Rodney Batiste (born 1953) is an American

karateka (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While moder ...

. He has also studied the

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

system of

Jhoon Goo Rhee Rhee Jhoon-goo (; Hanja: 李俊九, January 7, 1932–April 30, 2018), commonly known as Jhoon Rhee, was a Korean-American taekwondo practitioner. He was widely recognized as the "father of American taekwondo" for introducing the Korean martia ...

Biography

Batiste grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and attended

George W. Wingate High School George W. Wingate High School is a defunct comprehensive high school in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Wingate neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York City. It opened in 1956 and was closed down in June 2006 due to poor academic performance. ...

. Batiste began his study of martial arts when he was 15, initially as a means of improving his street-fighting. He later joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and after being

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

, Batiste decided to become a professional fighter. After turning professional, he initially believed that karate would oust

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

as the United States' combat sport of choice. In 1977 he became the National Karate Association's world champion, and by 1982 was the U.S. Middleweight champion by defeating Jimmy Horsely, who at the time had eighteen professional fights and had never lost a round. Batiste moved into public speaking and writing, in the mid-eighties. He was contracted by

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Barr ...

, then Mayor of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, 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. 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 Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

that anyone could use regardless of age, sex, or athleticism to remove themselves from dangerous situations without the use of a weapon. He named his system ''E.S.C.A.P.E. Strategies'' (Easy System of Control And Practical Emergency Strategies). Batiste lectured to law firms, government agencies, and accounting firms including,

Navy Federal Credit Union Navy Federal Credit Union (or Navy Federal) is an American global credit union headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, chartered and regulated under the authority of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Navy Federal is the largest natural ...

, Department of Interior, the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. Batiste was contracted to lead seminars and lectures for agents of the Federal Judiciary Centers. His primary audience consisted of Judges, Pretrial Clerks, and U. S. Marshals. After entering her house during a

home invasion A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary (or in some jurisdictions, a separately defined crime) in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching i ...

, Congresswoman Jane Harmon hired Batiste to train her and her husband in self-defense. In the 1990s, Batiste opened his own dojo (WCRB Karate) in Arlington, VA. Batiste has written two books: ''20 Years to Suicide, A Father Looks Back'' () and ''Dagpaw Means Success'' (), published by

Tate Publishing & Enterprises Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC was a Christian publisher that printed books that operated on the vanity press model. They ceased operations in January 2017 and owed their customers about $900,000 at the time. Background Tate Publishing & ...

References

Living people American male karateka 1953 births 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-karate-bio-stub