- Mark Jacobs
- Feb 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 24
Roger Greene remembers the first time he walked into a martial arts class in California way back in 1964.
Having always held an interest in combat sports like boxing and wrestling, he was intrigued when a friend invited him to a school that taught a Korean fighting style called kang duk won.
“They would make you hold a low horse stance for an hour,” Greene said. “In those days, the hardcore schools would give you something difficult like that to see if you could take it. And if you could, then they’d let you train there.”
The reaction to that kind of testing differs depending on the person, Greene said. “Some people are not interested. Some people just get hooked.” That was 53 years ago, and Greene is still active in the arts. I guess you could say he was one of the ones who got hooked.
After earning his kang duk won black belt under Bob Babich, Greene began training in kenpo under Al Tracy, the martial art legend considered the father of the modern franchise system of martial arts schools.
Greene eventually received a black belt from Tracy, too, and he was offered a chance to open a Tracy franchise in Oklahoma. “Grandmaster Tracy realized there were a lot of young men that loved martial arts but didn’t have the business acumen to open a successful school,” Greene said. “Knowing about things like location and advertising is crucial. Grandmaster Tracy said, ‘We’ll help you with that.’ He was the first to do this for people.”
While operating his facility, Greene got an opportunity to study with full-contact karate champ Joe Lewis, who was national karate director for the Tracy organization. “I got professional help in running my school, and I got the world heavyweight champion as a guide in my training,” Greene recalled. “I remember thinking that was a pretty good deal.”
Lewis promoted him to third degree after a year of evaluation. Thus, Roger Greene became the first person to receive a black belt from Joe Lewis. History was made.
Greene went on to become one of Lewis’ most successful and loyal students. Under the champ’s guidance, Greene accumulated a string of tournament victories and was ranked No. 1 at various times throughout the 1970s. He’s quick to credit Lewis for much of his success. “Joe was amazing in the tournament competitions,” Greene said. “I trained to get ready for Joe’s next visit. He had incredible initial speed and power. I remember the time I managed to catch him with a technique I’d used successfully against a number of competitors.”
Greene said the technique earned him a grudging growl of approval, then Lewis sidestepped and threw his famous side kick. “We were on a 16 ½-foot mat with 8 feet of space behind that. I went flying off the mat,” Greene said.
Fortunately for Greene, Lewis also was a master of control and distance. “In all the years we trained with high intensity, I was never injured while working out with the Black Belt Hall of Famer due to his incredible control,” Greene said. “He once threw a cut kick, which is like a roundhouse kick that comes downward, and it swatted a drop of sweat off the tip of my nose without actually hitting me,” Greene said. “But I couldn’t take my eyes off him when that kick came at me.”
The respect that developed between the two martial artists was mutual—which is why Lewis promoted Greene to ninth-degree black belt in 2010 and the board of Joe Lewis Fighting System elevated him to 10th degree in 2015.
Tracy also promoted Greene to 10th degree in kenpo, and Chul Hee Park awarded him a ninth dan in kang duk won taekwondo during a visit to Oklahoma. Those promotions speak volumes about Greene’s character and skill level.
Roger Greene’s interest in competition eventually led him away from the open-tournament circuit, which focused on flashy, competitive technique. Instead, he veered toward the more traditional style of competition that was promoted by the Amateur Athletic Union and the USA Karate Federation. Greene became a coach, training athletes in a more structured competitive environment.
He still occasionally makes appearances at open tournaments, and he’s no less critical of the way those events unfold. “When you do a weapons kata, it should be with real martial arts weapons, not toys,” Greene said. “There needs to be focus that clearly demonstrates dangerous intensity.”
Although he stopped running his commercial school in 2000, Greene continues to teach small classes in a private dojo on his Oklahoma ranch. Despite having trained a number of his own tournament champions over the years, he’s leery of taking too much credit for their achievements.
“Martial arts should never become an ego manifestation for the teacher,” he said. “The teacher [just] reveals truth and functions as a guide for the student to grow.
“The most important thing is really to just teach a young person to be all they can be. The ability to defend and protect oneself and one’s family is a byproduct.”
