East Orange Mayor Earns 8th Degree Black Belt: ‘A Way Of Life’

EAST ORANGE, NJ — The mayor of East Orange recently reached a big personal milestone as a martial artist, earning the title of “grandmaster.”

Mayor Ted Green, a lifelong martial artist, was awarded his eighth-dan (eighth-degree) black belt in the Aiki-Nu-Bu-Kai system of karate and kickboxing, according to a social media post from city officials last weekend.

City officials wrote:

“The black belt is more than just a belt. It’s a mental state, achieved only through hard work and dedication, while the higher the dan grade, the more leadership ability, teaching experience, and service to the style of martial arts. The eighth-dan, Hachidan, is awarded to the title of Kyōshi, expert instructor, reserved for those still active in a dojo and also training diligently on his or her own.”

It's an achievement that has been years in the making, officials continued:

“The certificate of rank was bestowed to Mayor Green by Grandmasters Richard ‘The Brick’ Mayers and Hinton Fuquan Kinsler, in a ceremony that included family, friends and a widespread audience of the martial arts community. It has been said that martial artists are not born: they are made and their fortitude is emanated from those who have guided them along the way. Mayor Green began his study at the age of seven under the leadership of his father, the late Grandmaster Theodore Green, Sr., a master of aiki-nu-bu-kai karate. Beginning his study of martial arts with the style of Judo, Mayor Green then went on to study Kung-Fu under the teaching of Master Allen Lee out of Newark. From there, he joined his father to study Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu under Professor Earnest Miles.”

“I am grateful and humbled that my instructors have allowed me the fortitude to achieve the Hachidan rank in martial arts,” Green said.

“Martial arts is a way of life for me,” the mayor continued. “My vast years of training has become a reflection of the man that I am today, and where I am in life, mentally, physically and spiritually.”

Green isn’t the only current/former mayor in the Oranges who is also a master martial artist.

Eldridge Hawkins Jr. – who served as mayor of Orange from 2008 to 2012 – was recently inducted into the USA Unified Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Hawkins has become well-known for his prowess with nunchaku, developing a new martial arts system he has dubbed “Ken-Fu Nunchaku Jutsu.”

• See related article: Nunchucks Master From The Oranges Invents New Martial Arts System

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