First Indian woman to defeat a male in Mixed Martial Arts in a cage fight

Dr Komal fighting with Nikes Agarwal from Guardian Gym Germany  

at the Mixed Martial Arts Fight took place in Germany. 

This woman knocks out a man in one punch and slams him to the ground in one throw. Meet 35-year-old Dr Komal Rao, who has defeated a male opponent in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in a cage fight took place in YBN Germany in July 2017. With this, She has become the first woman in the world to defeat a male opponent in MMA.

Dr Komal, is the adopted daughter of Dr Seema Rao, India's first woman commando Trainer and Major Dr Deepak Rao, a Pioneer of Close Quarter Battle. Residents of Mumbai, the family had recently visited Mysuru and here are the excerpts from the interview:

Dr Komal began learning Jeet Kune Do (JKD), an form of martial arts from the tender age of 15. Today, she is one among the five female instructors in the world to get certified as a full instructor in Jeet Kune Do (JKD) by Richard Bustillo, an direct student of Bruce Lee. After her mother Dr Seema Rao, she is the second in the country to get certified.

Dr Komal has done her advanced training in JKD, under grand master Richard Bustillo. She runs a Mixed Martial Arts Fight Club 'Academy of Combat Fitness’ and conducts regular workshops and teaches Jeet Kune Do in Mumbai. She is also serving as an Deputy Director of an NGO Unarmed Commando Combat Academy. 

After undergoing training for 20 long years, she became a pro MMA fighter with her debut fight in Young Blood Night 9 and was slotted to fight Elke Beinwachs on June 2, 2017 in the 52 kg category. However, when Elke did not turn up for the fight, she agreed to fight Nikes Agarwal from Guardian Gym Germany in the 60kg category.




Dr Komal who won by submission in the second round using a rear naked choke, said: ‘I am the only Indian woman to have fought a male in an MMA cage fight. I have been ranked 22nd in the Pro MMA Women fighter in Germany and I feel proud about it. My next fight will be around next April at a pre-decided destination in Europe,  perhaps Poland  or maybe in Brazil.’

Sharing her experience before and after fight, she said: “Before the fight there was a lot of excitement and anticipation and little bit of apprehension. After the fight there was elation and a sense of accomplishment.”

Komal, a soft nature girl, spent her childhood with illness and poor constitution. To become strong physically and mentally, she decided to learn Jeet Kune Do under the guidance of her parents. She says: ‘I Am 35 and going strong. I run 5 kilo meters twice a week, and go to gum, and fight professionally in a mixed martial art cage.’

When questioned about what is required for a woman fight in a cage, she said: ‘A woman has to fight in a particular weight category. She has to shed her fatty weight to about 10 per cent of total.  She has to be extremely fit to last 15to 25 minutes inside the cage. For this she has to train for 5km run, lift weights, do cross training besides skill training. She has to train in boxing, muay thai,  grappling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She should be very fit, flexible and condition every part of her body to take hits.’






Are women interested to learn MMA: “‘In our country good training facility do not exist and women generally do not want to take up hard core sport, as grievous injury like black eye, nose burst, and internal bleeds occur.” 


Talking about craze among people about MMA, she said: ‘Mixed martial arts is a world wide sport, however the first time Super Fight League (SFL) hosted it in India under patronage of Sanjay Dutt many years ago. Now almost every other youngster is aware of it, but there are hardly any women participants from India.’

Komal is the owner of India's No 1 Fight Club academy of Combat Fitness and also dealing with defence forces in modernisation of counter terror training. She is also Director of All India JKD Headquarters, Pro MMA Fighter. She has also acted in the movie Hathapayi an Indian MMA movie with name 'Kayra'.  She says: ‘As an MMA coach, my students have won medals at World Mixed Martial Arts Championship in Russia this year and am happy about it. The response to my JKD academy is very good, with good number of metro students joining  every month,  but generally they join for fitness and Bruce Lee's philosophy.’

Father Major Dr Deepak Rao said: ‘Komal was very weak,  thin and skinny in constitution, frail in health and timid in personality. Now after MMA she is strong confident and a woman of substance. She is one among the few women in the world to have fought a male in the pro MMA event. she is a fifth degree black belt under UCCA organisation and conducts seminars, workshop on JDK Philosophy.  We are proud of her as she is the first from country to defeat a male in a cage fight.'

Talking about her fight Mother Dr Seema Rao said: ‘Komal fought a male opponent heavier than her by 10kgs. The first round witnessed both opponents fighting each other with strikes,  with Komal being cautious and sizing the opponent.  In the second round Komal had understood her opponents weakness.  As he charged in she slipped her hand around his neck and choked him using a guillotine lock. The opponent started fading into unconsciousness and tapped just in time.  And a tap on the mat indicates submission and surrender. This occurred within 2 minutes of the second round.
 

Highlights
* Mixed Martial Arts is a sport where participants fight in a cage using kicking,  punching,  wrestling and ground attacks. MMA is a cold blooded brutal sport where victory is by knockout or submission due to cranking (twisting) of a joint or by locking the neck to unconsciousness.
* Jeet Kune Do (JKD) is an American Chinese  martial art founded by Bruce Lee along with philosophy of Zen and Taoism. This was the first mixed martial art of the world.
It is one of the most sought martial art in the world.  Its made of punching,  kicking,  grappling and ground fighting.  And in essence the first hybrid martial art.  Its very popular among adult metro men and women as it helps them in fitness and stress management.
* A cage fight is a fight inside a cage,  with 3 to 5 rounds of 5mins each with very thin lightly padded gloves where each strike will cause a cut and bleed. Two participants  are locked in a cage with refree and can't escape even if they want to. Victory is by submission  or Knock out.

Below is video link of her fight
https://youtu.be/5aUo0iHEFK8