Military Martial Arts have a singular goal – to terminate the enemy or opponent in the shortest possible time. During World War II UAC methods were hastily compiled by the Allies for training the armies world over. These methods were derived from traditional martial arts like Wrestling, Judo and Karate prevalent at that time. Even today, the modern day combatives are derived from BJJ< Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (a ground fighting art). Martial art instructors are not familiar with the military applications & requirements and military instructors do not have a professional background in martial arts, other than the sport versions of Wrestling, Judo, BJJ, Taekwondo & Karate. The most recent addition to military martial arts is Krav Maga, an art centering on street fights, escapes from collar grabs, wrist grabs, neck locks and bear hugs, a scenario not applicable to the military, where silent and sudden termination tactics are the rule.

The Rao couple, Prof. Dr. Deepak Rao and Dr. Seema Rao, spent 17 years of their life, researching & training over 15,000 soldiers from the Indian forces in Close Quarter Battle and Unarmed Combat. They have over three decades of professional expertise in various martial arts. They draw inspiration from their Teacher, Richard Bustillo, Original student of Bruce Lee and World authority on the art founded by Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do (JKD).

The Jeet Kune Do concepts are a guideline to problem solving inside and outside the arena. The JKD concepts as understood by us can be summarized in brief as follows

A)   Research the truth or subject at hand: under guidance of an expert without any bias or preformed notions with an open minded approach

B)    Absorb what is useful & C) Reject what is useless: depending upon whether they meet the criteria of Simplicity & Economy of Resources, Directness and Efficiency.

D) Tailor make whatever has been absorbed to your self, your situation and requirement

Now applying JKD to the military martial art requirement, there is a need for an art which meets the following

A)   The Art must cater to no height, weight or age category

B)    All techniques must be aimed at termination or crippling vital targets

C)   All techniques must be simple, few in number, easy to learn

D)   All knock downs must take Less effort and the shortest possible time

E)    The Art must be principle based, allowing every individual to modify it to his advantage and constitution.

The Rao’s research led to a modern day art “The Bison System”. This military art has been developed by the Rao couple after 17 years of training the cross section of the Indian forces. Their efforts in modernization of Close Quarter Battle training has received two Army Chief appreciations. The Indian Bison or the Bos Gaurus is a very aggressive animal, standing 2 m tall, with 32 inch horns and weighing 2 tons. Its principle enemy is the Tiger, which it rushes head on and often gores to death. The Gaur Bison is not to be mixed with the American Bison, which is a timid animal often hunted and now almost extinct. The Gaur is also known for its principles, the entire herd standing in a circle around the calf confronting the tigers. 

The Rao’s Bison system has the following JKD features

A)   Each opponent is fought with a different STRATEGY depending on his size, height & aggression level.

B)    ATTACK first, Attack fast, Attack hard and suddenly to force the opponent to adopt a defensive approach

C)   The appropriate RANGE or distance is to be selected depending on your advantage and to the opponent’s disadvantage.

D)   The hardest parts of the body are used against the softest parts and VITAL organs of the opponent.    

E)    The best available ANGLE is selected to attack the opponent and disrupt his defense.

F)    Attack is launched at the appropriate LEVEL (Head, Body, Groin, Leg levels) depending upon the height of the opponent. 

G)   Attack is always launched in rapid COMBINATIONS rather than singular, giving the opponent no time to think.

H)   A correct STATE (Ice-Static, Water-Bobbing, Gas-Prancing) of engagement is adopted depending upon stature of the opponent. 

Almost all the elite Special Op forces of India have been trained by the Rao couple. The Rao’s have helped in modernizing the Counter Terror CQB training curriculum of various Indian forces.  Many of the special operation units of the Indian forces have gone on record stating that they have benefited immensely from Rao’s expertise in Close Quarter Battle training.

Today, world over, the Bison system is regarded as the most modern military martial art.