India’s First Woman Commando Trainer DAREs You To Mess With Her

When it comes to redeem the security charge, women these days need to learn more than just screaming when they get attacked. Seema Rao, India's only female commando trainer, emaking them skilled in saving themselves from any possible threat.

Image Credit: Facebook

Dr Rao (47), who is an expert in close quarter battle, has been giving commando training to various armed forces in India for nearly for 20 years, free of cost. Now, through her programme DARE (Defence Against Rape and Eve Teasing), she proposes women to be physically trained to face such dire situations. Her aim is not just to make them feel empowered, but DAREs any threat that could cause harm in any possible ways.

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Here's a video of Dr. Seema Rao's training sessions:

That’s not all. Seema also holds the rare title of being Asia’s senior-most woman Black Belt holder.

She recently spoke about her programme DARE with TOI, and how it became a very serious part of Mumbai-based (especially) women’s lives to not only fight eve-teasers but also teaching them valuable lessons about women's dignity.

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When asked about the challenges she faced to become India's first women combat specialist, she said, "It's a physical field, so one needs to have physical capabilities and skills. When you are able to do something on your own, it leads everyone by example. Male ego was subtle, but besides that, I did not have any problems."

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Look at the moves here:

“Well, I have not regretted anything. However, I have made many sacrifices. Firstly, because of extreme physical work and demands, it was not possible for me to have my own biological child. In order to complete the family, I adopted a girl child. Secondly, I could not attend my father's funeral since I was away training army personnel. I could have gone back but did not want the training to end mid-way. My father would surely understand my problems," added Rao.

It is somehow true that until you face the situation yourself, that urge doesn’t come to protest. So it happened with Rao. During her initial days of learning martial arts, she was sexually targeted by three people at a beach but instead, those goons got a lesson for life.

Image Credit: Facebook

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"For women, I have designed this programme DARE. The programme is very popular in Mumbai. Most of the women travelling late at night face threat from sexual predators. This programme not only deals with the physical aspect but also the psychological aspect, which teaches how to avoid miscreants," she said.

Rao is multi-faceted as a combat shooting instructor, firefighter, scuba diver, an HMI medalist in rock climbing, and a Mrs India World pageant finalist. She 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.

Image Credit: Facebook

Also read: In 2016, the IAF is attracting more women in comparison with army and navy

The proud daughter of freedom fighter Prof. Ramakant Sinari, Rao pioneered modern Close Quarter Battle training for Indian forces along with her husband, Major Deepak Rao, who is an army officer and who recently received a Presidential rank honour.

Image Credit: Facebook

We salute you Seema and hope to see the launch of DARE in every city in India.

Feature image credit: Facebook

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