Rodney Batiste

He later joined the United States Army, and after being honorably discharged, Batiste decided to become a professional fighter.

[2] After turning professional, he initially believed that karate would oust boxing as the United States' combat sport of choice.

He was contracted by Marion Barry, then Mayor of Washington, D.C., to tour the city as part of its “Roving Leaders” program giving seminars and lectures in each of its wards to youth about how to use focused attention, perseverance, self-discipline and a strong work ethic to obtain a stated goal.

[1] By 1988, with the help of his wife who was attacked in a restroom in her early twenties, Batiste developed a system of self-defense that anyone could use regardless of age, sex, or athleticism to remove themselves from dangerous situations without the use of a weapon.

After entering her house during a home invasion, Congresswoman Jane Harmon hired Batiste to train her and her husband in self-defense.