Kariim Ratcliff was born in Brooklyn, New York to Levester and Ida Ratcliff. Kariim's early interest in the martial arts led him to an acting career. Growing up in Bedford Stuyvesant, the middle child of ten, his seven brothers showed great ability in basketball, while Kariim showed no interest, turned to martial arts after seeing a demo at the Salvation Army boy's club. Kariim immediately turned all his time and attention to mastering the martial arts. By the time Kariim reached 11th grade at Wingate high school in Brooklyn, he had attained his 1st degree black belt in tae kwon do. His interest in acting came about after some college chums attending John Jay College of criminal justice, heard about auditions for a martial arts movie called "The Last Dragon". Kariim's buddies encouraged him to go audition; which he did and landed a bit part as a karate fighter. The acting bug had bitten and Kariim was off chasing roles and even doing some fight co-ordinating [toxic avenger 2]. At the present time Kariim has black belts in several styles and has even created his own system with his buddy and lifetime friend Baasim Chapman. the system is called "nubianfist/kemet jitsu/a.k. sytem karate, founded in 1991. Until this present day, Kariim currently holds a 7th Dan in the martial arts. He is also presently working behind the scenes as a fight co-ordinator.