Major Deepak Rao, and little did she know that he was the key to her helping the nation. Major Rao had been practicing martial arts since he was 12 and he pushed Seema towards martial arts. As a couple, they are both highly educated, doctors with other credible degrees, enigmatic and run the combative training programme.
But life was not a bed of roses and success did not come so easily for Seema and her husband. Despite financial worries, they have trained without charging anything for it. Apart from the financial crunch, she had to deal with physical injuries as well.
Once, during an exhaustive training, she suffered a vertebral fracture which resulted in memory loss for some months. She travels a lot and that too to hostile places. It is because of this travel that she could not attend her father’s funeral.
With the nature of work she has, the couple has decided not to have any children, but they have adopted a girl child.
Seema is among the 10 women across the world who have been certified for a martial art form Jeet Kune Do. This form of martial arts was founded by Bruce Lee in the 1960’s. Seema has been trained by Grandmaster Richard Bustillo, who was Bruce Lee’s student.
Other than this, Seema is also an author. She has co-authored books with her husband on improving close-quarters battle with better techniques. One of the books is for the armed forces of India, and is named Advanced Commando Combat System. Seema also has a counter-crime programme especially for women called ‘DARE - Defence Against Rape and Eve Teasing’, where she teaches women to be physically and mentally active and teach a lesson to anyone who messes with them.
Along with her husband, she has trained 15,000 soldiers till date in modern close-quarters combat, all pro bono. She has been felicitated with over 1,000 certificates and awards by the Indian Government. Besides, she was awarded the World Peace Award by World Peace Congress; handed over by the Malaysian prime minister in 2008 for her contributions to the country. Other awards for her outstanding work are the three Army Chief Citations and US President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Dr Seema Rao, the lady with many roles, is always in her combat boots, and if asked to wear stilettos, she changes them the minute she gets to. She says, “I can’t afford to twist my ankle. It will put me ‘out of action’.”
