Mr. Chuck ‘Missing In Action‘ Norris (1940) has reached the respectable age of 75 on March 10th.
Well.. to be honest their is much to say about Mr. Norris’ political preferences. And then again Hollywood and now also Sillicon Valley are big partners to have on your side when running for president.
Enough about politics.
As big martial arts fans at the Herald we really appreciate what Chuck Norris has done for the sport and bringing it to a wider audience. Back in the 1970’s he was among some well known martial arts actors as Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly and David Carradine.
Chuck, born as Carlos Ray Norris, got a sweet tooth for karate when he was stationed in South Korea were he worked as an Air Policeman for the US Air Force in 1958. Back in the US he continued to serve as an Air Policeman in California until August 1962. After his military career he opened a chain of Karate schools listing celebrity clients as Steve McQueen, Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley, Donny Osmond & Marie Osmond and a bunch of other 70’s stars.
Chuck holds black belts in Tang Soo Do, a martial arts form that combines elements of Shotokan Karate, Subak, Taekkyon and Kung Fu. And Yeah, at 75 he would probably still kick our ass. Hahaha. In 1968 he won the Professional Middleweight Karate championship title, which he defended for six consecutive years. In 1969, he won Karate’s triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, and the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt Magazine.
In the martial arts world Norris:
– made history in 1990 when he was the first Westerner in the documented history of Tae Kwon Do to be given the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master.
– was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum’s Hall of Fame in 1999.
– was presented the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Karate Union Hall of Fame in 2000.
Through Hollywood he gave us kick ass movies like Missing in Action 1, 2 & 3, Walker – Texas Ranger, The Delta Force and The Expendables 2 just to name a few.
And ooooohhh… did he hurt the bad guys, it’s was classic non complicated Good vs Evil action.
The Huffington Post made this excellent as they say: “mashup of every remarkable roundhouse kick that will serve as evidence as to why Norris is still the best post-50 action star there is.”
And Yep, we second that!
Chuck Norris Kicks Everything