Deepak Rao

Deepak Rao
Brand ambassador of Indian Army
Military career
Allegiance	India
Branch	Indian Army
Years of service	1994-present
Rank	Honorary Major
Unit	Territorial Army
Spouse(s)	Seema Rao
Website	https://www.majordeepakrao.com/

Deepak Rao is an Indian military trainer and author. He has helped train the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the police forces of major cities and states. For his service in modernization of close quarter battle training, ^{[1] [2] [3]} he was awarded commission as Honorary Major of the Indian Territorial Army in 2011. ^{[4] [5] [6]} He acts as one of the brand ambassadors for the Indian Army. ^[5]

Rao has been a trainer for the Indian Army since 1994. He specializes in close-quarters combat, ^{[2] [7] [8]} and along with his wife, Seema Rao, invented a new form of reflex shooting, named the Rao System of Reflex Fire, for the Indian Army. ^[9] He also founded the Advanced Commando Combat System for close-quarters combat. ^{[10] [11]}

According to Rao's instructor Richard Bustillo, an original student of Bruce Lee, Rao is one of the few instructors in India who teach Bruce Lee's art of Jeet Kune Do correctly. ^[12]

In 2024, Rao was asked by Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande to visit the Army Institute of Physical Training to improve the Indian Army Martial Arts Routine by adding new termination skills from his method called Army Battle Combatives. ^{[13] [14]} Rao has outlined this method in his book "Strike to Kill". ^[15]

In 2021, Rao delivered a TEDx talk titled "Zen and Mindfulness," where he discussed the role of Zen principles in enhancing mental balance, awareness, and inner clarity. ^[16]

Books

Rao has co-authored two books with his wife, "A Comprehensive Analysis of World Terrorism" and "The Encyclopaedia of Close Combat Operations"; the latter was distributed to the Police and Paramilitary for free by the Home Ministry. ^[8] Some of their books on combat training are included in the UN, FBI and INTERPOL Libraries. ^{[17] [18] [19] [20]}

Title	ISBN
Commando Manual of Unarmed Combat	978-81-907765-9-2 [21]
Forces Handbook of World Terrorism	978-81-907765-8-5 [22] [23]
Encyclopaedia of Close Combat Ops - Advanced Commando Combat System	978-81-907765-0-9 [24]
Balidan: Essential Commando Skills for Counter Terror Ops	978-81-938895-1-0 [25]
Strike to Kill: Army Battle Combatives	978-81-938895-0-3 [15]
Field Book of Explosive Recognition for Anti Terror Ops	978-81-907765-4-7 [26]
Unfreak Your Mind – Rewire with Zen Psychology	979-82-275278-3-7 [27]

References

1. "Territorial Army citation".
2. Rege, Prachi; Bari, Nishat; Patel, Mitali (23 August 2010). "The unstoppables". India Today. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
3. Natu, Nitasha (27 September 2009). "This couple tackles terror together". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
4. "Army honour for close combat warfare expert". The Indian Express. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
5. "Ms Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra and Dr Deepak Rao Granted Honorary Rank in Territorial Army". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
6. "Facts about Indian Territorial Army: 5 Terriers India is proud to have". India Today. 30 November 1999. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
7. "Combat couple". India Today. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
8. "Men in uniform get a shot in the arm from combat couple | Mumbai News - Times of India". The Times of India. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
9. "Dr Seema Rao: India's First Female Combat Trainer, Fighting Stereotypes". Forbes India. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
10. "Meet Major Deepak Rao: Commando Trainer of the Indian Army". 25 October 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
11. USAdojo (3 February 2017). "ACCS: Advanced Commando Combat System". USAdojo.com. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
12. "Bruce Lee's legacy is being abused: Bustillo | More sports News - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
13. Goa, Viva (25 October 2024). "Hon. Major Deepak Rao helped improve martial arts training in Indian Army - VivaGoa Magazine" . Retrieved 29 October 2024.
14. "At 60, Hon. Major Deepak Rao Continues to Contribute to Indian Army With His Battle Techniques". News18. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
15. Rao, Deepak (2018). Strike to kill: army battle combatives course: the ABC method of unarmed combat: a 24 period field manual of UAC. Unarmed Commando Combat Academy. s.l.: UCCA Publication. ISBN   978-81-938895-0-3.
16. TEDx Talks (11 June 2021). Zen and Mindfulness In Everyday Life | Deepak Rao | TEDxBITSHyderabad . Retrieved 11 July 2025– via YouTube.
17. Pawar, Nivedita Jayaram (25 June 2017). "India's wonder woman". www.asianage.com. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
18. "Meet India's only woman commando trainer Dr Seema Rao - CNBC TV18". CNBCTV18. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
19. "Meet Seema Rao, India's Only Female Commando Trainer, Who's Also A Firefighter & A Filmmaker!". Indiatimes. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
20. Rao, Deepak; Rao, Seema; Sharma, B. L. (2008). Encyclopedia of close combat ops: advanced commando combat system. India: Unarmed Commando Combat Academy. ISBN   978-81-907765-0-9.
21. Rao, Deepak; Rao, Seema (2010). Commando: manual of unarmed combat (Limited ed.). Mumbai: UCCA Publication. ISBN   978-81-907765-9-2.
22. Rao, Seema; Rao, Deepak (2010). Forces handbook of world terrorism. Mumbai: UCCA. ISBN   978-81-907765-8-5.
23. Sīmārāvu; Rāvu, Dipāk (2010). Forces handbook of world terrorism. Gurgaon(Mumbai): UCCA Publication. ISBN   978-81-907765-8-5.
24. Rao, Deepak; Rao, Seema (2010). Encyclopedia of close combat OPS : advanced commando combat system. Mumbai: UCCA. ISBN   978-81-907765-8-5.
25. Rao, Deepak (2019). Balidan. Unarmed Commando Combat Academy. ISBN   978-81-938895-1-0.
26. Rao, Deepak; Rao, Seema (2018). Filed book of explosive recognition for anti terror OPS. Mumbai: UCCA Publication. ISBN   978-81-907765-4-7.
27. Rao, Deepak. Unfreak Your Mind – Rewire with Zen Psychology. 9 July 2025. ISBN   9798227527837.

External links

• Official website