Dr. Seema Rao
About
Recipient of Nari Shakti Puraskar, Dr. Seema Rao is India's first woman Commando Trainer, having trained Special Forces of India for over two decades.
Dr. Seema has an MBA in crisis management and was a Mrs India World beauty pageant finalist but it was her desire to serve the country that led her where she is at present.
An episode of sexual harassment on a public road, triggered Seema Rao to toughen up & learn to defend herself through martial arts.
She began learning Taekwondo at the age of 16 and was passionate about it. She also trained in Boxing & Israeli Krav Maga and took up Air Rifle shooting to improve her focus.
But later on she chose to pursue a career in medicine until she had the opportunity to meet the DGP of the Maharashtra Police, who offered her the opportunity to train his troops, which transformed her life.
Over the next 5 years, she trained with different Special Forces, honed her combat skills, and earned a 7th-degree black belt in Military Martial Arts.
She is the world’s highest qualified woman instructor in Bruce Lee’s art of Jeet Kune Do, & is a combat shooting instructor.
She is a pioneer in Close Quarter Battle (CQB), the art of fighting in tight proximity and has trained 20,000 soldiers for 25 years without any compensation.
Dr. Seema has trained Indian Army Special Forces, Marine Commando MARCOS, Air Commando GARUD, NSG Black cat, ITBP, Commando Wing, to name a few.
She co-invented a new method of shooting, called The Rao System of Reflex Fire, for Close Quarters Combat, along with her husband Deepak Rao. Together, they have contributed in training 15,000 soldiers in 2 decades.
She is also an Army Himalayan Mountaineering Institute(HMI) silver medalist, did a & an 8th degree Blackbelt in military martial arts.
Dr. Seema has authored ten books and has co-authored two books, ‘Encyclopedia of Close Combat Ops’ & ‘A Comprehensive Analysis of World Terrorism’ with her husband Major Deepak Rao.
Dr. Seema delivered a lecture to 25,000 women at National Women's Parliament and is a 6 Times TEDX Speaker.
A Documentary on Dr Seema Rao's life "EQUAL" won the Los Angeles Film Festival Award.
Awards and accomplishments
Awards and accomplishments
- Dr. Seema was awarded the ‘World Peace Award’ in recognition of efforts to fight terrorism beyond call off duty in 2016.
- Dr. Seema received ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ from the President of India in 2019.
- Dr. Seema was ranked sixth in the 2019 Forbes India W-Power Trailblazer list.
- She was featured as one of 14 most influential women in the world alongside Teresa May and Melinda Gates.
- She was featured as ‘Woman of substance’ by Femina, Savvy, Vogue, Forbes, Verve, New woman, Society, Grazia and US mag V.
- Voted as ‘Femina Woman We Love’ & ‘Reebok Fit to Fight Woman of the Year’.
Why Dr. Seema Rao?
Dr. Seema Rao is an inspiration to millions of women around the world for breaking down gender barriers and reaching their full potential. During her 25-year tenure, her journey has been nothing but exciting, and she has come dangerously close to death several times, but each time it has only strengthened her. Dr. Seema has received over 1000 felicitations/letters of commendation from the Indian government over the years, demonstrating her to be the epitome of strength and conviction.
