Recently, we lost Carlos Ray Norris. You may know him as the late-great Chuck Norris.
We all know his action-packed movies, his signature sidekick, and his Walker, Texas Ranger days on TV, but did you know he came from very humble beginnings? Poor. No father. Joined the football team and warmed the bench. Lost a brother in Vietnam. His way out of this tough start in life led him to the military to escape these hardships.
First, let me dispel the rumor that I sparred with Chuck. Chuck was in the golden age of competition (circa 1960-1969) in the U.S. I am in the silver age generation and was heavily involved in the 1980’s, competing nationally and internationally.
Over the years, I have had several great teachers in many different martial arts. Although I have trained in many systems, my primary training is in Tang Soo Do, a Korean art. Mr. Norris was in my karate family tree.
Here are a few stories about my Chuck connections.
Osan Air Force Base, South Korea (late 1950’s)
After being stationed in Korea, Norris joined many young G.I.s who began martial arts training after watching a demonstration to fill their off-duty time. Mr. Shin was one of the local Tang Soo Do instructors from town who taught daily classes on base in a Quonset hut. Service members trained for several hours each night under very rigorous conditions, in very cold winter weather and very hot summer weather. The long daily classes enabled students to accelerate their progress and even achieve black belt status in 1.5 years, as was the case with my teacher, Mr. Cheezic, who received his black belt in a morning grading. Norris then received his green belt that same afternoon (Mr. Cheezic was very proud of the fact that he was Norris' senior in rank).
One of my teachers, Grandmaster Kim of South Korea, told me this Chuck story. The Grandmaster had his school just a few blocks from Osan. As a matter of fact, I had the honor of visiting this mecca of martial arts in 2010. Norris was a military policeman and had the opportunity to requisition a military jeep for travel to Seoul for advanced training. South Korea is currently a very advanced country, but after the war there, with many dirt roads and scarce streetlights, there was great suffering and poverty. While driving from the air base to the city in an open-sided jeep, trying to avoid many road hazards, a critical incident occurred when crossing a barely sustained, weakened bridge.
The jeep lurched violently, and Grandmaster Kim was flung helplessly toward the deep abyss of the ravine below. Norris, just in time, reached over, grabbed him, and kept him from being ejected, almost certainly to a critical end. The Grandmaster used to tell us that Chuck Norris saved his life. Not his first act of heroism.
After Korea, Norris returned to California and opened a chain of karate schools in the Los Angeles area. To boost the school's enrollment, he began competing in local martial arts tournaments. With overwhelming success, he ventured out across the country and became a national champion. With these credentials, his school grew exponentially, and with his skill and good looks, he soon became the instructor to the stars and was often on many popular TV shows (you can view these on YouTube). Steve McQueen, one of his students, got him into acting.
I was at a kickboxing show at Foxwoods casino, where Chuck was the guest of honor. He was in the crowd signing autographs. When my wife’s turn came, she (at 5’6) was surprised to see they stood eye to eye, even with his cowboy boots. Sometimes our heroes are just regular people.
Why I admired Chuck Norris.
I just loved his “good guy” image. He was easy-going, firm, and respected. He often played the part of a hero, whether as a police officer, a soldier, or a concerned mentor. In one of his movies, he enters a bar and gets beaten up by a criminal crew of 16 guys. In a post-movie interview, he was asked, why didn't you use your movie magic to defeat them all? His reply was, “That's not realistic.”
His average-Joe persona made me admire him; he was not boastful like Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal, and he carried himself with a calm, peaceful demeanor.
For years, I heavily supported our local D.A.R.E programs, and Chuck started a program called “Kick drugs out of America.”
He was a legitimate martial artist, always learning and combining arts to make himself and his students better, and I, too, followed this path of never-ending learning. Being a lifelong student exemplifies one of his greatest qualities. I saw a photo of him training in martial arts on his birthday, just days before his passing.
Our art emphasizes self-discipline and character, and this gave Chuck a reputation for promoting the greater good. He was filled with dignity, and there was no trash-talking or ego.
Chuck Norris memes have been popular on the internet for decades, so I thought I would close with one.
Chuck Norris didn’t die- he got tired of being undefeated on earth.
Mike Bogdanski
Mike is a martial arts Grandmaster and anti-bully activist.
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